North British and Beyer Peacocks at the Kenyan National Railway Museum

Changes to our plane times meant we had a day to spare in Nairobi and I managed to persuade the family to spend part of it at the Kenyan Railway Museum which is on a rather smaller scale than York but full of British built locos.

The supervisor also took us across to the works where they have three locos which are capable of working - one supposedly having worked the day before although it seem to be cold when we got there (I think they may have meant the weekend before).

As with most places in Kenya, the place is crawling with security guards but well worth a visit.

A number of pics here;

http://simon71.fotopic.net/c1885447.html

 

Thanks.Its all metre gauge I believe, Ralph.

Some fine locos but its not, apart from the three in the works, preservation as we understand it. I guess their priorities lie elsewhere (Perhaps correctly).

 

Definitely metre gauge, although many of the steam locos, including the class 59s were built re-gaugable to 3ft 6in in anticipation that one day the railways on East Africa would be joined up with the railways of Southern Africa. Rhodes dream of the line from Cape to Cairo was of course not completed. The 59s were also built to be reconfigurable to burn coal, perhaps they would have used coal from Wankie?

While you were there did you spot any of the BREL Ashford built wagons?

Hope this helps.

Alan