From colonial past to modern projects, stories of the locomotive roll onward
Sitting at the heart of Nairobi’s central business district, the Nairobi Railway Museum could be considered as one of Kenya’s best gems hidden in plain sight. Tucked away on Station Road at Nairobi Railway Station’s northwest end, the little known museum is a repository of past events in the region.
One can hardly talk about the history of East Africa without talking about the development of the railway in the region. In as far as this is true, the Nairobi Railway Museum stands as one of the best documentations of East Africa’s history.
The museum contains exhibits from the now defunct East African Railways and was opened in 1971 by East African Railways and Harbours Corporation.
Located at the heart of the city and currently being operated by Kenya Railways Corporation, the museum preserves the relics of the railways of East Africa and serves as a center of learning on the rail travel history in this vast region.
Elias Randiga, the museum’s curator, says that the museum receives around 7,000 visitors annually, mostly foreigners. However, the COVID-19 outbreak and resultant restrictions have reduced the numbers significantly.
Despite the slowdown in the number of visitors, the museum remains a fascinating introduction to an important piece of the colonial history of East Africa. It narrates the tale of the railway’s construction through the whole stretch of the period from the annexation of the region in the 1800s as a British protectorate, to the struggles for freedom and independence.
The museum has two sections that display items that seem to have been frozen in time. The main gallery contains an array of well-preserved relics from over a century ago including numerous records and artifacts of the railway’s construction and operation.
On display are also items such as lampposts, station benches and oddities from the East African Railways stations from both Kenya and Uganda.
One such item is a bicycle that was introduced by the administration in the 1950s to inspect the line. The peculiar bicycle was a revolutionary invention by East Africa Railways that replaced the inspection push trolley that was manual and involved up to four operators.
Time stands still
In this museum where time seems to have stood still for decades, the story of the struggles involved in building the railway line from the port of Mombasa into the Ugandan heartland is well preserved. One such story that has fascinated the whole world is the story of the man-eating lions of Tsavo that almost brought the railway construction to a standstill.
After leaving Mombasa, the rail had to cross the Tsavo Plain. As the line progressed, man-eating lions held up the construction. They attacked the construction camp and killed several workers.
“Charles Ryall, a colonial engineer and administrator was dragged to his death at Kima Station on June 6,1900, by these marauding lions. He intended to lure the lion into a carriage with the aim of killing it,” Randiga explains.
“He had stationed lookouts at the back of the carriage and left the door and windows ajar. Unfortunately, they all fell asleep and did not hear the lion enter the carriage and drag Ryall to his death.”
The Kenya-Uganda railway line, which was nicknamed the Lunatic Express by its British constructors because of its high cost and the dangers faced by those constructing it, is believed to have cost more than 2,500 lives through tropical diseases, murderous heat, and the man-eating lions. Randiga says that it is estimated that four workers died for each mile of the 931-kilometer railway line.
Another important bit of East African history captured at the Nairobi Railway Museum is the arrival of Asians, especially Indians in East Africa. Most of the skilled and unskilled labor used in the construction of the railway line was imported from India and many of them remained after their contracts ended. This marked the establishment of the Asian community in Uganda and Kenya which thrives to this day.
Mass migration
Despite the fact that merchants from India had come to Mombasa long before the railway, it was the railway line construction and the need for labor that first brought a mass migration of people from the Indian subcontinent into Africa.
Having started construction on railway lines in India nearly 50 years earlier, Indian engineers and laborers had the skills the British required. It is believed that more than 30,000 Indian workers were enticed to sail to Mombasa and a new life in East Africa during this period.
The Nairobi Railway Museum’s gallery also has records on the later development of rail transport after East African countries gained independence. What started as the Uganda Railway was merged into Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours in 1929 and later into the East African Railways and Harbours Corporation, or EAR&H, in 1948. EAR&H operated transportation links for Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania until the East African Community was dissolved in 1977 when Kenya’s portion of the railway became the Kenya Railways Corporation.
The last line to be built was the Chinese-funded Tazara line from the port of Dar-es-Salaam to Tunduma on the border of Zambia. It was intended to give Zambia an outlet for its exports after its independence. With that, the railway line came to a full completion in 1976.
The museum’s gallery might give visitors a sneak peek into the tumultuous past of railway travel in East Africa, but to get a hands on experience, one has to visit the old and rickety locomotives on display at the museum’s well maintained old rail connection in the yard.
The outdoor yard has a collection of rolling stock, steam engine locomotives, wagons, coaches and ship models in various stages of disrepair. One of these engines, the mountain class, the most powerful meter-gauge locomotive at that time, weighs 254 metric tons.
Museum records indicate that in one trip, it could move 1,200-tons off rolling stock. The steam train which was christened No 301 and operated between 1923 and 1971 is also prominently displayed at the compound. This particular train is of great pride to the museum since one can see it in the famous movie Out of Africa, that won seven Academy Awards.
Future preserved
As a way of preserving the present for the future, the museum has also meticulously documented the Chinese-funded construction of the Madaraka Express Standard Gauge Railway.
In the newest collection at the museum, miniature models of the trains using the Standard Gauge Railway are on display alongside other items like machines and equipment used during the construction of the new modern line.
After the privatization of Kenya Railways in 2006, the National Museum of Kenya took custody of the museum and its exhibits. With COVID-19 infections still being witnessed in Kenya and the number of foreign travelers still low, the number of visitors to the museum has really gone down.
However, some online reviews by previous visitors to the museum reveal that anyone willing to visit the attraction will not be disappointed.
According to Martin Wahogo from Nairobi, the museum is a must visit experience for anyone visiting Nairobi and for local tourists as well.
“This museum literally catalogs the birth of Nairobi and Kenya in general. It gives the history of how the Kenya-Uganda railway was built and with it the nation of Kenya defined. It is full of history that every Kenyan should know. You get a chance to see the various train engines used over the years including the hand pushed train wagons,” Wahogo says.
A visitor who identifies himself as Gill C from the United Kingdom says that the museum is a fascinating place and should not be missed by visitors to Nairobi. He adds that the memorabilia and photographs of the extraordinary endeavor that building this railway represented, and the hardships of those involved, come to life at the museum.
“Without the supply depot being created here on the way to Uganda, Nairobi as it is today would not exist. Sadly some of the photos and drawings are becoming a little faded with age and could do with some conservation effort before they are lost forever. The rolling stock surrounded by weeds is evocative of a bygone era but open to exploration in a way that would not be possible in a European museum,” Gill says.
