Jump to content
 

Uganda Railways


Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

Thanks for that Roger, I enjoyed the read. Have you seen this photo from Limuru station on the Kenyan side. On my list of "scenes I'd like to model if life was longer".

 

limuru station.JPG

 

Edited by Mikkel
Image reinstated
  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
  • Friendly/supportive 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

A rather endearing loco.  

 

It amuses me that the crews were provided with luxurious tender-cab protection  (from the sun, presumably, though I guess lions might be an issue) whereas in Europe the poor blighters had to endure sun, wind, sleet, rail, hail and the travelling public with no more than a bare weather sheet for much of the early history of the railways.

 

and who’d be a brakeman sitting in a tiny comfortless cubicle atop a wagon or coach on many European lines?


“my postillion has been struck by lightning”

 

atb

Simon

 

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I wonder what class it is, haven't been able to find out yet. It's obviously in the early days.

 

Edit: Ah, here we go, this from a caption found on the web, publication not clear:

 

image.png.2da78fc8ef4f53c49896c8bccf91c9dc.png

 

Edited by Mikkel
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 20/12/2020 at 15:18, Florence Locomotive Works said:

A slightly obscure question sir.

 

Did the book(s) make any mention of what is pictured below? Said picture is a John Fowler & Co (Leeds) B5 traction engine, constructed for Uganda railways. I ask as the internet seems devoid of any information on it. There was also another engine, identical to this one, however it was armored for some reason. 
 

Douglas

 

4296E58D-1504-4BFF-B09A-7637139E36DC.jpeg

 

Here are a few images ...

 

The two traction engines with Uganda Railway trailers at Limuru, between Nairobi and the Rift valley escarpment, during construction of the line in the 1890s:

LImuru-Mile350.jpg.b31ad51b99420a5ce388e0064c484e45.jpg

 

The armoured one (I assume) as UR No 3 at Mau, on the Nakuru-Kisumu section:

UR3-traction-engine-M490-Mau.JPG.84a90bbb646782071a77d5a89684ed0b.JPG

 

and the lightweight one after hitting a soft spot somewhere near Elburgon:

In-difficulties-Mile-476.jpg.8205e3a8f9cb2b7598a8e45772b67728.jpg

 

Finally here is the remains of a Marshall engine (presumably originally owned by the railway) at Kisumu in2005. It fell victim to a scrap drive a couple of months later.

marshall-donkey-engine-kisumu.JPG.d3533af47aec87365b3255400e25c06a.JPG

Hope that's of interest

regards

Graham

  • Like 3
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Graham R said:

 

Here are a few images ...

 

The two traction engines with Uganda Railway trailers at Limuru, between Nairobi and the Rift valley escarpment, during construction of the line in the 1890s:

LImuru-Mile350.jpg.b31ad51b99420a5ce388e0064c484e45.jpg

 

The armoured one (I assume) as UR No 3 at Mau, on the Nakuru-Kisumu section:

UR3-traction-engine-M490-Mau.JPG.84a90bbb646782071a77d5a89684ed0b.JPG

 

and the lightweight one after hitting a soft spot somewhere near Elburgon:

In-difficulties-Mile-476.jpg.8205e3a8f9cb2b7598a8e45772b67728.jpg

 

Finally here is the remains of a Marshall engine (presumably originally owned by the railway) at Kisumu in2005. It fell victim to a scrap drive a couple of months later.

marshall-donkey-engine-kisumu.JPG.d3533af47aec87365b3255400e25c06a.JPG

Hope that's of interest

regards

Graham

Thank you Graham, that was fantastic. Where on Earth did you find them?

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

The Sugar Factory Branches off the Kisumu Line

 

An on-line acquaintance has recently pointed out that the tenth article in this series about the Uganda Railway is incomplete in that it omits to cover two branch-lines which serve Sugar Cane Mills/Factories. I have returned to the trip along the Uganda Railway to complete the omitted part of the story - that of the Chemelil and Miwani Sugar Factory Branches. ........

 

On the final approaches to Kisumu the line passed through a significant sugar cane growing region. Sugar processing factories were set up in two locations along the line - Chemelil and Miwani. Both these locations were provided with short branch-line connections to the main Nakuru to Kisumu line.

 

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/03/24/uganda-railways-part-10a-west-of-nakuru-sugar-factory-branches-on-the-approach-to-kisumu

  • Like 3
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

This is the last post based around the book by M.F. Hill which was published in 1949, just as the Tanganyika and Kenya/Uganda networks became one organisation. It cover the Second World War and the few years immediately after. .....

 

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/03/29/the-kenya-and-uganda-railways-and-harbours-the-second-world-war-and-after

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

At the insistence of the Governor of Uganda an independent novel rail system was tried out in the early 1920s. The trial resulted in the building of a line between Kampala and Bombo which operated during the middle years of that decade. Ultimately, the system failed and it was closed well before the end of the decade.

 

https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/04/03/the-kampala-to-bombo-railway

 

This was a project run by the Direct Works department of the protectorate/colony and was not part of the much wider network of "The Uganda Railway" which stretched from Mombasa on the coast of Kenya to Kampala and eventually on the Kasese in the West of Uganda. 

 

I discovered this line when I came across it in an article by Henry Lubega. I have discovered quite a bit more about the design philosophy since then. The system used for the line, the Stronagh-Dutton Roadrail System, is referred to elsewhere – particularly in “Narrow Gauge Steam … and other railway curiosities, Volume 1,” a ‘bookazene’ published by Kelsey Publishing and in a relatively short publication by the Narrow Gauge Society.

 

At first look, it seems quite an ingenious idea – removing the weight of the locomotive from the rails enabled much lighter rails to be used. In practice, however a whole series of factors rendered the idea impracticable.

  • Like 1
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...