The late 19th century was a tumultuous period in Africa history as European nations sought to consolidate or expand control over new lands. Hoping to advance Great Britain’s influence, a charismatic politician and entrepreneur named Cecil Rhodes organized private investors in financing a railroad stretching the length of the continent, from Britain’s southern holdings to the Mediterranean Sea. Known as the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad, the project was intended to open lands to mining and white settlement, forming a continuous “red line” of British territories across Africa (Paice 2001). Despite challenges, Rhodes and his investors were successful in building segments of the railroad, reaching the Zambezi River and Victoria Falls in 1904 and eventually copper fields in the Belgian Congo (presently the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Facing formidable terrain, local opposition, and financial problems, the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad was never completed. Today, Rhodes is best known for the prestigious Oxford University scholarship established in his name. In this article we explore the origin and evolution of colonial-era railroads in Zimbabwe. Along with a look back at the railroads’ impacts, we describe a journey along one segment of the Cape-to-Cairo between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls in modern Zimbabwe.
With a diverse landscape featuring hyper-arid deserts, snow-capped mountains, grassy savannas, scrublands, and tropical forests, Africa is best described as a continent of superlatives. Its enormous land area could accommodate India, China, Japan, and the continental U.S. with room for much of Europe. European occupation of southern Africa began with the Dutch in 1652 and subsequently Great Britain in 1795 (Muiu 2008). By 1872, Britain’s Cape Colony had become a self-governing province with its own parliament and prime minister. With abundant natural resources including diamonds, the Colony became a magnet for newcomers, among them eighteen year-old Cecil Rhodes who arrived in 1871, the same year journalist Henry Morton Stanley made contact with explorer David Livingston near Lake Tanganyika (White 2014). Over the next two decades Rhodes established a lucrative diamond enterprise, purchasing mines around Kimberley before returning to Great Britain in 1873 to study at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Rhodes was exposed to the views of John Ruskin who lectured on the superiority of the Englishman and benefits that Imperialism would bring for “uncivilized” peoples (Dearden 1999).
In the mid-1800s, Africa was a disputed continent with France, Great Britain, Portugal, Belgium, and Germany seeking to establish control over larger areas. Hoping for a resolution that would facilitate the peaceful partitioning of the continent, 13 European nations met at the 1884 Berlin Conference to establish principles for territorial claims to African lands (Louis 2006). The so-called “Scramble for Africa” was underway. At the same time, the continent’s lack of infrastructure and rugged terrain made it a difficult place for long-distance travel. Pack animals, head-loading, and wagons pulled by oxen remained the principal methods for moving goods. With the poor condition of roads and bridges, it could take weeks for wagons to travel between major population centers. Henry Stanley recognized the importance of improved transportation for Africa’s economic development. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph he wrote,
The railroad is the answer to Africa’s pressing problems. It is the only answer to the wagon trails, decimated by rinderpest and the tsetse fly; and the only way to defeat slavery by opening up the continent to commerce and communication (Tabor 2003, p. 118).
Economic growth and the construction of railroads have been closely linked since the Industrial Revolution. Along with connecting major cities, railroads supported strategic goals by helping countries establish a military and administrative presence while serving economic objectives tied to settlement, trade, and resource extraction. America’s first transcontinental railroad and Russia’s Trans-Siberian line connecting Moscow with Vladivostok were important in consolidating control over vast spaces (Wolmer 2013).
The term “Cape-to-Cairo Railroad” was first mentioned in 1874 by Edwin Arnold who served as editor of the Daily Telegraph (Ramutsindela 2007). The British weren’t alone in considering a continent-spanning railroad. Other colonial powers including the French (Senegal to Djibouti) and Portuguese (Angola to Mozambique) were considering railroad projects. When he began promoting the Cape-to-Cairo, Rhodes was already an outspoken proponent of transportation systems needed to support expansion within the mining industry. In 1880 he entered politics, becoming a member of Cape Colony’s Parliament and later its Prime Minister (1890-96).
