Zimbabwe Gets Steamed Up

Don't mind the pic. I just liked the setting so put it up

Zimbabwe is to go back to using steam locomotives to boost its ageing fleet of diesel trains and attract tourists, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported Wednesday.

Zimbabwe is suffering from acute shortages of foreign currency needed to import fuel and spares, but most of the spares for the steam trains can be found locally, the report said. Zimbabwe also has abundant coal supplies.

“We intend to use them (steam locomotives) to boost our own operations and as a tourist attraction through this special steam safari trains that we also expect to generate foreign currency for the country,” Fanuel Masikati, the public relations manager of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) told the Herald.

It will cost around two billion Zimbabwe dollars (US$77 000) to refurbish 10 steam engines, some of which date back to the 1950s, the Herald said. The NRZ plans to have five engines in use by the end of the year, and another five by the end of 2006.
Zimbabwe phased out its fleet of steam locomotives and replaced them with diesel ones more than a decade ago, but a critical fuel shortage is now making coal-fired engines an attractive option.

It was not immediately clear what state other facilities needed to run a fleet of steam engines, such as coal-loading machines, are in. Railway enthusiasts here will welcome the move to reintroduce steam trains.
They say that many of the water installations along Zimbabwe’s railway lines are still intact.

From the internet.

The Guilty Mind

After the rather punishable siesta here I'm back again. it's hard to keep away from what one loves. Okay agreed that my first love is automobiles and second business and third food...but somewhere in between lies this uncann love for the old steam work-horse. You see even if I did stay away from it for months it would still return to haunt me. i'm plnning yet another visit to the National Rail Museum, this time to see if the latest issue of The Indian Steam Magazine is out or not. Well I hope it is. While it may not quite be an Autocar or Forbes it still is the only hope we have. And by the way if Mr. Tathagata Chatterjee (Editor of the Steam Mag) is here a very warm welcome to you sir. Cheers for now.