Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

62 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. meant a considerable delay when it became necessary to remove or replace a rail, but this was amply compensated for by the fact that the natives were at length so effectually checkmated as to render protection by the police force no longer necessary. To-day the natives are quite accustomed to the railway, and make increasing use of it year by year, and such thefts as do occur are trivial, and are mainly committed at the stations and the sidings. The type of engine employed on the Uganda Railway is, as will be seen from the illustra- tions, of a very heavy American pat- tern. Nearly all these locomotives had to be purchased in the United States owing to the inabil- ity or reluctance of British, engineering firms to produce an engine sufficiently heavy and powerful to draw a fully loaded train over the steep gradients of the line. Next to the tender of every engine is conveyed a spare AN UGANDA RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE. Water Difficulties. water - truck to supply the boiler over those portions of the route where water is scarce. This question of an adequate water supply along many parts of the line was a very diffi- cult one to deal with at first, especially for the first hundred miles or so west of Mom- basa up to the Voi River. Many suggestions were brought forward for surmounting this difficulty. One of these was to erect a series of large storage tanks in those districts where water was practically unobtainable at certain seasons of the year. It was proposed to divert into these tanks the drainage water of the sur- rounding country. After careful consideration, however, all the various schemes were rejected, and the method of each train carrying with it sufficient water to supply it through the water- less regions was adopted in their place. Along certain portions of the route where some water is available, though not always in sufficient quantities, as is the case at Kilindini, the sup- ply has been supplemented by the installation of elaborate condensing apparatus. Altogether considerable ingenuity has been displayed by the engineers in charge of the line in over- coming the scarcity of water that exists along the route. The passenger coaches employed on the Uganda Railway are of a type familiar to all travellers in India or in South Africa. They are provided with outside shades to subdue the glare of the fierce tropical sun and to keep the carriages fairly cool, in which task they are assisted by elec- tric fans. If not exactly luxurious, the interior fittings are at least extremely comfortable. Indeed, the trains running from Mombasa to Port Florence may challenge comparison with any to be found throughout Africa. To each engine is attached a “ cow-catcher ” of the usual American pat- tern. A substantial catcher in front of an engine travelling at thirty miles an hour with a heavy load behind it is calculated to convince even an elephant that the railway- track , is a highly inadvisable spot to select for an afternoon nap. It would indeed take a very stout obstacle to cause one of these trains to leave the metals, and the only thing that gives any real anxiety to the engineers is a “ wash-out.” In common with every other railway run-