Tag Archives: Tanzania

The Tramways of Zanzibar

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The featured image shows a horse-drawn/mule-drawn tram in Zanzibar before the turn of the 20th century. [1]

Zanzibar hosted two early rail systems, with a mule-drawn tramway operating from 1879 to 1888 between Stone Town and Chukwani, which later used a steam locomotive. A second, more notable 7-mile line known as the Bububu Railway ran from 1905 to 1930, connecting Stone Town to Bububu, featuring passenger service and, briefly, electric street lighting. [4]

The First Line (1879–1888): Built by Sultan Barghash bin Said, this, one of the first, tracks in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2ft-gauge line ran from the Sultan’s palace at Stone Town [2] to Chukwani. Initially the two coaches were hauled by mules but in 1881 the Sultan ordered an 0-4-0T locomotive from the English locomotive builders Bagnall, this was named ‘Sultanee’. The railway saw service until the Sultan died in 1888 when the track and locomotive were scrapped. [4][11]

Car No. 18, The Street Railway Journal (1905), © Public Domain. [4]
Another postcard view of the mule-powered tramway, © Public Domain. [7]

The Bububu Railway – a.k.a. the Zanzibar Railroad Co. (1905–1930) –  In 1905, the American company Arnold Cheyney built a seven-mile, 3ft-gauge line from Zanzibar Town to the village of Bububu. It originated near the Arab Fort in Zanzibar Town, ran along the seafront, passed through the city’s narrow streets, and traveled north along the coast to Bububu. It was notorious for its ability to set fire to property and the surrounding countryside, but it ran for 25 years until it closed in 1930. Within the town, the railway operated on some of the narrowest streets. [4][5]

Running along the coast between Bububu and Stone Town/Zanzibar Town, © Public Domain. [6]
One of the bridges along the line, © Public Domain. [4]
Zanzibar village, creek and railway bridge, ca. 1905, © Public Domain. [4]
The Citizen in Tanzania suggests that this image shows steam on the first of the two tramways. It is not possible to make out the name on the side of the locomotive but it does not seem to be ‘Sultanee’. The coaches also appear to be those used on the later line. [7]

In the 1920s, the trains ran 6 or 7 times daily. The train was popular among the locals, but a special first class coach was available for the benefit of sightseeing tourists. [4]

Three more views of the Bububu Tramway. All three were shared on the Discover Africa Facebook Group by Andrew Zefania on 9th June 2021. The third of these images appears to show the first class tourist coach in front of the engine.[8]
Another view of the Bububu Railway, © Public Domain. [9]
This photograph is a slightly better study of the Bagnall Locomotive which shows more clearly that it was a modified version of the ex-works image below. The heavy duty cab has been replaced by a light weight canopy. [13]

During the railway construction the Americans undertook the task of installing electrical power lines along the track. Wherever the rails were placed, metal poles were installed and power lines strung overhead. By 1906, Stone Town had electric street lights. In 1911, the railway was sold to the government, and by 1922 the passenger service ceased. As roads improved and motor vehicles on the island increased, its popularity diminished. [4]

A single 0-4-2T locomotive, supplied by W.G. Bagnall of Stafford provided the motive power for passenger services. [11][12]
Another postcard view showing the Bububu Tramway/Railway. This is the station at Bububu, © Public Domain. [10]

With the improvement works to the port, the railway was used for the haulage of stone which was used to build the port and reclaim the seafront. Today much of the old track bed has been built on however some of the railway’s bridges and embankments remain close to the main road to Bububu. [4]

I have struggled to identify the route of the old railway despite a number of websites/blogs suggesting that remnants of the railway can be seen from the main road to Bububu. The most significant structures may perhaps now be in use by the road or replaced by newer structures carrying the road. I have been unable to locate the structure below, which appears to be seen from the highway:

PastRailwayEmpires identifies this structure as one constructed for the Bububu Railway. The photograph was taken in 2013. Perhaps someone else will be able to identify its location. [12]