Believing there would be time to negotiate routes for rail segments, Rhodes made financial support for railroad construction his chief concern (Freeman 1915). To administer and police new lands, he received a Royal Charter in 1889 to form the British South African Company (BSAC), a private venture modeled after the British East India Company. Rhodes had little empathy for the native population. In his plan, the work of building the railroad and a parallel telegraph line, would fall to the native population (Figure 1). Although slavery had been outlawed in British colonies since 1834, injustices to native Africans continued. For example, racial policies such as the Colour Bar limited jobs that could be held by blacks while the Southern Rhodesian Native Regulations Act (1897) required adult males of African descent to carry a registration certificate at all times (Schwarz 2011). Native Africans were also excluded from schools and hospitals reserved for whites and prevented from voting unless they met property and income standards. In an effort to save productive land for use by white settlers, most rural Africans lived in communal areas called “African Reserves” and within cities, native populations were without basic infrastructure found in white neighborhoods such as paved roads and piped water.
Named after Rhodes, the new territory of Rhodesia was controlled through a policy known as “indirect rule” where longstanding native governance was kept intact but remained subservient to BSAC decisions. Since the governed were expected to pay for the “benefit” of colonial administration, native Africans without money for taxes were forced to seek wage jobs. Those taking positions as railroad construction workers were separated by racial class with whites hired as skilled or semi-skilled artisans or given supervisory responsibilities and native African workers assigned to jobs involving manual labor. Rhodes was assisted in planning the Cape-to-Cairo line by Charles Metcalfe, an engineer he had known while a student at Oxford (Hutchinson 1907). Rhodes encouraged Metcalfe to present their plans for the railway in a 1889 article titled, “The British Sphere of Influence in South Africa” that was published in Fortnightly Review, a leading magazine at the time (Richarde-Seaver and Metcalfe 1889).
Extending from Cape Town to Kimberly, the first segment of the Cape-to-Cairo was completed in 1884 (Figure 2). Overall supervision of the project was provided by George Pauling, a British engineer who famously promised Rhodes he could build 400 miles of rail line in as many days. To save time, Pauling’s crews built temporary wooden bridges over the Tati, Shashi, and Mahalapye Rivers that were later replaced with more durable steel bridges supported by masonry footings (Croxton 1982). Pauling and his construction workers faced significant challenges such as a rinderpest infestation (an infectious viral disease spread through direct contact or consuming contaminated water) that devastated the local cattle population and a rebellion by Matabele tribesmen. When the railroad reached the Rhodesian City of Bulawayo in 1897, Pauling hung a banner that read, “Our two roads to progress: Railroads and Cecil Rhodes” (Wolmar 2014, p. 41).
Passenger service was established soon after construction had been completed with trains leaving Cape Town on Tuesdays and arriving three-days later in Bulawayo. First class passengers enjoyed the relative comfort of coaches equipped with reading areas and smoking rooms. Native Africans could travel in first or second class berths if they had the financial means, but most purchased lower fare mbombela (third class) tickets in coaches closest to charcoal smoke produced by the train’s steam engine. Along with freight and local passenger traffic, the railroad was intended to promote white settlement with newcomers arriving from Great Britain paying only 25% of the regular fare.
Initially, Rhodes wanted the rail line north of Bulawayo to pass through the Mafungabusi coal district, crossing the Zambezi River at Kariba Gorge. However, when it was determined that the Wankie coal fields were more valuable, Rhodes and his engineers modified the plan (Christy 1924). Stretching 280 miles, the Wankie route had another advantage since it would bring tourists in close proximity to the Zambezi River’s spectacular Victoria Falls. Construction of the rail line between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls began in May 1899. To the north of Bulawayo, the route passed through a forested area of teak, mahogany, and mopani trees along the Gwaii River, reaching Wankie in September 1903 (Sunderland 2012). Northward of Dete, the tracks cut through a difficult section of terrain with thick brush that sometimes brought surprise encounters with wildlife including lion and elephant. The final segment between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls was completed on April 24, 1904. Passenger service began in June with travelers paying five pounds and five shillings for a first class cabin or three pounds and ten shillings for a second class berth. With the opening of the Bulawayo to Victoria Falls rail segment, a journey that previously required 10 to 12 days by oxen-pulled coach over dusty roads could be completed in just 13 hours.
