NAIROBI RAILWAY MUSEUM - NAIROBI KENYA

Railways of any country hold a romance of their own. I have been a railway freak right from my child hood. I remember spending hours and hours on weekends at remote railway sidings and crossings. Specially many of my child hood nights have been spent listening to the eerie wails of the steam locos in the 50's as they gathered speed leaving Meerut Cantonment station. The whistles changing tones due to the Doppler effect, speeding on to either Delhi or Amritsar, hauling the Flying Queen, Frontier Mail or the Dehradun Express. The special goods locos had their distinct and harsh split whistles. I am 62 now but still nostalgically remember the thrill of those bygone days. I try to make it a point to travel by train in which ever country I happen to visit. My most memorable travel was by the Reunification Express (SE-3) from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam (2 nights and 2 days), so also from Singapore to Butterworth (Malaysia). Each rail road, country by country has its own smells, noises, the different type of clatter as the wheels cross the points and amazingly different whistles and the different rythms of coaches speeding on the tracks . The design of carriages, food enroute, the livery and off course the people. Ahh...  amazingly charming and thrilling.

Kenya Railways represents the historical growth of that country and Nairobi Railway Museum narrates the tale of the country’s evolvement, indeed it is the rail that developed Kenya to the country it is now! The Nairobi Railway Museum provides answers to many unanswered questions concerning the early history of the railway and Kenya’s development.

The Nairobi Railway Museum was opened in 1971, and much of the credit for its foundation goes to the first Curator, Mr. Fred Jordan, who had been with the railways in East Africa from 1927. Nairobi Railway Museum consists of four sections, the Main Gallery (collection of smaller items), the Museum Resource Center (library and photographic section), the auditorium and an outdoor collection of locomotives, coaches and wagons.

The Resource Centre is priceless to railway historians and researchers. It contains old railway records, correspondence and books on the construction of the Railways right from the planning stage. Here you find items of more general interest to the railway enthusiast. One end wall displays various company crests, which themselves trace the history of the railways in East Africa: the Uganda Railway, 1896; Tanganyika Railways, 1919; Kenya and Uganda Railway, 1926; East Africa Railways, 1969 and the most recent, Kenya Railways, 1978.

On the opposite end wall you will find originals of the blueprints of the arrangements made to take the railway construction materials down the steep escarpment into the Great Rift Valley, west of Nairobi. Four wire-rope inclines were built, two of which had a gradient of 1 in 1. These arrangements allowed the construction of the line to proceed along the floor of the Rift Valley at the same time as the difficult permanent descent into the valley was being built. The wire-rope inclines were in use for 18 months, during which time 170 miles of track were laid beyond. 

Exhibits relating to track and bridge construction include lifting and traversing jacks, a cant gauge, and variety of old point levers including some which were first used in India. 

In connection with the control of traffic on the railway, which is single track throughout, there are tablet instruments, a line-clear staff, a pantaphone (or telephone), a ‘dak box’, used at each station for the safe-keeping of railway messages and telegrams. Of special interest to the steam enthusiast are items belonging to old locomotives, such as an oil-burning headlamp, a steam-operated bell, and a nameplate from a Governor or 60 class Garrat. A very unusual item is a bench seat which could be fitted to the locomotive footplate above the cowcatcher to allow distinguished travelers on the line an unsurpassed view of East Africa’s scenery and wildlife. 

Among such visitors were the former American President Theodore Roosevelt and the Prince of Wales. The museum is located to the right side end of the present Nairobi Railway Station. I leave it to the reader to Identify the steam locos in the pictures.

Railway	Number	Name	Manufacturer	Class	Wheel arrangement	EAR&H number	Status
Kenya-Uganda Railway	327		Vulcan Foundry	ED1	2-6-2T	EAR 1127	Display
	87	Karamoja	Beyer-Peacock	EC3	4-8-4+4-8-4	EAR 5711	Display
	2401		Vulcan Foundry	EB3	4-8-0		Display
	2409		Vulcan Foundry	EB3	4-8-0		Operational
	5505		Beyer-Peacock	GB	4-8-2+2-8-4		Display
	393		Nasmyth Wilson	EE	2-6-4T	EAR 1003	Display
Tanganyika Railway	301		Beyer Peacock	DL	4-8-0	EAR 2301	Display
East African Railways	2921	Masai of Kenya	North British	Tribal	2-8-2		Display
	3020	Nyaturu	North British	Tribal	2-8-4		Operational
	3123	Bavuma	Vulcan Foundry	Tribal	2-8-4		Display
	5918	Mount Gelai	Beyer-Peacock	Mountain	4-8-2+2-8-4		Operational
	5930	Mount Shengena	Beyer-Peacock	Mountain	4-8-2+2-8-4		Display
	6006	Sir Harold MacMichael	Société Franco-Belge	Governor	4-8-2+2-8-4		Display
Magadi Soda Company		Hugh F Marriott	W.G. Bagnall		0-4-0ST		Display

This is a must see as I felt it made me understand the psychology of the country better. Plus it was wonderful to see the old steam locos, some of which were in use in India,  during my childhood. In fact being an Army officers brat we traveled a lot in the days of steam locos hauling our trains.