Beyer Garratt loco footplate ride in Zimbabwe

A series of excerpts from an hour's footplate ride from Gwaai to Kennedy siding (within Hwange National Park) on the Bulawayo - Dete - Victoria Falls main line in Zimbabwe. Filmed in June 1998 during a memorable trip on Geoff Cooke's steam-hauled 'Train de Luxe' to Victoria Falls, the opportunity to ride the footplate of NRZ (ex Rhodesian Railways) Class 15A No. 406 was too good to miss. The line runs dead straight for scores of miles throughout the section featured, unfortunately almost directly into the sun at the time which was not good for filming forward down the length of the boiler. The track was well maintained but trying to hold a video camera steady at speeds of up to 60 mph on a steam loco footplate was not easy, so apologies for the frequent jumpy footage. The Garratt loco was built at Beyer-Peacock's Gorton Works, Manchester in 1950, so was almost 50 years old when this footage was taken.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Beyer Garratt
• NRZ
• Rhodesian Railways
• Bulawayo
• Victoria Falls
• Gwaai
• Train de Luxe
• Hwange

[Gooberwalla]

Simply splendid! Reminds me, when as a young buy, I rode the EAR&H passenger train between Nairobi and Mombasa pulled by a mammoth "59" Class Beyer-Garratt. The scenery on the Athi Plains was similar to this landscape, with the animals too. Those were the halcyon days of railroading, in Africa and even the USA. I'd take a B-G steamer over a GE or EMD diesel-electric anytime. Thanks for sharing a blast from the past.

[ralph5407]

Excellent footage, glad to say I've been there and done it also with Geoff Cooke, 2010 and RTC 2007. My footage is on here as well.

[choirboyfromhell1]

Magnificent. A steam cab ride with Wildebeasts, Zebras and a spectacular sunset.

[ricksclick]

Very enjoyable video. Thank you.

[rcburket]

That is the closest I've ever been to an actual ride. The footage was paced so that you got a good chance to get settled into every sequence, and it was Wonderful! What a great clip.