Although not the tallest at 355 feet or widest at just over a mile, the dimensions of Victoria Falls combine to make it the largest waterfall in the world. Visitors arriving by train experience breathtaking views of an almost continuous curtain of water flowing over basaltic rock along a major knick-point separating the low gradient of the Upper Zambezi from the youthful Middle Zambezi River (Figure 3). Generating a cloud of spray visible for 20 miles, locals called the massive wall of water “Mosi-oa-Tunya” meaning “The Smoke that Thunders” (Arrington-Sirois 2017). Among immediate impacts of the railroad’s arrival was a demand for visitor-related services. In 1904, the Victoria Falls Hotel opened as a simple wood-frame building featuring 12 single and four double rooms along with a dining hall and bar.
In selecting where to position a bridge across the Zambezi, planners chose an area just downstream from a narrow gorge known as “Shongwe” meaning “boiling pot” (Figure 4). The Victoria Falls Bridge was designed by George Hobson and fabricated in the United Kingdom by the Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Company (Tabor 2003). Bridge sections were subsequently transported by ship to the Port of Beria in present-day Mozambique before being moved by rail to the construction site. With a length of 650 feet, the bridge’s main arch supported a level surface for track 400 feet above the river (Figure 5). Constructed out of steel and supported by masonry piers, the bridge was assembled simultaneously from each side of the gorge. To ensure that rust wouldn’t be a problem, the structure was designed for visual inspection with all parts accessible to a painter’s brush. When completed in 1905, the bridge held the distinction of being tallest in the world.
Prior to opening the rail line between Bulawayo and Victoria Falls, the Cape-to-Cairo Project experienced a significant setback. Throughout his life Rhodes suffered from health issues including heart problems that became more severe after he turned 40. In 1902 at the age of 48, Rhodes died in the Cape Colony City of Muizenberg (Flynn 2007). A short time later his body was transported by train to his burial place at World’s View, a hilltop located 22 miles south of Bulawayo. Despite losing its principal advocate, progress continued with track constructed from Livingstone on the north side of the Zambezi into northern Rhodesia (present-day Zambia), reaching Broken Hill in 1906. An issue for railways constructed without government subsidies was the need to cover construction costs through freight revenue. Railroad financers had been assured by the BSAC that northern Rhodesia’s lead and zinc production would provide ample traffic and revenue. However, the promised income never materialized as a result of technical problems within the mines (Duignan and Gann 1975).
Finding a right-of-way outside of British-controlled territory presented a new problem. The route northward of the Rhodesian border had to pass through either German-controlled East Africa (present-day Tanzania) or the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). In 1909 Rhodes successor, Scottish engineer Robert Williams, negotiated an agreement with the Belgians to extend tracks into copper-producing areas and by the late 1920s, minerals coming from the Belgian Congo were the most profitable transported by Mashonaland Railways (Lunn 1997). World War I was also an important period for the railroad with the transportation of lead, copper, and other raw materials needed in the war effort.
Although Williams was able to resolve right-of-way issues, other problems impeded progress, notably, a low demand for inland passenger and freight transport. Within Africa’s interior, it was less expensive to transport manufactured goods by short rail segments to port cities where they were loaded on ships bound for Europe or other destinations. Another issue was that Rhodes had envisioned the Cape-to-Cairo to incorporate ferries for crossing large lakes such as Tanganyika. This meant that people and goods had to be off-loaded where rail lines ended and reloaded onto trains continuing north to the Mediterranean or south to the Cape Colony. Adding to other difficulties was a worldwide depression during the 1930s that restricted investment capital.
Although the completion of a railroad spanning the length of Africa was looking less likely, segments of the Cape-to-Cairo Railroad were becoming increasingly important to Rhodesia’s economic development. In 1927, Mashonaland Railways was renamed Rhodesia Railways as efforts were underway to expand the country’s rail system. A few rail segments gained strategic importance such as the line extending to the Port of Beria (Figure 2) that was used for transporting materials needed by Allied Nations during World War II including copper, timber, coal, and oil. Following the War much of Africa experienced a period of instability driven by a growing anticolonial movement. Joining the chorus of discontent, Rhodesian Railroad workers staged a strike in October 1945 seeking better wages and improved working conditions (Vickery 1999).
