Kenya- Uganda Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda_Railway" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kenya Railways and Nairobi

My first rail journey in Africa was to take the train from Mombasa, where I had arrived by ship from London, to Kampala - two nights. I was part of a large group of Education students sent to develop education in the three territories, shortly after independence. East African Railways had assigned extra carriages to this train so it was longer than usual. The first part of the journey was through a long rising track and some of us (not me) jumped off the train and ran alongside, getting back in further up the train. This was a very interesting journey which I have made more than once.

I believe there is a plan sponsored by China to rebuild this line at Standard Gauge. I assume the Chinese have something in mind to their advantage.

It's a pity that the British government had chosen metre gauge rather than Cape gauge to save money, thus preventing the line from being connected to the South African system. The Germans in Tanganyika also chose metre gauge. Thus East Africa remains cut off from the systems both in Sudan and Zambia, and the Congo.

Very interesting, George.

george matthews wrote: I believe there is a plan sponsored by China to rebuild this line at Standard Gauge. I assume the Chinese have something in mind to their advantage.

.

Copper , I believe.

philipmartin wrote:Very interesting, George.

I ought to have mentioned that the Cape gauge now reaches Dar es Salaam. It was built to send copper ingots from Zambia to the sea, avoiding South African ports. I have the impression that it has not developed a general traffic and functions very inefficiently. There has been a British tv programme about it.

The original impulse to build it has long passed. It should continue by developing general traffic but clearly has very poor management. But even the metre gauge East African system has fallen into decay: no through trains to Uganda, the decay of the Kasese branch and northern Uganda; the loss of passenger trains to Kisumu (my most frequent journey).

George- You know much more about Africa than I do. I know practically nothing about it except that it seems likely that the people were there better off under colonial rule than with democracy.
I read a book about the Boer war and wish the Boers had borrowed a few submarines from Germany (if they existed in 1900) and sunk the English troop ships. Kitchener wouldn't have been able to establish concentration camps for the civilians. That is not meant to be offensive: I just wish the British had left the Boers alone instead of working on behalf of the gold bugs Werner and Beit.
We read, with admiration, of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's guerilla tactics in East Africa during the first world war.
I have a video on the life of Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre with touching movies of Catholics in French Africa, around Dakar, prior to independence.
I have Belgian cousins, one of whom had (sad) contact with the Congo through marriage. His brother in law was murdered there on his plantation.

philipmartin wrote:George- You know much more about Africa than I do. I know practically nothing about it except that it seems likely that the people were there better off under colonial rule than with democracy.
I read a book about the Boer war and wish the Boers had borrowed a few submarines from Germany (if they existed in 1900) and sunk the English troop ships. Kitchener wouldn't have been able to establish concentration camps for the civilians. That is not meant to be offensive: I just wish the British had left the Boers alone instead of working on behalf of the gold bugs Werner and Beit.
We read, with admiration, of Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's guerilla tactics in East Africa during the first world war.
I have a video on the life of Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre with touching movies of Catholics in French Africa, around Dakar, prior to independence.
I have Belgian cousins, one of whom had (sad) contact with the Congo through marriage. His brother in law was murdered there on his plantation.

I first arrived in Kenya in 1965 and spent a year in Uganda at Makerere University in Kampala. As part of an Education course I studied some African History. I also travelled about in the vacation through Kenya and Tanzania mostly by rail and the steamer on the Lake. I suggest that if you did some travelling in Africa you might have a different opinion of conditions there. I later taught in Kenya, and then in Botswana and in Nigeria.

I taught in secondary schools in several regions. I have travelled, sometimes by rail and sometimes by hitching or bus, through most of the region between South Africa and Kenya. I have also travelled in Ghana, again by train and bus.

It's clear that in the time since the 1980s when I left, rail travel has become more difficult. I think the current rate of investment is very poor and it is clear that the present quality of managers is rather poor. A BBC programme about the new line from Zambia to Dar es Salaam revealed the very poor management of the line - the main cause of its very poor performance.

I am really rather shocked by the closure of the passenger service to Kisumu in Kenya, a line I have taken many times, as I was working near the end of the line. My guess is that the main cause is poor maintenance and a failure to invest in passenger carriages. I have a vague plan to visit the area later this year. I was hoping to take the train. I want to assist in an agricultural project on the Lake.

Were people better off in colonial times? No, they weren't.

