|
PAGE 3 |
A.J. CRADDOCK's PERSONAL COLLECTION OF EAR&H
|
|
The wreck of 2717
(MacArthur Class}
Unfortunately, I don't remember the details as to how this occurred, but I
think it was outside Tabora at Igalula.
It may have jumped the points on the passing line or run off the end of the spur
line (more likely). Conditions
can be seen to be dry, so it was unlikely to have been a track washout. I
do recall that it was driver error (possibly
accounting for the “classic”
defensive body language!), and I was consequently somewhat surprised that the
driver agreed to pose in front of the wreck.
Trying to get the tender back on track. The senior fitter from
the Tabora shed is second from right. I don't recall
the name of the European squatting down. It may have been Mr. Canning
Igalula Station
Second stop east of Tabora after Itulu
Note the name painted on the roof - navaid for aircraft in 1954?
Station can still be seen on Google Maps at -5.237098,33.016837
Tabora Shed
2718 and 2503
Click here for a
wider view
My handwritten notes (written at aged 12) on the back say
“3008 pulling out for Kigoma”
(from Tabora)
One of our favorite pastimes when
a train pulled out was to place a 10 cent piece on the rail in front of a wheel
at the front of
the train, then pick it up after it had been squashed and cold worked by
every subsequent wheel to almost double its size.
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes on the back say
2101 (Kalambo)
(NZ) 21 Class 2-8-2
All Named. 2101-2108
Based at Dodoma
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes on the back say
2211
22 Class
4-8-0 2201-2223
Various locos of this class have been scrapped
Akin to 23 Class Tanga Line
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes (written at aged 12) on the back say
2607
26 Class (MR)
Mikado (2-8-2) 2601-2606
“New” 26
Class. 2607-2612
“Old” 26
Class. Based at Tabora
I think that is a mound of coal next to the loco
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes (written at aged 12) on the back say
20 Class (2002)
Ex Bombay, Baroda & Central Indian Rly. (BCCI)
4-6-0. 2004 “Silver Arrow”.
2001-2004 (BB)
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes (written at aged 12) on the back say
2504
(ML) 25 Class 2-8-2
2501-2511
|
Two drivers of the 26 Class loco behind them. My mentor M.A. Khan is on the right. He taught me how to drive (aged 11!), and I would be in the cab with him when I was home in Tabora on holidays from Southern Highlands School (near Iringa), riding with him on his shift on the goods trains across Tanganyika, and sleeping in the caboose when the shift changed. The 26 Class were a joy to drive, but I was always exhorted to charge into the tight Central Line turns faster to maintain the schedule. My reticence (especially at night) was, of course, a fear of derailment, as there was not an abundance of lateral stability with the narrow meter gauge, and the locos under a full head of steam and heavy train load would buck and wobble around—a very dynamic experience on the footplate. |
My handwritten notes on the back of the photo!
Note the tender full of kuni (wood)
2004 and drivers
My handwritten notes on the back say
27 Class No. 2712
“McArthur”
or “Buda”
at Tabora in April '54
Taken by A.C.
I think that is a mound of coal behind the loco.
Click image for a full size version
My handwritten notes on the back say
2717
'27' Class Engine
ex-Nigerian Railways
Don't know whether this picture was taken before or after the wreck
Footplate note: I recall the interior of the cab being
pretty austere, with a regulator handle that was set diagonally and which
could only be operated from one side of the cab.
2502 in the vicinity of the Tabora Shed
2206 on the turntable
Tabora Shed
1st May 1954
According to my handwritten notes on the back.
The sad remains of the historic Tabora shed, which was
originally built by the Germans, can be seen on Google Maps
at coordinates -5.017802,32.81864
The quality of some of these photos seem to indicate the
camera I used was a Kodak Box Brownie,
which as
one wag pointed out, was designed to produce bad pictures
