A Natural Wonder
The Zambezi River
The Victoria Falls
Formation of the Victoria Falls
People of the Victoria Falls
Enter the Ndebele
Discovery of the Victoria Falls
In Livingstone's Footsteps
Development of the Railway
To the Banks of the Zambezi
Development of the Falls
To The Congo
Development of Tourism
Development of Victoria Falls Town
Recent History
Further Information
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To The Victoria Falls

Development of the Railway



The following text is adapted from 'To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond - Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910)', researched and written by Peter Roberts and first published in 2021. Please visit the Zambezi Book Company website for more information.



Bulawayo or Bust

The settlers demanded the speedy arrival of the railway and an end to their isolation.

"It was not until 1896, after the Matabele rebellion and after rinderpest had caused such ravage amongst the cattle of the country, that freight from Mafeking to Bulawayo, a distance of 600 miles [965.5 km], was costing £200 a ton, that Mr Rhodes at last saw that railway communication was an absolute necessity; he therefore sanctioned the construction of the extension of the... railway to Bulawayo." (Metcalfe, 1916)

Rhodes arrived at Bulawayo on 2nd June 1896, making a speech promising the arrival of the railway with two years - and sooner if possible.

"Two years from date, Mr Rhodes said that the line would be in Bulawayo, but he made a better promise than this and that was that the Cape Railways could land the material for the line at the rate of a mile a day, and the Company would construct the line as fast as the railway could land material. This is the rate the people must ask for. Mafeking by the new route which the railway is to take is not more than five hundred miles [804.6 km] from Bulawayo; forty-five miles [72.4 km] have been constructed, leaving roughly four hundred and fifty [724 km] to be built. This is the rate of a mile per diem will not absorb two years but only fifteen months, and if a month or two are thrown in for contingencies the railway should be in Bulawayo by Christmas 1897." (Bulawayo Chronicle, June 1896)

Rhodes finally determined that the railway must be completed as rapidly as possible, and gave the order to George Pauling that the rails must reach Bulawayo before the end of 1897, offering the contractors an extra £200 per mile to lay a mile of rails a day (Knight, 1900). In his autobiography Pauling recalled his reply:

"The total rail distance from Mafeking to Bulawayo is about five hundred miles, and I had told Mr Rhodes that, given a free hand, I would undertake to get the rails through for the last four hundred miles [644 km] of the distance within four hundred days." (Pauling, 1926)

Rhodes had appointed George Pauling the Commissioner for Public Works for the new territory south of the Zambezi, increasing the pressure on him to deliver the promised rails in time.

"George Pauling had been persuaded by Rhodes to take office as commissioner of public works in the administration of Southern Rhodesia - the three areas of Matabeleland, Mashonaland and Manicaland had been joined together - under Dr Jameson as Administrator. In his new capacity Pauling was placed in charge of all roads, public buildings and railways, as and when they were constructed, while later he also had mines and posts under his control." (Croxton, 1982)

Pauling was interviewed in late June 1896, highlighting the shortage of construction materials as the limiting factor in the progression of the line.

"Interviewed on 20th June on the subject of railways, Mr George Pauling, Commissioner of Public Works, stated that about 2,000 people were employed upon the works between Mafeking and Gaberones and that the thing that would hinder the line was the inability of the Cape Government to transport the material as fast as required. Men were standing for the want of material. He forecast that the railways would be in Gaberones by the end of July, at Palapye by the end of the following February, and in Bulawayo by the end of December 1897. He added that the contractors were under heavy penalties to complete the work in the time stated." (Bolze, 1968)

Railway construction

From the End of the Rails

From the end of 1896 Mr Townsend established temporary offices and quarters for his field staff at Mochudi and providing regular updates on the progress of the rails to the Bulawayo newspapers, counting off the mileage to the ‘end of the rails.’ Regular weekly reports also highlighted progress on the surveying of the route, clearing of bush preparation of embankments, completion of ballasting, the building of sidings, erection of station buildings and engine sheds (at Mochudi and later also Palapye), construction of temporary bridges, drilling of boreholes and construction of holding dams.

At the beginning of November the rails had reached 157 miles (252.6 km) from Mafeking, 34 miles (54.7 km) north of Mochudi, with water still in demand (Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1896a). By the 7th November the rails had progressed to the 166 mile (267 km) post (Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1896b).