George- it's wonderful conversing with someone who has spent so much time in Africa. My understanding is that it is a dangerous place to be. You hear about the taxi drivers in Nigeria, I think it is, who rob you. I'm afraid to go to my maternal grandmother's country, Venezuela, for similar reasons.
Here's a short look at Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJAt4vaaSLw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

philipmartin wrote:George- it's wonderful conversing with someone who has spent so much time in Africa. My understanding is that it is a dangerous place to be. You hear about the taxi drivers in Nigeria, I think it is, who rob you. I'm afraid to go to my maternal grandmother's country, Venezuela, for similar reasons.
Here's a short look at Africa.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJAt4vaaSLw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It may be dangerous but I have travelled to many different places and don't remember any real dangers. I can remember a scary ride in Kenya but in fact nothing bad happened. In Nigeria I have travelled by taxis and not experienced any problems. But mostly I had a car there. In Kenya I had a Honda 50 motor bike but preferred the train for longer journeys. Sometimes I put the Honda on a train to use at the end of the journey. I travelled from Nairobi to Cape Town by various means and don't remember any frightening things. It was about 45 years ago.

Look out for books by Paul Theroux who worked in Uganda while I was there (but never met him). He travelled about a lot, much as I did.

Thank you for the tip about Paul Theroux. He certainly has had an interesting life I take it that his novels have a lot of information about railways from Patagonia to Africa.
Here is a Wiki biography of him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Theroux" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I actually prefer Paul Theroux's fiction to his travel writing.
I have never been to East Africa, but travelld through West Africa in the early 1990's.
Nigeria had run down trains, the locomotive broke down on my only trip there.
Benin had old equipment , but in good order, and was actually quite fast .
I dont remember trains in togo.
Ghana had British Rail Mark 3 carriages, very modern , but the train was slow. I had an overnight sleeper compartment for about $ 20 .
Mali had reasonable french stock , as did Burkino Faso.
Senegal had a train, but I didn't go there.
Serria leone still had railway lines , but no one was sure if trains still ran or not . The Station in Freetown had been converted to a bus station and market.
If you want a good idea of West Africa in colonial times, Graeme Greene's book set in Serria leone is great. (I think its called The Heart of the Matter).Some things in Freetown hadn't changed when I was there 40 years or so after he wrote it.

We have such well travelled people on this forum.
The frequent breakdowns on African rails remind me of the situation where I work. We have a lot of trains in New Jersey, NJ transit and Amtrak and breakdowns and delays are a daily occurrence, system wide. I warn people to leave extra time if they have to get somewhere important, and joke about it with the customers. The only difference is that we don't charge African style prices for our tickets. Our fares are quite high.

Its a lot more informal and laid back kind of lifestyle than ours. They probably don't even think of it as delays, just a normal part of traveling. most people would just turn up at the railway station and wait, the concept of a timetable is a western one.
Same with borders, imposed by the colonial powers, they often when through the middle of a tribal land. All it means to the local s is they have to pay a bribe every time they cross the border to visit their own land,as the poorer people have no passports.

Sierra Leone had a very small gauge railway with two main lines - 2ft 3, possibly. Curiously, I have actually ridden in a carriage from that railway, in Wales. I think it was on the Llanfair to Welshpool. I could almost smell Africa in it. But the gauge was its main defect. I imagine service must have been very slow. The independant government closed it down. They also had a Cape gauge line. I have no idea whether that still exists, but I think it belonged to an industry. The country has suffered horrible civil wars. It would not surprise me if the real cause of the wars was the loss of the railway. Once again the colonial government had failed to foresee the consequence of saving money by restricting the gauge.

philipmartin wrote:We have such well travelled people on this forum.
The frequent breakdowns on African rails remind me of the situation where I work. We have a lot of trains in New Jersey, NJ transit and Amtrak and breakdowns and delays are a daily occurrence, system wide. I warn people to leave extra time if they have to get somewhere important, and joke about it with the customers. The only difference is that we don't charge African style prices for our tickets. Our fares are quite high.

You surprise me. I have travelled quite a lot by train in the US and have have never experienced problems. Actually, I have traveled a lot by train in Africa. There too I was seldom inconvenienced.

I was once travelling from Dar es Salaam to Kenya - there used to be a train that would connect the two capitals. I doubt if it still exists. It travelled along the "new" line along the coast which connects the two lines in Tanganyika (originally built by the Germans). The train, or rather the through carriages, used to wait a long time in Moshi, the junction for Nairobi. It then went on the military railway built in a hurry during the 1914-18 war, badly laid out for gradients. At some time we reached a point where the track had been damaged. We all had to get out and walk to the eastbound train, which then reversed and continued. I believe the people on that train were waiting for us. The thing I remember was that the meal service continued. The west bound train then arrived at the junction on the main Kenya line but had missed the train from Mombasa to which the carriages would normally be attached. That connection was normally in the middle of the nght. So they made up a special train and we arrived in Nairobi several hours late. The positive aspect was that we went though a part of the main Kenya line which normally is passed at night and so I could see the National Park. That was a time when East African Railways still existed. Now that each country runs its own railways I don't think such cross border trains still work.