The Bulawayo Park Railway
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This information is published as a service to the Round Table and Rotary clubs of Bulawayo.
Geoff's Trains is not otherwise involved with the project and all of the information is published in
good faith
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69 Pitt Street, Kidderminster
Worcestershire, DY10 2UN, England
Phone & Fax: 44 (0)1562632000
email
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The train in the Centenary Park is running.
It had stood unused for 5 years before this but today putt-putt, trampoline, train - all painted -
spic-and-span and running.
Our Bulawayo children will be richer for the sacrificial efforts and generosity of the
Bulawayo public.
Even in all our problems the impossible can happen and children's lives can be enriched.
Well done to the small Rotary International and Round Table Committee for persevering.
Steam loco next !
Phil Whitehead. Bulawayo Round Table. 2005.
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The 10,25 inch miniature railway in Bulawayo's Centenary Park was opened on 18 August 1960 by
Sir Humphrey Gibbs. It was run by the Bulawayo Round Table # 3 club. The first locomotive was a
maroon painted 4-6-2 named King Arthur. In 1963 King Arthur was joined by Queen Guinivere, a
4-6-0 British 'Royal Scott' look-alike. Appropriately much lighter than the King, the Queen was
never very successful at the task of hauling Bulawayo's kids of all ages around the demanding
track.
Through the 1990's the railway fell into disrepair, and about 6 years ago, stopped running when
the last locomotive, Lady Morag, popped her thyristor once to often.
In October 2004 Bulawayo Round Table # 49 decided to take on
and rejuvenate the railway. Their first mission was to bring Rotary
and Lions and any other service clubs they could find in the area to
assist with the project and turn it back into a community service.
Unfortunately Lions declined but a few individuals from the Rotary
Club of Bulawayo South assisted.
This project also includes the restoration of an 18 hole putt putt
(crazy golf) course and a trampoline.
We started the rejuvenating project in November 2004 with the help
of the Bulawayo Community in form of cash and kind and thus far
have been able to repaint and repair most of the surrounding area.
We have rubberised the putt putt course with rubber which was
kindly donated by Dunlop Zimbabwe. The whole area has been
repainted with paint donated by Dulux and Astra Paints. There has
been quite a bit of other refurbishment on both the trains and the
surrounding areas carried out with materials and labour which
were donated by other companies all of which will be listed on an
acknowledgement board which will be put up at the Park once the
project is completed.
King Arthurs Cross station,
turntable and engine shed.
Photo: Geoff Cooke. April
2005
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The golf project still needs about 90 litres of super contact adhesive to finish sticking the
rubber down. Donations of old putters and balls would also be welcomed.
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Lady Morag
She is a battery operated 'diesel' based on the Alshom DE8 outline.
Built in the NRZ Bulawayo workshops in the 1970's, she weighs
about 2 tons. Her power comes from a bank of batteries yielding 72
volts. She is 14ft 6 inches in length.
Lady Morag has now been repainted in the original blue colours,
and resplendent in her fine new dress is running trains for the public.
Lady Morag ran for a while in
yellow colours
Photo: Round Table
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King Arthur
King Arthur measures 16 feet and weighs 1½ tons. He has a
working pressure of 150 psi and has the ability to draw 30
passengers plus rolling stock. He was built, we believe, between
1959 and 1960.
The King together with the Queen were found disassembled with
many of the parts, particularly the brass components, missing.
Unfortunately we have been unable to find the drawings for these
locomotives and none of us in the Bulawayo 49 Round Table Club
know how they work and neither do we know what the missing
components look like. The King's boiler is in the process of being
tested and passed by Factory & Works and until this happens, there
is nothing that we can do on this locomotive except to search for
knowledgeable people, drawings and components.
King Arthur in the 1980's
Photo: Chris Butcher. NRZ
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Queen Guinevere
We have our suspicions that the Queen's boiler was condemned
so we are not looking at this locomotive until such time that the
King is functional.
The Queen was built by railway apprentices in the Polytech in
Bulawayo in 1963. Drawings for the Queen should be available.
Queen Guinevere
Photo: Geoff Cooke. March
1975
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Our Appeal
The project has a long way to go. So far, the Bulawayo public and businesses have contributed
about US$35,000 and a great deal of time. Please help if you can.
1] Knowledge: Anyone who has any knowledge on steam or battery electric locomotives,
preferably in the Bulawayo area who are willing to assist us (voluntarily) with getting the King,
Queen and Lady running again. Of course we would be grateful for any assistance from anyone
whether they be in Zimbabwe or not.
2] Drawings: Any drawings pertaining to steam that may give us an idea on what the
missing components look like and on how the trains should more or less look like and where
these components should fit on the train.
3] Whereabouts: King Arthur was built by Maritzburg Engineering in South Africa which
has since closed down and we have been told that there was a second train built by the same
company and the same as King Arthur which is a replica of a 4-6-2 Pacific. If anyone knows the
whereabouts of this train, please could they kindly notify us so that we may get in touch with the
people concerned and hopefully obtain drawings etc., from them. We believe that the sister train to
King Arthur is currently in the United Kingdom under repair and would appreciate it if the company
that is dealing with these repairs could possibly let us have a copy of the drawings of this
locomotive. You will find our contact details at the bottom of this page.
Progress has been made, with contact established with the owners of both sister locomotives.
If you can offer any more help, your contribution may still be vital.
4] Financial: So far this project has cost both the community and Bulawayo Round Table #
49 in excess of US$35000 although the entire project is probably only 70% complete. As soon as
we have one train running it will be generating an income that will assist with the completion of this
project although any extra funds will speed up the process.
We are desperately in need of some hard currency as some components we need for the
electric and steamers need to be imported. So far, no external donations have been received
and even £100 would get the ball moving.
In conclusion, this is only a brief rundown of what has been done, what still needs to be done
and what is required to get this project to a fully operational status.
Contact Details:
Barry Duplock (Bulawayo Round Table 49 Chairman)
Tel No: + 263 9 74841 (Work)
Cell No: + 263 11 867 553
E-Mail: vix@netconnect.co.zw
Francois van der Zee (Treasurer and Artca President)
Tel No: + 263 9 242740 (Home)
Cell No: + 263 11 631 793
E-Mail: fcagencies@zol.co.zw
Ian Stevens (Vice Chairman and Trains Manager)
Tel No: + 263 9 473592 (Work)
Cell No: + 263 23 892 889
E-Mail: natfenb@mweb.co.zw
Geoff Cooke (Helping where he can. Kidderminster Rotary)
email
The first run with some of the
team
Photo: Bulawayo Round Table
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