Rhodesian Railways continued to be managed as a single entity even after the country’s division when Northern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zambia in October 1964. However, tension between black majority-ruled Zambia and white minority-controlled Rhodesia (formerly Southern Rhodesia) led to the railroad being equally divided between the countries in 1967. In 1978, the threat of an invasion by Zambian guerillas prompted Rhodesian Army forces to temporally position explosive charges on the bridge at Victoria Falls. The situation in Rhodesia was unstable too, as native Africans demanded greater power within a country dominated by less than one percent of its population. In 1979 and 1980, free elections ended more than a hundred years white minority rule with Rhodesia subsequently changing its name to Zimbabwe.
In 1980, Zimbabwe had the second most advanced economy in Africa. However, within a decade policies implemented by the new government led to an economic crisis. In particular, a decision to confiscate and redistribute farms owned by whites led to sanctions by the European Union and a subsequent decline in the country’s food production. With growing economic problems in 2008-09, Zimbabwe’s currency was subject to severe hyperinflation causing prices to double each day. To keep pace, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe printed million, billion, and finally, trillion dollar bank notes. By the time the exchange rate reached 2.6 trillion Zimbabwean dollars to one U.S. dollar, most of the country’s citizens were already using currencies from other countries.
Today, Zimbabwe’s colonial-era rail lines and trains are operated by the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), a corporation established by the Zimbabwean Parliament and wholly owned by the government. NRZ operates several types of rail cars including high-sided wagons for coal, cement, sugar and wheat, drop-sided wagons for rock, copper, and salt, and specialized container cars for livestock, explosives, and refrigerated goods. Lacking capital for improvement, more than 90% of NRZ rail lines are single-track with passing loops located every six miles (Mbohwa 2008).
In the absence of proper maintenance for signaling and safety equipment, train collisions, derailments, and accidents have become more frequent. In February 2003, a passenger train collided with a train near Dete that was pulling tanker cars loaded with flammable liquid resulting in the deaths of 50 people (Udeze 2009). Three years later a freight train collided with a heavily loaded passenger train south of Victoria Falls killing 60. The country’s financial crisis affected the railroad in other ways. For example, when the government fell behind in paying railroad employees, many engineers and technicians left for other jobs. To fill the gap, police and soldiers with little training in railroad operations were pressed into service. Vandalism and neglect also took a toll on tracks, switching equipment, locomotives, passenger coaches, and cargo wagons. Between 1998 and 2015, freight moved by the NRZ decreased from 18 million tons to just 2.5 million tons (Conover 2016). As the quality of rail service declined, trucking and bus companies began hauling a larger percentage of goods and people (Figure 6). The resulting traffic has contributed to congestion in cities and towns and a decline in the quality of roads and highways. Some positive developments have also taken place. In recent years NRZ has embarked on a modernization program that has included the purchase of new locomotives and train cars.
Today, visitors can still travel segments of the Cape-to-Cairo line between cities such as Bulawayo and Victoria Falls. Although coal-fired steam engines have been mostly replaced by modern diesel locomotives, many of the old colonial-era passenger coaches remain in use. Painted in Rhodesia Railroad’s colors of blue, brown, and grey, train cars appear much as they did 50 years ago (Figure 7). Navigating inside the narrow corridors of a passenger coach is like stepping back in time. Elegant sleeper cars that once served wealthy travelers still have their original mahogany-paneled interiors manufactured in England by Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon, Ltd.
Others used for lower fare passengers have plain Formica interiors that were assembled in Birmingham in the early 1950s. Inside first-class sleeper berths, called coupés, are two fold-down beds, stacked one above the other. Nearby is a stainless steel sink and mirror while the distinctive “RR” emblem for “Rhodesian Railroads” appears on most windows (Figure 8). Second class berths known as “compartments” have four fold-down beds. Although clean, many of the coaches are in disrepair with torn upholstery, cracked or broken windows, and restrooms that lack running water. Movement after dark is hampered by an absence of functional interior lights. Most passenger trains consist of several third class coaches, sleeper cars containing first and second class berths, and a baggage car. The cost of a ticket for the night train between Victoria Falls and Bulawayo is reasonable by U.S. or European standards, just US$12 for a second class ticket or $15 for a first class ticket with bedding available for an additional $4. An economy fare can also be purchased in an open coach with standard train seating.
