| ZIMBABWE - LAST DAYS OF THE BEYER-GARRATTS
The Garratt locomotive is almost synonimous with Africa although Garratt locomotives were to be found in many other parts of the world including Britain. Many of those used in Africa were built by Beyer Peacock of Manchester and so are known as Beyer-Garratts. These articulated locomotives have two frames with their own driving wheels and cylinders surmounted by water tanks. Separating the two chassis is another frame carrying the boiler, cab and fuel supply. This type of locomotive is invaluable on lightly laid track and where sharp curves need to be negotiated. Whilst there are a considerable number of these engines preserved in South Africa, a few remaining examples continue in everday use in and around Bulawayo, which is Zimbabwe's second city. It is difficult in the current climate to be sure exactly how many locomotives remain in working order. According to International Working Steam reports visitors in May 2009 found there had been no daily steam for a month although the railway said that steam would return to duty in due course. On 30th June 16As 611 and 613 were reported to be on Bulawayo shunts and at the end of August 2009 15As 414 and 416 were in action with a fair supply of coal available at the shed. Despite everything, Bulawayo shed is perhaps the last great steam shed in the world. Surrounding the shed area are a large number of dumped engines which serve as a reminder of the once extensive steam fleet in this former British colony. and nearby is the Bulawayo Railway Museum with a representative collection of locomotives from the former rhodesian railways. The present economic and political situation in Zimbabwe has extended the life of the Garratts as the railways can not afford diesel fuel oil let alone replacement locomotives. Equally there seems little will or desire to extend the fleet of working locomotives. A number of overseas railtours have visited the country recently with mixed results. However travel in Zimbabwe is now more difficult with concerns for personal safety and this has also resulted in the suspension of the weekly luxury travel train to Victoria Falls. All pictures on this and subsequent pages were taken in the summer of 1999. At this time information on Zimbabwean steam was not easy to come by and some reports suggested that it had, or was about to finish. Steve Nakoneczny, my regular travelling companion met a Zimbabwe railway employee in London and had ascertained that there was still some Garretts working in the country and so we set out in the hope that we were not too late. After a day long drive from Harare to Bulawayo - in pouring rain - we arrived at the guest house, checked in and as night fell headed out again to check out the shed. The scene that greeted us was like Dante's Inferno ..... piles of burning embers, great heaps of ashes and clouds of steam. As our eyes adjusted we could make out at least five engines in steam on the shed. We were not too late ........................ |
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| BULAWAYO SHED When Steve and I first decided to head for Zimbabwe a number of fellow enthusiasts warned us not to expect too much as steam was already withdrawn from mainline service and the number of working locomotives was greatly reduced. Although activity was much less than in previous years its hard to describe the impact of even one working Garrett - it is the sheer size and scale that takes the breath away. We had obtained permits from Zimbabwe Railways which gave us access to all areas and so entry into the shed was a formality and we quickly became recognised and made welcome. The shed itself reflects its colonial origins and would be familiar to anyone who visited a British steam shed in the 1950's and 60's. The top end of the yard has a turntable - a massive structure since Garretts are nearly 90 feet in length and weigh close on 200 tons. During our visit engines were prepared from before dawn and between 8am and 9am moved off shed to the nearby station before heading to the various freight yards in and around Bulawayo. |
| The first rays of sunshine catch the sides of Class 15A No.395 as it stands inside the shed at Bulawayo. The 15th class have a 4-6-4+4-6-4 wheel arrangement and were the most numerous of the Garretts built for the Rhodesian Railways |
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| Also catching the early morning rays is No.525, a 14A class Garrett. The 14A class are considerably smaller than the 15A class with a 2-6-2+2-6-2 wheel arrangement, an overall length of 73 feet and a weight of just over 131 tons. Although a 'narrow-gauge' engine working on the 3'6" gauge system, the tractive effort of this locomotive was equal to that of British Railways largest standard gauge freight engines - the 9F |