In November 1896 the Railway Company announced the first regular weekly train service from Mafeking through to Mochudi, the then temporary terminus of the railway, although still under contract conditions.

"The Cape Argus is authorised to state that the Bechuanaland Railway Company are making arrangements for the despatch, from an early date, of one regular train per week from Mafeking to the temporary terminus at Mochudi, some 120 miles [193 km] northward. This train will fit in with the weekly mail to Mafeking, and carry not only passengers and mail but goods. The number of trains well be increased as wagon transport becomes available from the terminus northwards." (Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1896a)

By mid-November the rails had progressed to the 168 mile (270 km) mark, the lack of progress again attributed to shortage of materials - the all important connecting fish-plates (a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together) having been "loaded in England at the bottom of the cargo, and ten days rough weather at Port Elizabeth prohibited discharging" (Bulawayo Chronicle, November 1896d).

Towards the end of November the rails had reached 173 miles (278 km) from Mafeking, the delay now attributed to general lack of permanent way materials. The surveying party had reached the Monarch Mine (soon-after to give rise to the settlement of Francistown), having staked the route of the rails to the 360 mile (579 km) mark (Bulawayo Chronicle, December 1896).

Unballasted track being laid at a rate of a mile a day north of Palapye (Rhodesiana)

Survey’s End

In May 1897 the railway survey party led by Mr William Tower, and which had started at Mafeking in October 1895, arrived at Bulawayo. The surveyors had completed their route, but had been in severe straits towards the end of their journey. The small team of engineers were supported by about 30 African assistants for the work.

"Encamped at the foot of Fourteenth Avenue can be found Mr W Tower, Chief of the Railway Survey Party, with his assistants Messrs G J Phillips, Bertram Smith, W F Penfold and J S Simms. The Survey was started at Mafeking early in October 1895, and construction was begun six weeks later. Mr Tower’s party have been on the work from start to finish, although one or two have dropped off by the way.

"The easiest running was through Linchwe’s and Khama’s countries, the longest distance traversed in a week being 20 miles [32 km], whilst during the record month 50 miles [80.5 km] was completed... By the wagon road Gaberones is 110 miles [177 km] from Mafeking but Mr Tower has succeeded in shortening the distance by 18 miles [29 km]...

"The Survey Party reached Mochudi at the time the cattle disease started, and they only succeeded in saving three oxen out of a span of sixteen. Not knowing what sort of country was to be met with north of Mochudi, Mr Tower went ahead to spy out the land, taking with him a scotch cart and two boys. His route lay along the borders of the Kalahari Desert, which is an exceedingly dry and thirsty land. Had the original route by the Crocodile River been followed it would have necessitated the lengthening of the line by 100 miles [161 km]. As Mr Tower got north he was very had pressed for water...

"The effect of this journey was to enable the surveyors to run practically a straight line from a point opposite Harry Boyne’s [soon after to become Gaberones] to another opposite the south-western end of the Matoppos - a distance of 300 miles [482.8 km]... The Macloutsie is crossed west of the coach road, and 25 miles [40 km] west of that soon to be forgotten track the Shashi forded. The last formidable river (of sand), the Tati, is crossed just below its junction with the Incewe, and about a mile below the Monarch Mine.

"The surveyors crossed the upper part of the Ramakwabane, but the contractors have kept well to the west in order to escape the river altogether... Figtree is left two miles to the east, after which the coach road is followed on the west side pretty well all the way to Bulawayo.

"On the whole the party have enjoyed pretty fair health. Indeed, Mr Tower and Mr Phillips, who have been steadily at work for 19 and 17 months respectively, have enjoyed good health all the way through. This is rather remarkable considering that at times the only available water holes were pretty well filled up with dead oxen... in one case a tiny pan had 37 dead oxen in and about it. No other water being obtainable, the hapless surveyors had to drink it. Between Palapye and the Macloutsie the wretched donkeys were without water for five days, trekking each day and two nights of that time with heavy loads. Game was pretty plentiful all through, so that, although little time could be allowed for shooting, the pot was never altogether empty, thanks to the good shooting of Mr Phillips. The only actual standstill the whole time was once for about a week when the rains came on, and another week the rains came on, and another week at the Monarch Mine waiting for supplies...

