Zimbabwe 2010

Geoff’s Trains (my company – the clue is in the name) ran a steam enthusiast tour to Zimbabwe in July 2010. This is a new blog, and I will start with a report of that tour.

To be more accurate, this tour should have been called South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia 2010, but that’s a mouthful and so Zimbabwe 2010 will do. 

Most of our southern African tours start in Johannesburg because this is the best gateway into the region. Normally, we include a pre-tour visit around Gauteng to entertain anyone arriving early. For this tour, we included the Reefsteamers depot in Germiston followed by Capital Park to see Rovos Rail and Friends of the Rail. 

This GMAM Garratt is owned by the Sandstone Heritage Trust, but stored and maintained by Reefsteamers at Germiston

19D on the ashpit at Capital Park

 Capital Park depot is shared by Rovos Rail and Friends of the Rail. A large facility, it offers good photo opportunities.

19D shunting at Capital Park

 The tour started in earnest on 22 July when we travelled by road from Johannesburg to Selebi Phikwe in Botswana. This took most of the day, and we arrived shortly after nightfall.

Early the following morning we made our way to the BCL Mine, where security checked that all of our cameras and lenses had been recorded on their list. Not being very frequently visited by railfans, we are processed in the same way as a visiting journeyman, who has to declare all of his tools as an anti-theft measure. Our cameras and lenses, being defined as our tools, all had to be checked and listed. Once in, the management and crews at BCL are all really friendly and cooperative.

The mine started the day with one working steam locomotive and a hired BR diesel. Mid morning, the diesel was put to one side and a second steam loco took its place. There was a morning working to Selebi shaft, and an afternoon trip to the closer Selebi North. The crew cooperated well, stopping the train in section to allow our coach to reposition. Such assistance from an industrial concern is commendable. but when a cooler box full of canned drinks was supplied free of charge, they set themselves above the rest.

24 July 2010: We motored to Francistown this morning to catch the NRZ passenger train to Bulawayo. This is one of the very few cross – border passenger trains left in Africa, and well worth the ride. We had a reserved sitter coach next to the twin dining car ‘Zambezi’. Amazingly, the dining car retains the furniture that I installed in 1994, when we refurbished the coaches for use on the Train de Luxe. This may in part be because there are no openings large enough to remove it, the lounge suites were assembled in situ. Now re-upholstered in a rather unsympathetic golden brown, and showing signs of their age, walking into the coaches still gives a strange feeling of deja-vu. The Botswana Railways driver recovered some of the delay caused by rather slow loading of the K (parcel) trucks, making a maximum speed of just over 10 km per hour. I pointed this our to the NRZ driver at Plumtree – he told me that his loco was equipped with GPS positioning, and if he went too fast … at this point, he crossed his wrists in the internationally recognised handcuff sign …. and smiled. We arrived in Bulawayo almost on time, he maxed out at 106 km per hour. The maximum permitted speed on the NRZ for mixed trains fully fitted with roller bearings is 75 km per hour.

Botswana Railways Diesel Electric loco at Francistown

 25 July 2010: Our first day in Bulawayo. Before sunrise transfer to the steam shed to photograph the sunrise that did not materialise. Clouds had come over, and they would frustrate us for the rest of the tour. If you know Bulawayo, you will know all about the low, grey, dull clouds that add nothing to photographs. The wind that accompanies them is not much help either. Having made the best we could of the non-sunrise, we made our way to the station for our first NRZ charter train to Cement with Class 14A number 525. The trip our went well, with an impromptu runpast at Northolt -  because someone lived there – well, nearly, he lives in London. Bulawayo’s Northolt was opened in the 1950′s when the line from the capital was rerouted in a big arc around the city. Getting off at Northolt saved you a 20 minute amble through Mpopoma and Westgate. There was a wait at Cement Station whilst water was pumped from the auxiliary tank car to the locomotive using the Honda pump I had supplied. It was a relief when the pump spluttered into life, but it took a while to fill the bunker because the pipes were a smaller diameter than the pump bore. The workshop had made reducing pieces which worked, but were hardly ideal.

Class 14A # 525 at Mpopoma. The locals on the opposite track underscore the more lax approach to health and safety on the NRZ.

 This afternoon was Railway Museum time. Most of the group made it, but I had to deal with the fallout from one enthusiasts who had arrived in Bulawayo one day early because he wanted to visit the Matobo Hills. he fell down and broke his arm, and so  did not see any trains at all. Better luck next year!

One tradition that I will maintain as long as possible is the braai (barbecue) at the steam depot, arranged by the NRZ catering department. This unique event includes a full bar, and a Garratt backdrop.

Steamshed barbecue - with cash bar

Bulawayo Steam Shed

26 June 2010: A very early start this morning, required to get ahead of the commuter trains that would thereafter block the line to Khame Station until 08h00. Some confusion here, the crew were still asleep! However, we did eventually depart on the revised time one hour later – nobody tells me anything!

Once more, clouds were very much in evidence. Some of the group had elected to sleep in, and catch a coach to Figtree in time for our departure from there at 07h00. As I have come to expect in such circumstances, the sun broke through the clouds just as the train and the coach simultaneously arrived at Figtree. The coach late risers got the photo of the day, those long suffering die-hards on the train did not. Our onward journey to Plumtree with 16A number 611 was uneventful except for clouds that impacted on the runpasts, the comments from the Bulawayo on-train contingent and some confusion about Rovos and Sheltam.  I was told that Rovos Rail had preceded us early this morning, returning from Victoria Falls to Pretoria, and that a Sheltham contract train was catching us from the rear. I explained this to everyone, just in time to see Rovos arrive at Plumtree. I sometimes think the railways do these things on purpose to make me look foolish, but in fact they were simply confused themselves. This second Rovos train was the return from Dar es Salaam, with a Sheltam diesel electric at the head end.