References

  1. https://www.instagram.com/p/DU0B_7zE6cb, accessed on 22nd February 2026.
  2. Stone Town (also known as Mji Mkongwe (Swahili for ‘old town’), is the old part of Zanzibar City. The newer portion of the city is known as Ng’ambo, Swahili for ‘the other side’. Stone Town is located on the western coast of Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago. Former capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, and flourishing centre of the spice trade as well as the Indian Ocean slave trade in the 19th century, it retained its importance as the main city of Zanzibar during the period of the British protectorate. When Tanganyika and Zanzibar joined each other to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar kept a semi-autonomous status, with Stone Town as its local government seat. [3]
  3. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stone_Town&wprov=rarw1, accessed on 22nd February 2026.
  4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport_in_Zanzibar, accessed on 22nd February 2026.
  5. http://www.zanzibar-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1912, accessed on 22nd February 2026.
  6. https://zanzibarutalii.blogspot.com/2015_06_18_archive.html, accessed on 22nd February 2026.
  7. https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/zanzibar/zanzibar-s-forgotten-railway-east-africa-s-first-steam-line-that-vanished-too-soon-5209080, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  8. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17vj5JHtuL, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  9. https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/18311347309, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  10. https://omanzanzibar.blogspot.com/2017/03/zanzibar-railway-in-1879.html?m=1, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  11. https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/32763584738?fbclid=IwY2xjawQJO5NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA80MDk5NjI2MjMwODU2MDkAAR7Aj-9Aimm9cDPSYK0Fi00tSxkV2RmHVyjURtd5hwvDsFt8Zao-wFb69l-KkQ_aem_NmwnCIcYLO5fHZCd629ACA, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  12. https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3498612, accessed on 23rd February 2026.
  13. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18GBKn6gjc, accessed on 23rd February 2026.

Mallet Locomotives in East Africa

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Ethiopia/Eritrea

The 950mm-gauge line from Massawa on the coast, inland to Agordot, was built during colonial occupation by the Italians with some steep gradients which meant that Mallets were considered to be suitable motive power.

The line should not be confused with the metre-gauge line running from Djibouti to Addis Ababa. A metre-gauge railway that was originally built by the French from 1894 to 1917 which has since been replaced by a Chinese built standard-gauge line. [5]

In 1907, Maffei built three 0-4-4-0T locomotives for the Massawa to Agerdot line.

Ansaldo the “supplied twenty five further engines of the same class between 1911 and 1915, and in 1931 and 1939 Asmara shops assembled a nominal three new engines from d components of earlier withdrawn engines. All these were standard European narrow-gauge Mallet tanks, saturated, slide-valved and with inside frames.” [1: p64]

In the mid-1930s, a series of fifteen larger 0-4-4-0T locomotives were built. These were “built to a superheated, simple expansion design, of which ten had piston valves and Walschearts gear and the other five, Caprotti poppet valves driven from outside cardan shafts.” [1: p65] A later series of “eight engines built by Analdo in 1938 reverted to compound expansion, retaining the superheater and piston valve features.” [1: p65]

The last of the Eritrean Mallets was built in their own shops in 1963, making it the last Mallet built in the world. [6]

The line closed in 1975. Eritrea was occupied by Ethiopia for many years. After gaining independence in 1993, some of the former railway staff started to rebuild their totally destroyed railway. Some of the Mallets, built by Ansaldo (Italy) in 1938, were brought back to life. Also one of the small Breda built shunters, two diesel locos and two diesel railcars (one from 1935) were put back into working order. [7]

A section of the line, between Massawa, on the coast, and Asmara, was reopened in 2003 and has offered an opportunity for Mallet locomotives to be seen in operation in East Africa. Indeed, an internet search using Google brings to light a list of videos of locomotives heading tourist trains in the Eritrean landscape.

Wikipedia notes that the line has a track-gauge of 950mm and that locomotives operate over a 118 km section of the old line. Italian law from 1879 officially determined track gauges, specifying the use of 1,500 mm (4 ft 11 1⁄16 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in) gauge track measured from the centre of the rails, or 1,445 mm (4 ft 8 7⁄8 in) and 950 mm (3 ft 1 3⁄8 in), respectively, on the inside faces. [4]

Between Arbaroba and Asmara in November 2008, a single coach is headed by one of the surviving Mallet locomotives. This is an extract from an image on Wikimedia Commons (public domain). [13]

Steam operation on the line is over, no regular services are provided but occasional tours still take place with plenty of caveats about the availability of any form of propulsion. An example is a German-speaking tour planned (as of 24th March 2024) for November 2024. [8]

Tanzania (Tanganyika)

The metre-gauge line inland from Dar-es-Salaam was built by the Ost Afrika Eisenbahn Gesellschaft (East African Railway Co.). A.E. Durrant tells us that its first main line power “was a class of typical German lokalbahn 0-4-4-0T Mallets, built by Henschel in 1905-7. These were supplemented in 1908 by four larger 2-4-4-0Ts from the same builder, after which the railway turned to straight eight-coupled tank and tender engines.” [1: p67]

R. Ramaer notes that the first locomotives used by the Usambara Eissenbahn (UE) on the Tanga Line were five 0-4-2 locos which arrived on the line in 1893. Rising traffic loads led the UE “To look for something more substantial and in 1900, Jung supplied five compound Mallet 0-4-4-0T’s as numbers 1-5, later renumbered 6-10. … To provide enough space for the firebox and ashpan, the rigid high-pressure part, comprising the third and fourth axles, had outside frames, whereas the low-pressure part had inside frames.” [9: p19]

