Friends of the Rail Forum

Superintendent Charles Ryall was waiting in 1st class coach no 12 in 1900 to try and shoot a man-eating lion which had been attacking railway construction workers. It seems he drifted off to sleep. The lion came in through a window (see how small they are!), reportedly stood on a sleeping colleague without harming him, and dragged Ryall out of the window, killing him.

Photos by John Ashworth 1st March 2008

Photos of the same coaches stabled in a slightly different order taken by John Ashworth in 1996

What we were talking about! Thank you!!!!!

he coaches were based on an Indian design - hence the shutters and small windows - designed to deal with a hot environment.

It is amazing that a lion could get through a window that size, let alone drag Ryall out of the window. The other individual in the coach was an Italian called Parenti.

The story is well documented - see "The Lions of Tsavo" by Patterson, or the "Lunatic Express" by C Miller.

The UR (for those who may wonder) stands for Uganda Railways, which is what it was called then.

Sudanese coaches also have those sun shade blinds over the windows.

Have you travelled in them? DO they work?

Never travelled on Sudan Railways, sadly. I don't know if the sun shades work.