Our journey begins as we walk across the Victoria Falls Bridge from Livingstone on the Zambian side to Victoria Falls. Although special tourist trains cross the bridge, no regular train service connects the two countries. To accommodate cars and trucks, the bridge has been modified with one set of railroad tracks having been replaced by a single lane road and passenger walkway. As a result of safety concerns, freight trains cross the bridge at walking speed and trucks are limited to weights of up to 30 tons. Before departing we visit the graceful Victoria Falls Hotel that now features 161 rooms and an Edwardian-style dining room that seats 120 (Figure 9). Over the years the hotel has hosted special guests including Great Britain’s King George VI and his family in 1947.
Near the train station local children sell wood carvings and large denomination banknotes that have become popular souvenirs. We depart from Victoria Falls Station with a lurch as the train begins its 15 hour, 280 mile journey (Figures 10 and 11). The trip is long because of stops at passing loops designed to separate trains moving in opposite directions. We also make stops to disembark passengers at several small villages. Near the town of Hwange we pass the Malindi Siding where train cars were once derailed by a herd of more than 30 elephants. Between the towns of Dete and Gwaii, the train crosses through one of the longest straight sections of railroad track in Africa, measuring 71 miles. It is said that a person standing in the station north of Dete can see the lights of an approaching train an hour before it arrives. Just north of Bulawayo the train passes through an undulating landscape dominated by low hills called kopjes (Figure 12).
Like our passenger coach, the station in Bulawayo is in disrepair because of declining revenue, with many businesses having relocated to Harare (formerly Salisbury), Zimbabwe’s capital city (Lawrence and Werna 2009). We disembark on a train platform said to one of the longest (1/4-mile) in Africa (Figure 13). With a population of about 650,000, Bulawayo is the county’s second largest city and a principal crossroads and rail hub with links to South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, and Mozambique.
During WWII, the city served as a center for the production of weapons, textiles, and steel. However, the economic downturn has taken a toll as demonstrated by roads covered with potholes and many empty warehouses. The station is connected to the city via broad, tree-line streets flanked by colonial-era buildings.
Beginning as a tool of imperial power, Zimbabwe’s colonial-era railway evolved over more than one hundred years. In its early life the railroad served as an artery for the export of natural resources and as a pathway for white settlement. Within a continent having fewer than 10 miles of roads for every 40 square miles, travel by train offered connectivity among populated areas and previously inaccessible places, bringing economic efficiencies, improved healthcare, and other advances to cities and remote villages.
At the same time, the railroad altered longstanding patterns of human interaction with rail depots and junctions sometimes displacing traditional centers of trade and interaction. For its beginning, the railroad was designed to advance colonial ambitions with lines intentionally planned to bypass Native Reserves and instead pass in close proximity to areas containing white farms. The opposite approach was used in cities where tracks connected industrial areas with high density suburbs that supplied native labor. Travel itself reinforced racial and economic divisions. While Europeans rode in the relative comfort of first or second class coaches, native Africans were crowded into third class compartments.
Rather than suffering a swift death, the Cape-to-Cairo dream faded over time. As a private venture, extending tracks into new areas was possible only on the promise of revenue from carrying ore. Although new mining operations continued to be established it became increasingly difficult for Cape-to-Cairo promoters to complete with short-haul rail lines connected to port cities. Africa’s rugged geography presented other problems. Although ferries could be used to transport freight across inland lakes, the task of off-loading and reloading trains would have been expensive and time consuming. There was also a low demand for through passenger traffic. Finally, Rhodes’ concept for a continent-spanning railroad wasn’t well-suited to Africa’s increasingly fragmented political landscape.
In its second stage of life, the colonial-era railroad has become an element within a larger transportation network that serves Zimbabwe’s economic development and prosperity. Although freight and passenger traffic has declined, the railroad remains the most efficient method for moving raw materials and manufactured exports. Recent steps to modernize the country’s infrastructure, including its railroads, are a hopeful sign while income from tourism including the world-class Victoria Falls offer possibilities for economic growth. The notion of traveling the length of Africa by train still captures one’s imagination. While most would be satisfied with a short ride on a colonial-era train, a few hardy individuals have found success in completing the entire Cape-to-Cairo route by train and ferryboat.