| BULAWAYO YARDS AND CEMENT By August 1999 all mainline trains in Zimbabwe were worked by diesel locomotives and the Garratts based in Bulawayo were relegated to shunting duties in and around Bulawayo and trip workings between the various yards. Nevertheless there were still numerous photographic opportunities and a game of 'hide and seek' took place as Steve and I tried to find the locomotives as they criss-crossed the city. A good place to start the day was Bulawayo station as the locomotives came into the station to take orders before heading off to the various shunting yards. The station buffet also served an amazing 'English Breakfast' - welcome after a dawn start from the guest house - which featured eggs, bacon, baked beans, sausages, chips and an 8oz steak! |
| The footbridge at Bulawayo station provided an ideal vantage point from which to watch and photograph the various comings and goings. No.519 has just arrived from the shed whilst No.514 takes water from the station water tank. To the left are long lines of empty coaching stock in the traditional Rhodesian Railways livery and in the distance it is just possible to see the roof and smoke vents of the engine shed (extreme left - rear) |
| I was somewhat surprised to receive this picture in an email. The sender told me it had been sent to him by a former colleague in the Rhodesian Police Force who described it as a picture taken sometime in the 1960's. The reason for my surprise (and the sender's subsequent embarrassment ) was that I instantly recognised it as one of my own pictures taken during the 1999 visit! A gentle reminder - all these pictures are subject to copyright! |
| One can but dream ........ sadly not the departure of the next express working to Harare but in fact Beyer- Garratt No.514 about to move empty coaching stock into the yarda at Bulawayo and release the diesel locomotive trapped at the far end of this terminus station |
| Running with the coal bunker to the front, Class 15A No.424 - originally named 'Isilwana' meaning 'Lion' in the language of the Matabele people - takes a trip working from Bulawayo station yards towards Cold Store yards. |
| The 4-6-4 + 4-6-4 wheel arrangement of the 15A class locomotives can be clearly seen in this late afternoon shot of Beyer Garratt No.406 as it stands in Westgate Yard. Later in the week this was one of the engines used to take the 'Train Deluxe' from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls |
| The weather during our first few days in Bulawayo was somewhat unsettled making photography a little difficult - what a great shot No.424 would have made had its departure from Mpopoma Yard been lit by glorious shafts of sunshine! |
| With the dark rainclouds forming a threatening backdrop to the scene, Class 14A 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 Beyer Garratt No.525 shunts back across Steel Yard Road in central Bulawayo just a short distance from the main station |
| One of my fellow enthusiasts has a fettish for photographing locomotives with consecutive numbers - sadly he wasn't present as Class 15A Nos 421 and 422 took water in Cold Store yard on the outskirts of Bulawayo |
| Work pauses as Class 16A No.601 shunts the yards at National Foods grain store. The local security guard seemed totally unconcerned by the sudden appearance of two railway photographers hot-footing it up the track in pursuit of the engine as it threaded its way through Bulawayo |
| Having made up its train of empty wagons No.601 threads its way through the industrial area of Bulawayo on its way out of National Foods and on towards Mpopoma Yards |
| The contrast between the smaller Class 14A 2-6-2 + 2-6-2 Garratt and the larger Class 15A 4-6-4 + 4-6-4 Garratt is clearly demonstrated as No. 519 and No.424 stand side by side whilst taking water at Cold Store. |
| No.525 works a short freight out of Bulawayo yards |
| No.514 crosses Steel Yard road running light engine back to Bulawayo station |
| With two shunters riding on the buffer beam, Class 14A No.514 sets out from Bulawayo station yard with a trip freight to Mpopoma. |
| Built in 1950, Class 15A No.404 was a notoriously trouble prone engine and was involved in a number of accidents including a fatal derailment on the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls line when the locomotive left the rails and overturned south of Hwange. Repaired and rebuilt the locomotive was renumbered as No.424 since when it has led a blameless existence. |
| No.424 brings a heavy train out of Mpopoma yard and onto the main Harare to Bulawayo line |
| Late afternoon and No.519 takes water at Cold Store. This may have attracted our undivided attention but the everyday scene is ignored by the two local inhabitants using the railway as a short cut across town |
| No.601 has been busy shunting and is finally about to make its departure out of Westgate Lower Yard |
| Class 14A No.514 entering Bulawayo station towards the end of the day |
| CEMENT The imaginatively named suburb of Cement is the location of ...... a large cement factory! Naturally it has its own works shunting engine but this is not some diminutive 0-6-0 tank engine but a much larger 4-8-2 Henschel. Now known as Unicem No.1 this is the former South African Railway's Class 19D No.2695. The engine was (is?) used to shunt wagons in the yard of the cement works and due to the orientation of the yard it tended to face in a northerly direction making photography somewhat difficult. |
| Class 19D 4-8-2 Unicem No.1 shunting wagons at Cement |
| Having spent some time watching the opertaions at Cement it was fairly clear that the locomotive shunted wagons around the yard with the smokebox facing in to the wagons making a 'classic' train shot impossible. A small amount of goodwill and even smaller amounts of bribery brought about this shot - not typical of operations at this industrial plant |
| No.1 stands in front of the cement works while the crew take an extended lunch break. Steve and I went in search of a local bar and inadvertently walked into an establishment clearly unused to white faces! After a brief moment or two of silence our clearly English accents broke the ice and we were soon necking a 'Lion' beer to the amusement of the local populace. |