"The length of the survey is 480 miles [772.5 km]. Of course, if it had not been for going round the Matoppos instead of crossing them the line would have been even shorter. The coach road from Mafeking has never been chained but the distance is generally computed at 550 miles [885 km]. The highest altitude reached on the whole line is at the point two miles west of Figtree, 4,840 feet [1,475 m], and the lowest is west of Palapye, 2,900 feet [884 km].

"Altogether Mr Tower and staff are to be congratulated on the good time they have run. May they soon be engaged in running lines from Bulawayo out to Victoria Falls, Gwelo and Tuli." (Bulawayo Chronicle, May 1897b)

River Crossings

Because of the need for urgency and the restrictions on cost the terms governing construction were not very exacting. They were that the line should “be capable of effectually conveying traffic at a speed of twelve miles [19 km] an hour on completion,” and that gradients and curves were not to be sharper and heavier than usual for a line of this gauge. Wherever the surface of the ground was even it was followed, the steel sleepers being packed with the minimum of ballast. Ballasting was to be used only on those parts of the line where it was necessary to ensure safety during the rainy season.

Streams were crossed by the erection of ‘birdcage’ or trestle bridges of timber. Wider streams and rivers, which usually had dry sandy beds except when flowing, were initially not even bridged, the line being taken across over a ford. Sometimes the water rose above the rails. The train would proceed carefully down the bank and send up a shower of spray when it ran into the water. The line was later improved and the fords were replaced by steel bridges.

Crossing Shashi River, William Rausch
Crossing the Shashi River, 1897
(photograph by William Rausch)

Mr Edward M Rosher, assistant engineer reporting to Mr S F Townsend for the Railway Company, later recalled his work as a pioneer railway engineer.

"Mr Rosher made his debut in this part of the world on the survey of the line from Tati, in Bechuanaland, to Bulawayo in advance of the George Pauling construction gang. This section was built at top speed, at such a pace, in fact, that temporary tracks were laid on the sandy beds of the Shashi and Tati rivers until such time as bridges could be erected, work with which Mr Rosher was closely connected...

"In those days it was the practice to erect birdcaging to support long wooden trestles over the smaller rivers and these, in turn, would later be replaced by proper trestle bridges. Later, as time permitted, the trestle bridges gave way to more permanent structures with stone abutments, piers and steel girders." (Rhodesia Railways Magazine, October 1965)

Line Logistics

The Railway Company soon enacted plans for the operation of the new line.

"From June onwards references, in various contexts relative to railway rates, sole advertising rights, refreshment room leases and cartage rates, are made to Mr J L Bissett, General Manager, Bechuanaland Railway Company Ltd, who appears to have had his office in Cape Town. His was the first appointment to the General Managership of the railway serving Rhodesia." (Bolze, 1968)

In May 1897 the Railway Company entered into an agreement with the Cape Government Railways to work the entire line from Vryburg to Bulawayo, taking over sections from the contractors and providing the staff for traffic, maintenance and locomotive purposes (Croxton, 1982).

"On 28th May an agreement was entered into between Sir James Sivewright, on behalf of the Cape Government, and Rhodes on behalf of the Bechuanaland Railway Company Ltd, providing for the Cape Government to work and maintain the line of railway belonging to the Company between Vryburg and Bulawayo. The agreement provided that the Government and the Company should each fix the rates applicable to its own lines and the rate for through traffic. The Bechuanaland Railway Company Ltd further agreed to erect at Mafeking suitable workshops for ordinary running repairs of the rolling stock required for working the line." (Bolze, 1968)

In mid-1897 the Cape Government Railway advertised ‘Cape Town to Bulawayo in 5½ days,’ with a first class fare from Cape Town to Palapye of £13 10s, and second class £8 16s 10d. From Palapye, a Zeederberg coach would take passengers on to Bulawayo, the fare being £12 (Croxton, 1982).

"The coach journey was over rough roads behind a team of ten mules and this services was operated by the famous Doel Zeederberg. Luggage up to 30 lb. [13.6 kg] was allowed for free, this being carried on the roof of the coach.”

The section between Mochudi and Palapye, covering 140 miles (225 km) , was officially opened on 1st July 1897, and the line from Palapye to Francistown, 101 miles (162.5 km), opened on 1st September 1897.

"By 1st October the rail journey had been extended to Francistown, with a daily coach to Bulawayo at a fare of £7." (Croxton, 1982)

Services for travellers were basic, with the emphasis being on self-sufficiency.