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| No.421 is was one of the final batch of Class 15A locomotives and was built in 1952. Many of the Class 15 locomotives carried names which were in siNdebele, the language of the Matabele tribe. No.421 was named 'Intundhla' (meaning 'Giraffe') but by 1999 the name plate had been removed and probably sold to an enthusiast. |
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| The other surviving class of Garretts is Zimbabwe are Class 16A with a 2-8-2+2-8-2 wheel arrangement. These are 82 feet in length with a loaded weight of 170 tons. No.601, built in 1953, was handed to the Bulawayo Railway Museum but by August 1999 had been brought back into service in and around Bulawayo |
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| A portrait in light and shade as two unidentified Garretts are made ready for the days work. The shed has a total of eight roads with four in daily use and the others used to store locomotives out of use or awaiting repair. |
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| Class 14A No.510 stands outside Bulawayo shed being made ready for the days work in the shunting yards in and around the city. The water staining of the boiler pays testimony to the working heritage of these engines |
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| Bulawayo shed in its full glory as five Garretts stand in line across the front of Bulawayo shed. If this was disappointment (see above) we were prepared for plenty more! Featured in this glorious line up are Class 15A Nos 422, 424, 421 and 414 plus Class 16A No.601. |
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| Class 14A No.519 leaves the shed en route to Bulawayo station where the crew will be given their instructions for the day |
| The romance of steam? Certainly not for this member of the shed staff as he rakes out the ashpan and cleans the fire prior to No.421 leaving the shed |
| Class 15A No.421 makes its way through the shed yard at Bulawayo en route to the station. The pronounced slope on the front of the water tank makes the Class 15 easy to recognise at a distance. |
| Class 16A No.601 stands in front of the water tanks in the shed yard |
| No.601 stands on the huge turntable at the head of the shed yard in Bulawayo. Although we didn't see a locomotive turned while we were there, we were assured that it was still in working order . |
| No.519 stands half in and half out of Bulawayo shed in August 1999. |
| Class 15A No.422 was another of the named locomotives and in 1999 still retained its plates bearing the name 'Inkonkoni' which is the siNdebele word for Wildebeest. |
| We only really experienced one disappointment during our two short stays in Bulawayo. By the time we returned from a brief trip to the Victoria Falls we were well known around the shed area and had made friends with many of the staff. Without our prior knowledge a conspiracy was hatched by the shed crew to try to provide us with some real main line action. The diesel rostered to work the cement wagons to the imaginatively named settlement of Cement suffered a mysterious failure and the only other available locomotive just happened to be Garratt No.514. The (white) driver was therefore sent across to the steam shed and it was immediately apparant that he was none to pleased and none too co-operative. We were kept carefully out of sight while he inspected the engine from end to end before finally declaring it unfit for purpose as the whistle wasn't loud enough! His victory proved to be temporary when the shedmaster declared that he would take personal responsibility and that the locomotive was to continue as planned. After much delay the engine set of for Mpopoma yard where it was due to collect the wagons and we set off in hot pursuit by car. Our hopes of a master shot on the mainline were however doomed to failure. Once arrived at Mpopoma another detailed inspection of the locomotivew was carried out and further (imaginary?) faults discovered. With no-one on hand to over-rule the driver the mission was aborted and the engine returned to Bulawayo shed for 'repairs'. How the wagons eventually got to Cement we never did discover - but it certainly wasn't behind steam! |
| Another general view of the front of Bulawayo steam shed with Class 15A No.519 on the left and Class 16A No.601 on the right. No.601 was the only operational Class 16A at the time of our visit but subsequently Nos. 611 and 613 have been returned into service |
| The length of day in the tropical regions is more or less 12 hours and so by late afternoon most of the engines were returning to shed - not least because many of the locomotives headlights were non-operational due to a lack of bulbs and funding for replacement. More serious was a lack of boiler gauge glasses and several locomotives were working without visible means of seeing how much water remained in the boiler |