UE engine No. 1 (0-4-4-0T – supplied by Jung) with an early passenger train ready for departure at Tanga station in 1890. This image was posted on the Urithi Tanga Museum Facebook Page [10] and is also reproduced in R. Ramaer’s book. [9: p19]
UE Mallet 0-4-4-0T No. 8 heading a passenger train at Mombo. This image was shared in error on the Old Asmara Eritrea Facebook Page.  [11] It also appears in R. Ramaer’s book. [9: p20]

On the Central Line (Ost Afrikanische Eisenbahn Gesellschaft – or OAEG) which ran inland from Dar-es-Salaam, construction work started in 1905 and the first locomotives used by the OAEG were four 0-4-0T engines built by Henschel, a further four of these locomotives were supplied in 1909. These small engines had a surprisingly long life. Mallets were first supplied in 1905 by Henschel and were suitable for both coal and oil firing. These were 0-4-4-0T locos (four supplied in 1905 and one supplied in 1907). “The problem with this type of engine was the restricted tractive effort and running was not satisfactory because of the lack of a leading pony truck. … Therefore Henschel supplied a second batch of four locomotives in 1908 as 2-4-4-0Ts with larger boilers and cylinders. They also had a higher working pressure of 14 atmospheres (200lb/sq in) in comparison to 12 atmospheres (170lb/sq in)  for the earlier engines, while the bunker capacity had been increased from 1.2 to 2.2 tonnes of coal. (Oil fuel had been discarded).” [9: p21-23]

OAEG 2-4-4-0T No. 27, in the last Mallet class to be built for German East Africa. This locomotive appears in the Wikipedia list of Henschel steam locomotives. [12] It also appears in R. Ramaer’s book [9: p23] and A.E. Durrant’s book. [1: p66]

Kenya-Uganda

An ‘MT’ class locomotive in ex-Works condition at the Queen’s Park works of the North British Locomotive Co. [1: p66]

Mallets were the first articulated locomotives to operate in East Africa. Mallets were introduced on the Uganda Railway in 1913. A.E. Durrant notes that they consisted of “a batch of eighteen 0-6-6-0 compound Mallets to what was the North British Locomotive Co’s standard metre-gauge design, as supplied also to India, Burma, and Spain. They had wide Belpaire fireboxes, inside frames and piston valves for the high pressure cylinders only. Built at Queens Park works in 1912-1913, these locomotives entered service in 1913-14 and remained at work until 1929-30, when they were replaced by the EC2 and EC2 Garratts.” [1: p66]

North British Class ‘MT’ Mallets arrived in Kenya just before the start of WW1. [2]

These locomotives were given the classification ‘MT’ within the Uganda Railway fleet. Disappointing performance and high maintenance costs led to them being relegated to secondary duties and eventually being scrapped in the late 1920s as the Beyer Garratt locomotives began to arrive. [2] Their presence on the system was heralded by, “Railway Wonders of the World,” with the picture shown below. [3]

An ‘MT’ class Uganda Railway locomotive as illustrated in ‘Railway Wonders of the World’. [3]

References

  1. A.E. Durrant; The Mallet Locomotive; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, Devon, 1974.
  2. Kevin Patience; Steam in East Africa; Heinemann Educational Books (E.A.) Ltd., Nairobi, 1976.
  3. http://www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com/uganda_railway2.html, accessed on 1st June 2018.
  4. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean_Railway, accessed on 22nd March 2024.
  5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa%E2%80%93Djibouti_Railway, accessed on 22nd March 2024.
  6. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/0-4-4-0, accessed on 22nd March 2024.
  7. https://www.farrail.net/pages/touren-engl/eritrea-mallets-asmara-2010.php, accessed on 24th March 2024.
  8. https://ecc–studienreisen-de.translate.goog/historische-eisenbahn-und-strassenbahnreisen-mit-peter-1/8-tage-eritrea-mallets-in-den-bergen-afrikas?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc, accessed on 24th March 2024.
  9. R. Ramaer; Steam Locomotives of the East African Railways; David & Charles, Newton Abbot, 1974.
  10. https://www.facebook.com/urithitanga.museum/photos/pb.100063540805743.-2207520000/2336640756358366/?type=3, accessed on 24th March 2024.
  11. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2169593963301193&set=pcb.2169594269967829, accessed on 24th March 2024.
  12. https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_schmalspuriger_Lokomotiven_von_Henschel, accessed on 24th March 2024.
  13. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eritrean_Railway_-_2008-11-04-edit1.jpg, accessed on 24th March 2024.