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Safari Steam - The Garratts Last Stand |
Apart from the industrial activity in Botswana, only in Zimbabwe did working steam last into the new millennium. The colonial Rhodesia Railways, once part of the great imperial Cape to Cairo railway dream survived most recognisably here and the most potent symbol of that was the Beyer Garratt steam locomotive.
During the 1980s many Garratts had been rehabilitated in the recognition that total diselisation for a country with massive coal reserves and no oil might not offer the best solution. As late as 1992, there was significant steam line working until eventually a loss of traffic and general run down of the railway made it impractical to continue with this policy. Since then, the surving Garratts have seen use on shunting and trips in the Bulawayo area as well as frequent enthusiast tours of the western part of the country.
By way of a tail end bonus we offer a glimpse of locomotives on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius...
