Friends of the Rail Forum

I haven't been "hands on" with Kenyan steam for a while now, as I spend most of
my time in South Sudan these days, and I haven't had a chance to chat with
Maurice about this, but my personal view is that tour operators tend to have
unrealistic expectations of what can be delivered.

As far as I know 3320 and 2409 are OK, and both 5918 and 3320 benefited from a
lot of small repairs by Kevin last year, aimed at reducing the amount of water,
steam and oil lost through leaks and loose linkages. As far as I know 5918 needs
two or three leaking superheater elements to be replaced or, more likely,
blanked off. The three locos were repaired by overseas enthusiasts around a
decade ago, but did not receive a full overhaul. A number of us feel that it is
unrealistic to expect these loco to do long trips, and that they should remain
within a reasonable distance from Nairobi, eg Naivasha, Athi River or maybe
Konza, and the Thika branch. Add to this the logistics problems, obtaining oil
and water, and the fact that we rely on a very small group of elderly footplate
crew and fitters whose capacity is not limitless. This restricted itinerary
apparently is not attractive to overseas tour operators, particularly as the
cost of fuel, water and RVR access charges makes it quite expensive.

A couple of years ago we tried to set up a sustainable programme of local tours
for the domestic market, hoping that this would provide a solid base from which
to run occasional longer tours. Unfortunately it didn't succeed, mainly due to
the difficulties of coordinating the multiple stakeholders who were needed to
make it a practical and financial success, and the Kenyan steam scene has been
fairly dormant since then. It retains the capacity to run short trips if someone
wants to charter a train for an outing or a wedding or whatever, but it hasn't
really happened due to the cost.

So in my view Kenya is a viable steam destination for short tours for people who
want to ride behind steam in some spectacular scenery (it doesn't get much
better than the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley) and to see three pretty
unique locos in steam together in the environs of Nairobi, plus the diesel tour.
It is probably not the place for people who want long steam trips; for
photographers who are wedded to the idea of getting a particular shot of a
particular loco facing in a particular direction in a particular place in
particular lighting conditions at a particular time of day; nor to those who
will be bitterly disappointed by delays or if the programme changes at short
notice due to operational circumstances.

As I say, just a personal opinion.

James wrote:I couldn't agree more with John's assessment of the Kenyan steam scene which is as perceptive as ever. I'm probably as keen a photographer as anyone but know at least two overseas tour operators, both friends of mine and whose activities are intended largely for photographers, who take the view that a tour could only succeed if the train went a long distance from Nairobi. Why? As John writes the journey from Uplands down the escarpment into the Great Rift Valley has to be one of the world's great scenic train rides. Nothing can compare with it further afield either side of Nairobi - except maybe the climb on the far side of the valley from Nakuru up towards Fort Ternan.

Like many countries Kenya is perhaps a place where you need to allow time for everything to come together rather than rushing into a programme which depends on precise timing. An easy-going steam trip in this beautiful country is a great experience. Maybe there's something about the economics of tour operation that I don't understand but it seems a shame that no tour operator is offering a more modest and achievable programme.

Geoff wrote:Well said John and James. Speaking as someone who has visited Kenya in most years in the last 20 and been a fare-paying passenger on five steam train
excursions in that time, I endorse your observations.

My experience is that a guarantee could be offered that there WILL be delays!
Especially ones caused by loco problems! It's happened on all that I've been on.
In the light of experience, it is unrealistic to expect too much of the locos
and staff. They should stick reasonably near Nairobi, and never more than a
couple of days' consecutive running to allow recovery time. The 2013 EH
itinerary appeared much too ambitious with steam. I am reminded of a visit I
made to the then passenger manager of KRC back in 2004. She showed me a tour
request from ….(EH if memory serves!)…. with steam every day from Mombasa to
Butere and half way back, and just said words to the effect "this is
impossible". She did accept the 2005 RTC tour which ran and included off-days
with "civilian" activities for the passengers and rest days for the crew,
although those days were often consumed by delays.

As John and James point out, there is a wealth of great photo spots close to
Nairobi. Short trips aimed at getting the train posed for photos in nice places
are certainly practical. Oil fuel costs are high (exhorbitant for 5918) but my
interpretation is that RVR's charges may be the bigger problem.