East African Railways & Harbours
Photographs by Iain Mulligan
Kampala Nairobi
Class 10 Tank 1001 on the short Kampala-Port Bell branch.
Freight 16 Down headed by Class 90 diesel 1-Co-Co-1 heads through Naivasha for Nairobi.
Classic late 1950s. Looking like a freight train, a 58 Class heads Number 1 Up (The Uganda Mail) through Naivasha. The boxcars carry passengers' luggage; some were end-opening and used to convey automobiles.
Tribal Class 31 3105 Bagisu at Naivasha
Naivasha Platform with 3105 heading Train No 3 Up - the daily 2nd and 3rd Class all stations to Kampala. Due off Naivasha at 1542, it was scheduled to arrive Kampala at 1420 the following day.
58 Class emerges with No 1 Up Uganda Mail from Limuru Tunnel.
Double headed Class 90s head a freight through Limuru where women and children used to sell coloured baskets and beaded "husband catchers" surrounded with one cent coins.
80 Class switcher 8005 at Uplands. There was a substantial meat processing plant here, also called Uplands and its products were well-known throughout East Africa. The plant was derlict in 2001. The little switcher could usually be viewed from the Down Uganda Mail as it rested after its day's work. The Mail was not scheduled to stop at Uplands, but often did to allow conflicting movements to pass on the loop.
Train 138 Down near Kikuyu, headed by Class 90 diesel. The gondola appears to be carrying scrap iron.
Class 90 headed No 2 Down Uganda Mail. The 90s had recently displaced the 58 Garratts between Nairobi and Nakuru. The train is nearing Kikuyu.
A 60 Class Garratt, 6021, Sir William Gowers, negotiates a curve near Kikuyu with Train Number 5 Up - the daily 1445 departure from Nairobi, all stations to Nakuru where it arrived at 2130. Note the way the man is carrying his burden.
New pattern 3rd Class passenger cars form part of the consist of a local train at Kibera.
Colourful scene at Kibera. The coach is one of the recently introduced new pattern 3rd Class passenger cars. The picture is taken looking towardsDagoretti.
Class 29, 2915, appropriately named Kikuyu at Kibera, six miles from Nairobi. The car immediately behind the locomotive is a four wheeled caboose. On freight trains, journeys took many hours, and passenger trains always had priority. The caboose system allowed one train crew to rest while the other drove the manned the locomotive.
Class 29, 2902, Bukusu gets the right away from Kibera with the 1507 all stations 2nd and 3rd Class local to Nakuru.
Class 31 with an ancient four wheel boxcar working a special from Nairobi in connexion with the annual Royal Highland Show which was held in the nearby then Mitchell Park. The EAR&H stand at the Show usually boasted a good display of locomotive manufacturer's large scale models, and in 1959 the East African Model Railway with its Garratt was a great attraction.
The EAR "59" Class Garratt in HO scale. Based on the front tender and cab, it was perhaps not quite what it appeared to be. It looks very like a DJH Kit of a Rhodesian Railways 15th Class "converted" from coal to oil firing. It is seen here with a US Athearn boxcar and a Wills [British 00 scale] Great Western Railway style watering crane. The difference between HO and OO scales is the former is 3.5 mm to the foot, the latter 4mm to the foot: both run on the same gauge of track.