rogerfarnworth

It is a while since I posted about the tramways in Nice. I have been concentrating on a series of posts about the metre-gauge lines in Kenya and Uganda. That series of posts is now complete and I can focus once again on the South of France metre-gauge tramways and railways. The TNL grew in size in the years before the first world war but had great difficulty in getting new lines authorised and built https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-tnl-at-its-height-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-62

It is a while since I posted about the tramways in Nice. I have been concentrating on a series of posts about the metre-gauge lines in Kenya and Uganda. That series of posts is now complete and I can focus once again on the South of France metre-gauge tramways and railways. The TNL grew in size in the years before the first world war but had great difficulty in getting new lines authorised and built https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/06/the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-tnl-at-its-height-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-62

I anticipate that this is the final post in this series about Uganda Railway and its successors. I trust that you have enjoyed these posts. If you have, then I have been posting about metre-gauge lines in France and you might wish to look at those posts in due course! https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/04/uganda-railways-part-27-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-e-rolling-stock-1895-to-2018

Two posts remain to complete the story of the line. This is the first of these. It brings the story of the line up to date (to 2018). https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/07/03/uganda-railways-part-28-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-f-1977-to-2018 Very sadly, at least from a heritage perspective, the metre-gauge line and its trains have largely been replaced between Nairobi and Mombasa. No doubt the new trains are infinitely better. But their advent has brought to an end the real sense of adventure that travelling the metre-gauge line from Mombasa to Nairobi evoked!

Hi, this seems to lead me to https://www.16mm.org.uk/links but I cannot access the lists or individual posts. Do I need to join something? best wishes Roger

I am interested in finding out more about this Uganda Railways layout. members of the forum will have seen that I have created a thread about the Uganda Railways. Can anyone tell me more?

The East African Railways and Harbours Corporation began to look at replacing its steam locomotives with more modern power units. This next post is part of that story. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/29/uganda-railways-part-26-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-d-diesel-1948-to-1977

This is the third post about Locomotives and Rolling Stock on the network of lines in Uganda and Kenya. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/26/uganda-railways-part-25-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-c-steam-1948-to-1977 Very sadly, so very few of these locomotives have survived in any form, let alone in a condition to continue to run on the network.

One of the small snippets of information I have encountered while writing the series of posts on the Uganda Railway and its successors is an almost passing comment made in a number of texts about the Kenya Uganda Railway Beyer-Garratts numbered 41-44, 51 and 53. These comments refer to these locomotives being sold to Indo-China. Someone asked me whether there was any information about what happened to these locos in any of the main texts about the metre-gauge lines in East Africa. The only specific reference appears to relate to the locos going to the 'Yunnan Railway'. It might be that others can shed more light on this, but I thought that it was worth following up. The post below is the result of this. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/24/indo-china-to-yunnan-railway

The first of these posts about locomotives and rolling stock on the railways of Uganda and Kenya covered locomotives used by the Uganda Railway. This second post primarily covers locomotives introduced by the Kenya Uganda Railway up until it handed over to the East African Railways Corporation in 1948. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/19/uganda-railways-part-24-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-b-1927-to-19/ The Kenya Uganda Railway introduced Beyer Garratt locomotives to the network. These were massive machines with huge pulling power which suited the lightly constructed lines on which they ran.

My original plan was to provide details of locomotives and rolling stock on the Railway in a single post. This has become a little unwieldy so further posts will follow this one ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/17/uganda-railways-part-23-locomotives-and-rolling-stock-part-a

Thank you! This is the last post relating directly to the lines of the Uganda Railway and covers the first railway built in Uganda. The final post on the Uganda Railway will cover the locomotives and rolling stock on the network. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/12/uganda-railways-part-22-jinja-via-mbulamuti-to-namasagali There is much to explore in the Great Lakes region in Africa! This series of posts relates only to the railways providing access to Uganda but there were a whole variety of different transport services in the area which would warrant further study!

