Friends of the Rail Forum

On 12th March 2011 I re-visited an old industrial complex in the rain forest at Nzara, in the far south west corner of South Sudan, in territory where the Lord's Resistance Army is still wreaking havoc on the local population. A pair of Robey steam engines, probably built in the 1940s when the plant was being constructed, are still there. One has been dead for years, but the other was operating a sawmill until about 6 months ago, when it was stopped, apparently by a crack in the firebox.

They have tried to have it repaired by a local welder, but no success. The best advice I could give them was that steam engines need specialist welding. Any Robey enthusiasts out there who can give more advice? Any coded welders fancy a trip to South Sudan?

Photos in this post by John Ashworth. There are a couple of pictures from my previous visit here.

John, Try posting a query at the traction talk forum http://www.tractiontalkforum.com/index.php (doesnt seem to be loading at the moment tho), there may be somebody there who knows somebody, and I am sure they would be very interested to see some of these lovely relics.

A photo of me examining the plate on the engine, taken by my colleague Nico Plooijer, Nzara, 12th March 2011

One more, a bit off topic but hopefully interesting, of me signing the huge leather-bound visitors book which goes right back to the opening of the plant in 1953. It contains the signatures of royalty, heads of state, ambassadors... and of course my signature from my previous visit in 2003.