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Safari Steam - The Northern Margins |
Between the railways of recognisably southern and eastern Africa, lie those of Zambia, Zaire and Malawi.
The Zambian system was once part of the Rhodesia Railway and the residual assets of the RR were divided between it and the current Zimbabwe at independence. However, dieselisation effectively removed steam from the main line very quickly although it lingered on the anachronistic Zambesi Sawmills Railways for some years.
Zaire before independence had a number of railways, but steam was largely phased out many years ago. We have just a taste of it where one of its railways links with the northern part of the Zambian system, plus a few shots from even more remote areas.
The railways involving Malawi were of more interest for their convoluted history and ownership than their steam power, it being necessary to have three separate companies (eventually under common management) to operate the link to Beira in Moçambique. The country did not retain steam for long after independence.
