Gari la Moshi. Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways

Text in englisch Railway building in East Africa started at the end of the 19th century. The colonial powers Britain and Germany had divided the land between them, but without transport links to the interior it was worthless. Construction of the German railway, the Usambarabahn, started first, but the British was in 1901 first to reach Lake Victoria. This was the Uganda Railway, so named although it was entirely in Kenya. The Uganda Railway had been built to meter rather than cape gauge as an economy, which limited capacity but was an advantage when Tanganyika came under British rule after the first world war and the railways were linked up. The longer Central line in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, was not connected by rail until 1963. Motive power on the UR was initially light engines from India. More powerful locomotives were required for the growing traffic on demanding grades. Mallet locomotives first appeared in 1912, but it was the Garratt locomotives, introduced in 1926, that came to dominate the scene in later years. This culminated with the huge 252t 59 class in operation nearly until the end of steam. It is the development and operation of the steam locomotives of the railways, which in 1948 formed the EAR, which is the subject of this book. This is set against the political development, extension of the network, availability of fuel and feed water and constraints of the permanent way. The readable and thoroughly researched text is supported by 200 photographs (43 in colour) and 122 detailed line drawings and maps.