[meteorite-list] Railway - South Africa and Gibeon

[bernd.pauli at paulinet.de]

Harlan wrote:

> also looking for info on railway, south africa- is it an GIBEON?


Hello Harlan and List,

Yes, it is ... or I had better say: Yes, they are! So, here we go:

Cheers from sultry
Southern Germany,

Bernd


Buchwald V.F. (1975) Handbook of Iron
Meteorites, Vol. 2, pp. 584-593:

Railway, no. 77, is no doubt a typical Gibeon mass, although Frick
& Hammerbeck (1973) listed it as an independent meteorite: South
African Railways.

Buchwald V.F. (1975) Handbook of Iron
Meteorites, Vol. 3, pp. 1385-1393:

No. 77, Railway (A)

According to the accession papers of the South African Railway Museum,
Johannesburg, this - and possibly the following mass No. 78 - was found
near the main railway line Keetmanshoop-Mariental, i.e., in the Gibeon or
Berseba district. It was allegedly seen to fall by railway personnel on the
train, so on the return journey they stopped, searched near the line and
excavated the meteorite from a hole almost two feet deep. It weighed 47
kg and was in 1943 donated to the S.A. Railway Museum by Mr. G.H.
Dawson, then the system manager of Windhoek. About 1965 (?) it was
donated to the Geological Survey Museum, Pretoria, where it has now
been divided for research purposes. The sections go through some of
the hemispherical cavities which are so typical of Gibeon specimens, and
also display the severely twisted, bent and overfolded textures very well;
.. The report that the 47 kg mass was seen to fall cannot be accepted.
The railway personnel may have seen a fireball and by coincidence on
their searching stumbled over the meteorite - or else, the entire story
may be invented, as has repeatedly been met with in meteoritics.

No. 78, Railway (B)

In the South African Railway Museum, Johannesburg, there is presently (1974)
displayed another Gibeon meteorite, originally of 71 kg, and recovered from
near the railway line under similar circumstances as Railway (A), No. 77.
The mass is roughly ellipsoidal, with dimensions of 32 x 26 x 24 cm and has
the museum number 2042. At the slightly pointed end two portions have been
removed by a blowtorch and one with a hacksaw, so that the mass now weighs
about 66 kg. Apparently no portions have been made accessible for analysis
or metallographic examination.