This next post relates to the western extension of the Uganda Railway through to Kasese and the Kilembe Mines. (I am expecting to post twice more about the Uganda Railway. There is one branchline which I have to follow and then I plan to write about the locomotives and rolling stock on the line.) Official sanction for building the railway to Mityana was given in 1951, and for the continuation to Kasese in 1952. The decision rested upon a guaranteed source of traffic at Kilembe, and was prompted by the fact that mining development was dependent on some positive step to improve communications. There seemed little doubt that the line would attract some Congo traffic, which would provide new revenue for E.A.R. & H., while the Uganda Government was much encouraged by the very favourable report of an Economic Survey Committee. The concluding sentence of the report reflects the tone of the whole: ‘The committee desires to record its firm conviction that this project will prove eminently successful. and contribute materially to the welfare and prosperity of the people of Uganda”. The capital cost of the extension was £5.25 million, and the Uganda Government provided the Railway Administration with a loan to cover this. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/11/uganda-railways-part-21-kampala-to-kasese

Reading a book in French by Jose Banuado, I have discovered more about the Sospel to Menton tramway. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61 This post builds on previous ones, particularly ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51

Reading a book in French by Jose Banuado, I have discovered more about the Sospel to Menton tramway. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61 This post builds on previous ones, particularly ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51

We are now in Kampala and preparing to travel on to Kasese. This post (below) is the penultimate post on the direct route from Mombasa to Kasese. After this there will be three further posts. One to complete the line to Kasese, one to review an old and defunct branch line running north from Jinja and a final post which will seek to cover the locomotives and rolling stock on the Uganda Railway ..... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/10/uganda-railways-part-20-kampala

Reading a book in French by Jose Banuado, I have discovered more about the Sospel to Menton tramway. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/08/the-menton-to-sospel-tramway-revisited-again-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-61 This post builds on previous ones, particularly ... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/the-sospel-to-menton-tramway-revisited-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-51

The journey continues from Jinja to Kampala ....... “The Nile River Bridge at Jinja was built in the late 1920s. It is perhaps the iconic structure for the whole of the metre-gauge railway system from Mombasa to Kasese. The first railway in Uganda ran from Jinja to Namasagali on the Victoria Nile where a steamer service ran on to Masindi Port. From there passengers travelled by road through Masindi to Butiaba on Lake Albert. From there they could travel on by steamer to the Belgian Congo or north to Juba in the Sudan. Train passengers from Kenya reached Uganda by steamer from the railhead at Kisumu and across Lake Victoria to Entebbe or Port Bell. In the mid 1920s the main line in Kenya was extended from Nakuru through Eldoret, and Tororo to Mbulamuti where it met up with the original Jinja to Namasagali line. The new line to Kampala then crossed the Nile at Jinja by a bridge carrying both the railway and a roadway underneath.” https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/uganda-railways-part-19-jinja-to-kampala The last part of my own journey to Kampala by train in 1994 commenced once a derailed freight train had been rerailed ahead of us and the passenger train was ‘given the road'. We had waited for over 6 hours at Jinja Railway Station. Travelling by rail was unreliable but really enjoyable!!

We have now returned to the mainline at Tororo and are heading on toward Kampala. The story continues .... "We leave Tororo is a north-westerly direction following the contours on the north side of the Nagongera Road as far as Achilet (about 5 kilometres outside of Tororo). For the next 10 kilometres the railway stays north of the road until reaching Nagongera, or Nagongora, .............." https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/05/uganda-railways-part-18-tororo-to-jinja Of interest is the number of railway lines on the map between Tororo and Jinja. There is by far the greatest density of lines in Uganda.

The second covers the length to the end of the branch-line. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/uganda-railways-part-17-gulu-to-arua

Thank you, Geoff. The next post in the series is the penultimate on the branch-line..... https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/03/uganda-railways-part-16-soroti-to-gulu

With this post we have crossed the border between Kenya and Uganda. Just across the border in Tororo the mainline divides to give a Kampala/Kasese route via Jinja, and a Pakwach and Aria route via Soroti. The more northerly route through Soroti was perceived as the branch but it has been the route which has been refurbished first (in 2013). We will follow the branch first. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/06/01/uganda-railways-part-15-malaba-to-soroti.

As part of my birthday present this year my wife has given me two books written in French about the Trams of Nice. I am enjoying working out what the books say! This post relates to the relatively unusual practice of regular transport of goods on a tram network, which was common practice in Nice. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/goods-services-on-the-network-of-the-tramways-of-nice-and-the-littoral-chemins-de-fer-de-provence-60

We really are now almost in Uganda! The is the last post focussing on the Uganda Railway in Kenya. It takes us from Eldoret to the border with Uganda at Malaba. Sadly, in this post there is little evidence of locomotives. The line has seen little use over the years . I was very fortunate to be able to travel 1st Class all the way from Mombasa to Kampala in 1994. I had no idea at the time how fragile that service was. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/uganda-railways-part-14-eldoret-to-malaba

Eldoret is a junction station. The branch-line service to Kitale set off from Eldoret. We follow its route. https://rogerfarnworth.wordpress.com/2018/05/28/uganda-railways-part-13-eldoret-to-kitale