Splendid slide-show of the Eritrean Railway.
And a humorous pastiche country song I wrote in Kenya back in the 1970's:
The Kenyan Cannonball
I've heard of all your Cannonballs
rattling down the line;
they're always heading southwards,
they all pull in on time.
The wheels keep on a-turning
and the smokestacks always shine -
but if you want to see God's country
then try this train of mine.
CHORUS
The Kenyan Cannonball,
the Kenyan Cannonball,
The steam comes from
the chimney, oh hear the whistle call.
It chugs across the
sleepers, it seems ten miles a day,
If you want to get
there faster, you can push or you can pray.
Some folks talk of walking down that lonesome railroad
track,
they're forever counting cross-ties, with a sack upon their
back.
I'm not saying that they romanticise
the freight-train or hobo-
but they're not the only ones
who've heard steam whistles blow.
CHORUS
The trains all start rolling from the East towards the West,
And way out here in Kenya , they still think steam's the
best.
They send goods to Uganda , and back towards the Coast,
And though I've never hopped a freight, I'm quite prepared
to boast:
From the wide old Indian Ocean across to that great Lake ,
Over rivers and Rift Valley
runs the Iron Snake.
Yes, the mean man-eating lions once made an awful mess,
But none of them could speed it up, the lunatic express.
CHORUS
From Mombasa to Kisumu, and
to Kampala too,
You can pay or ride the box-car, you can yodel till you're
blue.
You can use the rails for bracelets, you can twist them
round your arm,
But if you want to get there quicker, ride a tractor from your farm
CHORUS
Further information:
The Uganda Railway
YouTube Video Nairobi-Kisumu Line
BBC 2011 report
The 'lunatic' line in pictures
See also "The Stourbridge Lion"
The Uganda Railway
YouTube Video Nairobi-Kisumu Line
BBC 2011 report
The 'lunatic' line in pictures
See also "The Stourbridge Lion"
In Kenya
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