Nairobi Railway Museum

In chronicling Kenya’s colonial history, it would in many ways be appropriate to center the story on Britain’s construction of the East Africa Railways system.  In 1895 construction on the “Lunatic Line” was begun, an ambitious project to build a rail link from Mombasa on Kenya’s coast to Nairobi, then just a small outpost in a marsh, to Kampala in Uganda at the head of the Nile.  Columnists and engineers of the day did not believe the line could be built–the vertical rise from the coast to Nairobi is over 5,000 feet, and no rail line had ascended such heights. 

Defying the doubters, a crew of British engineers supported by Kenyan and Indian workers overcame malaria, the scorching coastal heat, and hostile terrain to complete the line just six years later in 1901. Built on a narrow guage unique to East Africa, the track laid then still carries passenger and freight trains today. For more details about the construction, see this Wikipedia article.

Today, the Nairobi Railway Museum bears witness to the magnificent history of rail in East Africa, and coincidentally serves as a wonderful exploratory experience for kids. Though it is evident the museum is not well funded or maintained (admission for the whole family cost less than $2), monuments to a bygone era of travel by steam locomotive and pullman coach are scattered across several grassy acres. 

Jonathan and the boys visited the museum this past Saturday with some friends, and spent a wonderful morning climbing over and exploring the vintage engines and coaches. The museum has no safety equipment or plexiglass to restrain visitors–there are plenty of opportunities for falls or gashes on rusty metal–but under a parent’s watchful eye kids can let their imaginations run wild as they climb into the cabins of locomotives or bounce on the dusty blue leather of a bunk.

One of the museum’s most famous coaches is the car that Superintendent Charles Ryall used to stage an overnight vigil to trap two man eating lions that were killing the railway workers as they laid track in Tsavo.  The two lions had brought work on the line to a halt; having tasted human blood, they hunted only human prey. Ryall volunteered to bait the two lions himself by waiting overnight in an isolated coach. Though armed and aware of the danger, Ryall drifted off to sleep. He was awakened by the lions, who dragged him from the coach and into the bush where he became one of their roughly 135 victims.  The two lions were eventually killed by the railroad engineer, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson.  You can read more about the Tsavo Maneaters here, or for a embellished version of the story watch The Ghost and the Darkness.

Coach used by Ryall to bait the Maneating Lions

David, contemplating a lion outside...

Grim chapters of history aside, the boys had a wonderful time exploring the trains and getting thoroughly dirty in the process. We were amazed at how long many of the trains were in service–several began service on the line in the 1920s, and were not retired until the mid 1970s! 

For more pictures of the boys exploring the Nairobi Railway Museum, please click here.