Friends of the Rail Forum

The trip from Nairobi to Athi River was pretty much flawless, but frustrations set in at Athi River. Due to an accident at Kikuyu on Friday, freight trains were stacked up. Without our passengers, our return trip to Nairobi was now a fairly low priority in the great scheme of things, so we stood for 4 hours at Athi River while freight trains were cleared in both directions, before finally getting our own "line clear" at around 6 pm. We had a good trip back, arriving in Nairobi Station at 7.45 pm. But all credit to RVR for giving us a good run with our passengers in the morning. That part of the trip was immensely successful and the customers were happy, which is the important thing.

Photos by John Ashworth, 7th August 2011

Hi John, Interesting that the C+W guys placed that sign on the track.
Is that sign put just in front of the loco to warn the crew not to move the train? Are the C+W chaps actually scrabbling around under the train?
Do you take those C+W chaps with you on these trips?
Is not a roadworthy examination before initial departure from Nairobi not sufficient, followed up by a brake test after the loco has runaround, as we do here?
Are the brakes and couplings that unreliable that they need such a full inspection?

I think it's more to do with inter-company interfaces, Steve. The locos belong to Kenya Railways and are operated by (retired) KR crews, but the coaches belong to RVR, and RVR have the concession to operate trains. Hence the guard on the train is RVR, and we have an RVR official on the footplate. The brake test is thus done by RVR personnel, not by our own crew. They sign the paperwork. With the type of coupling used on KR, each coupler has to be screwed up tight, and this is also done by RVR personnel. But yes, they do put that warning board in front of the loco to warn the crew not to move while they are between (not under) vehicles.

Great shots of 3020, John. Takes me back to my young days spent in Dodoma when this class of loco was a common site. These pics just seem to capture the atmosphere of Africa.
Tony Mackay N.Z