In the mid-20th century there was a small narrow gauge railway serving the dockyard and warehouse area in Malakal, on the Nile in southern Sudan. There seem to be few records of it, and very little remaining, although old rails and sleepers can be seen in culverts, fences and buildings in Malakal. It has been closed for many decades.
In the old Egyptian quarter of Malakal (where Egyptian hydrologists monitor the flow of water in the Nile in accordance with the 1928 and 1959 agreements) a few remnants of track can be seen. These two photos are taken inside a workshop area. It looks like 2 ft gauge, maybe? I asked if there are any old locomotives remaining but David, the young man who unlocked the gates and showed me round (see photo 2), said no, this is all there is. He also said that nobody knows anything about this railway as it is too old. I suspect any remaining motive power and rolling stock would have been relocated when it was closed.
Photos by John Ashworth, 13th February 2009.
Sudan narrow gauge remnants
- John Ashworth
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Sudan narrow gauge remnants
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- Disused track
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- David stands over the points
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Re: Sudan narrow gauge remnants
Fascinating! You in the right place at the right time to discover things, so keep discovering!
- Nathan Berelowitz
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Re: Sudan narrow gauge remnants
Sudanly you could be forming a preservation group. This could be brought to the attention of narrow guage train fans.
- Dylan Knott
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Re: Sudan narrow gauge remnants
Saw something like this on the old AECI site at Somerset West yesterday. Nothing left except for short sections of the old trolley tracks. Oh and for some reason the only building retained was the loco shed complete with inspection pits etc.
Re: Sudan narrow gauge remnants
I found this book online that may or may not help
https://www.ianallanpublishing.com/prod ... 42&page=19
https://www.ianallanpublishing.com/prod ... 42&page=19
- John Ashworth
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Re: Sudan narrow gauge remnants
Thanks, Allan. I have a copy of this very interesting little book. It's in storage in UK so I can't check it, but I don't seem to recall anything about the Malakal line in it. The Red Sea line to which its title refers is a good 1,000 km from Malakal. Sudan is a huge country. At 2.4 million square km it's the largest in Africa, twice the size of South Africa and comparable with the size of most of western Europe.