Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe.

The day of 31st July 1992 was a ‘free day’ of the tour.  After returning from a sight-seeing trip in the morning, several of us had a walk down to Bulawayo steam locomotive shed to see what was happening and take in the unique atmosphere of a very active steam shed.

The visit to the locomotive shed was so pleasurable that a couple of us nipped down to the shed again first thing the following morning, 1st August, before our train left on that day’s excursion, and again the next morning, 2nd August, before the train departed towards Victoria Falls.

 

31st July 1992

NRZ 15A class 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' locomotive no. 380 'Umahelwane', Bulawayo, Zimbabwe


1-of-10)  On the walk beside the railway from Bulawayo station to the locomotive shed we passed National Railways of Zimbabwe 15A class 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' locomotive no. 380 'Umahelwane' (‘African goshawk’, built by Beyer Peacock in 1948/1949), with a crew member taking a break, Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.

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NRZ 1-Co-Co-1 Diesel-electric locomotive class DE2 no. 1224, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe


2-of-10)  The walk to Bulawayo locomotive shed passed out of use National Railways of Zimbabwe 1-Co-Co-1 Diesel-electric locomotive class DE2  no. 1224 (built by English Electric, 1957/1958), Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.

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NRZ 15th class 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt', Bulawayo, Zimbabwe


3-of-10)  The sun was sinking rapidly to the horizon when Bulawayo locomotive shed was reached.  Next to a vegetable patch near the shed  were a couple of lines of derelict steam locomotives.  Among the locomotives was this 15th class 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' (built by Beyer Peacock), Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.

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NRZ 12th class 4-8-2 locomotive no. 190, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe


4-of-10)  National Railways of Zimbabwe 12th class 4-8-2 locomotive no. 190 (built by North British Locomotive Co. in 1926) at Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.  This was a locomotive from Bulawayo Railway Museum and was being prepared for use with the tour train on the following day.

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NRZ 16th class 2-8-2+2-8-2 no. 614 at coaling tower, Bulawayo shed, Zimbabwe


5-of-10)  National Railways of Zimbabwe 'Garratt' locomotives 16A class 2-8-2+2-8-2 no. 614 (built by Beyer Peacock in 1938), with 20A class 4-8-2+2-8-4 no. 749 (built by Beyer Peacock in 1957/58) in front of it, at the coaling tower, Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.

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NRZ 20th class 4-8-2+2-8-4 no. 730 on turntable, Bulawayo shed, Zimbabwe


6-of-10)  As the light was fading fast, while heading back to Bulawayo station, gaudily painted National Railways of Zimbabwe 'Garratt' locomotive 20th class 4-8-2+2-8-4 no. 730 'Insuga' (built by Beyer Peacock in 1954) was being turned on the turntable just outside Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe, 31st July 1992.

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1st August 1992

‘Garrat’ locomotives being prepared for a day’s work, Bulawayo shed, Zimbabwe


7-of-10)  Early in the morning of 1st August 1992.  A brisk walk from Bulawayo station to the locomotive shed resulted in the fantastic site, and smell, of ‘Garrat’ locomotives being prepared for a day’s work.

From left to right, the locomotives are:

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‘Garrat’ locomotives inside, Bulawayo shed, Zimbabwe


8-of-10)  Early in the morning of 2nd August 1992.  Another visit to Bulawayo locomotive shed to take in the atmosphere of steam, smoke, and hot oil from ‘Garrat’ locomotives simmering away before a day’s work.

From left to right, the identifiable locomotives are:

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National Railways of Zimbabwe class 15A 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' steam locomotive no. 414 'Ubhejane' being cleaned at Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe


9-of-10)  National Railways of Zimbabwe class 15A 4-6-4+4-6-4 'Garratt' locomotive no. 414 'Ubhejane' (‘Black Rhino’, built by Société Franco-Belge in 1952) being cleaned at Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe, 2nd August 1992.  Some of the tour participants disapproved of the “fairground engines” painted in bright colours that were used pull charter trains, such as the ‘Union Limited Zambezi’, rather than plain black locomotives.

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2nd August 1992

National Railways of Zimbabwe 'Garratt' steam locomotive 16A class 2-8-2+2-8-2 no. 607 and crew at Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe,


10-of-10)  National Railways of Zimbabwe 'Garratt' steam locomotives 16A class 2-8-2+2-8-2 no. 607 (built by Beyer Peacock in 1953) and crew at Bulawayo locomotive shed, Zimbabwe, 2nd August 1992.

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88px-CC-BY-SA_icon.svgThe photographs in these railway photograph galleries are available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.  Attribution should include a link to www.nigeltout.com.

Zimbabwe: Bulawayo Locomotive Shed