27 June 2010: Another early start – are you noticing a trend here? This time, we were heading out to Nyamandhlovu, the aim being to get to the Tenela Bank just beyond the station in time for the early light. This was reasonably well achieved, and even the clouds were not too unkind.

Class 15A number 395 at Tenela Bank

Gwayi Siding

Runpasts were arranged Sawmills and Gwayi, but possibly the best photographs were taken whilst the locomotive was being serviced. This line still has most of the steam infrastructure in place, allowing good images of water columns, overhead tanks, ashpits and other steam train kit. The final runpast of the day was on the Ngamo Pan. the sun was not kind, but the stop was made memorable by a National Parks anti poaching patrol. They were in the far distance when we stopped and detrained into the Hwange Game Reserve. As the train backed up, they came closer. The runpast happened, the patrol were half way to to the track. The train backed up and we entrained, and there we sat as the crew prepared for their onward dash. Fearful of a lengthy delay whilst we discussed our actions with National Parks, I encouraged the crew by radio to get a move on. As the Rangers passed under the telephone route, we started to move. I stood on a coach balcony and shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry, can’t stop the train”. I called. “are you poachers?” They called back. “No, photographers”. I replied. We gathered speed up the Dete Straight. They shrugged, turned around and started walking back over the horizon.

Sawmills passengers waiting for their Garratt powered commuter train

29 June 2011: We got up early this morning. Destination, Hwange Colliery. Permission had finally been granted for us to enter the Colliery, subject to a fee that would be donated to their charity that supports aids victims and orphans. After the usual protracted officialdom we were supplied with 13 hard hats. One was red, and I was told to wear that so I could be identified, no-one explained why, but then – why not? The other 12 hats were distributed and those lucky enthusiasts who did not receive one were told that they had run out, so please be careful. The Colliery Loco Foreman was surprisingly helpful, possibly the crew appreciated the management’s gesture to donate the fee to their charity. He arranged a special train around the balloon to the old number 3 colliery junction, a line seldom used nowadays, and followed this with repeated runpasts through the washing plant.

Hwange Colliery Class 15A

Steaming through the washing plant

Deka Bridge

 With one eye on the clouds and the other on the water, we made reasonable time to Zanguja and back. Number 611 had been sent from Bulawayo as a backup, and was expected in Thomson Junction this afternoon. We crossed her at New Hwange Station as we made our afternoon run to Lukosi. A moderately late departure that should not have caused problems was complicated by a protracted crossing procedure at New Hwange, and the apparently obligatory discussion between the crews – of the “My Garratt is steaming worst than your Garratt” type, resulted in our making a dash for the Lukosi Bridge. The line runs in a westerly direction along a line of hills, as the sun dropped it would sometimes go behind the hills, and sometimes appear to rise again in the valleys. I was aware of the fristration as we steamed past potential runpast locations, but the opjective was the Lukosi Bridge, which we reached a few minutes before sunset. A mad scramble down the embankment and around the weir got the more agile photographers in position, only to have the loco crew delay the runpast until the last moment. Frustrating? Damn right!

Number 395 on Lukosi Bridge

395 and 611 laying a smoke screen to cover their TJ departure.

The locals were not impressed

Back at Thomson Junction in preparation for our last NRZ charter, this time to Zanguja, another problem. A water pipe supplying the overhead tank had ruptured, and there was only enough water in the tank to half fill one locomotive. With no time to run up the the colliery to scrounge a tankfull, number 395 headed out with a reduced load whilst 611 simmered in shame at the end of the station. The objective was Zanguja for a final grand runpast, and intermediate locations were abandoned to give the crew adequate water to return home. This was no doubt more appreciated by the crew than the photographers. A small ceremony to tank the 24 NRZ railwaymen, and Richard Gwade and the dining car staff, was followed by a coach ride to Victoria Falls.

A big vote of thanks to a hard working crew

31 July 2010: We had breakfast in the hotel – breakfast in the hotel? Sunrise in bed? We must be getting soft. A suspicion proven when we were greeted on our next train by a white suited steward with pith helmet and bucks fizz.

Thirsty lot, all drinks gone

Photographing a train on the Victoria Falls Bridge has become expensive. A Zambian Visa gets you over the bridge, and then you pay to enter the national park to reach the viewpoint. However, it remains an iconic sight that many steam photographers must have on their ‘do it before you die’ list.  Victoria Falls based Class 14A number 512 did the honours in front of two dining cars and a baggage van on hire from the Bulawayo Railway Museum.

Crossing the Victoria Falls Bridge

Livingstone has another steam train operation, running dinner trains on part of the old Zambezi Sawmills railway. They have 12th Class number 204 in service, hired from Zambia Railways. I arranged for 204 to be in steam as we so that we could photograph both ex Rhodesia Railways types side by side in Livingstone Station. The session was short bacause 512 coild not take water in Zambia, but I hope, worthwhile.

204 and 512 side by side at Livingstone

This afternoon we went civilian with a cruise on the Zambezi River. Great sunset, good beer and wine, the Hippo looked a bit bored.

Hippo on the Zambezi

Our last charter was again with Class 14A number 512. We headed out to Marimba Siding, on the line south to Thomson Junction. A late departure dampened photo opportunities, but not as much as a driver who could not stop the locomotive where we wanted him to. First he stopped behind a bush, then he steamed forward and stopped behind a tree, then he steamed back out of shot before repeating the sequence just to annoy me (I think). It was a reminder of just how good our drivers up until now had performed, and in the end we did achieve a runpast at a scenic lake.