"No food could be obtained on trains, which stopped at stations such as Lobatsi, Mochudi and Mahalapye where there were refreshment rooms, while at a few points small hotels near the line offered some sustenance. Rugs, pillows and water bottles were necessities for rail passengers in those days." (Croxton, 1982)

In July it was announced that the grounds of the Bulawayo Athletic Club (B.A.C.) would soon become the terminus of the line and site for the goods and passenger station buildings. The site had previously been the training ground of Lobengula’s feared warrior battalions. Being cleared of trees and flat, it was the ideal location.

"After two months of uncertainty, it has at last been definitely settled to build the railway stations on the B.A.C. grounds. It is certainly a pity that such a magnificent site should be lost as a recreation ground: but business before pleasure, and that the situation is in every way most suited for railway requirements can hardly be disputed. The committee of the B.A.C. were to meet Mr Rhodes this morning, and no doubt another club ground site will be forthcoming." (Bulawayo Chronicle, July 1897)

To facilitate the development Rhodes bought the land with a personal cheque for five thousand pounds (Jones, 1997).

Wayside station on the Mafeking to Bulawayo line, soon after construction

Preparations at the Palace

The eager expectations of the residents of Bulawayo were growing by the day, and formal planning for the celebrations ahead soon well advanced.

"With railway construction moving apace, representatives from the Sanitary Board, the Chamber of Mines, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Rhodesian Land Owners and Farmers’ Association held discussions during July to consider arrangements for suitable festivities to mark the occasion of the formal opening of the railway to Bulawayo. On 21st July, Captain the Hon A Lawley, Deputy Administrator, presided over a well-attended meeting of representative public men held in the Stock Exchange to further plans for the festivities. It was later settled that the opening of the railway would take place on Occupation Day, 4th November." (Bolze, 1968)

The proprietor of the Palace Hotel, Mr W R Paterson, had succeeded in winning the contract for the accommodation of the 300 invited guests for the opening festivities, despite the fact that his hotel was still only partially built.

"It was reported at a Chambers of Commerce meeting that on 23rd August the rails were 8½ miles [13.5 km] within the border of Rhodesia. Meantime the Railway Festivities Committee, which had been joined by Col. H M Heyman and Dr Hans Sauer, had concluded a provisional programme. It announced that estimated subscriptions and guarantees for this programme would amount to about £9,000. Invitations to 340 special guests were being sent out that week and the contract for their accommodation was awarded to Mr W R Paterson, proprietor of the Palace Hotel.

"Any scepticism Bulawayans may have had regarding the town’s ability to extend adequate hospitality to the considerable number of quests for the opening ceremony - the original list had grown after applications for invitations had been received from numbers of influential people - must have been allayed after publication of a one-and-a-half column long news item detailing the arrangements made by Mr Paterson for accommodating and feeding the guests. At that date - 23rd September - the hotel was still being built. Going up to three storeys it stood like a giant in the southern portion of the town.

"Mr Paterson had just returned from a three-week trip to Port Elizabeth and Kimberley to hurry forward all the extra building material, fittings, furniture and food required. From the list of articles ordered and referred to in the news report it was evident that his shopping list had been extremely comprehensive. Among the items ordered to furnished the 130 bedrooms were 250 spring mattress beds, 500 feathered pillows, 800 sheets, woollen blankets and counterpanes, candle-sticks, mirrors, toilet sets, bedroom tables, etc. ‘He will deepen his well... erect about a dozen bathrooms and has ordered tins and towels and brushes galore - of towels alone he had ordered 1,000. After the bath, many of the visitors will naturally require a shave, and a number of professional razor wielders will perform this operation for them on the premises.’

"‘Of foodstuffs he had ordered about 1,500 cases of tinned items, 200 turkeys, as many ducks and as many geese, besides 600 fowls, 400 dozen eggs and so on. Fresh fish was to come up from Port Elizabeth and fresh fruit from Kimberley. ‘The visitors will want something to drink with all this and therefore an order has been given which among other lubricants includes 100 cases of whisky, 150 of champagne, 65 of beer and 20 of lime juice.’ He was erecting a temporary dining and banqueting hall to seat some 400 people and it would be suitably floored for dancing.

"‘For the convenience of visitors wishing to visit the local battle-fields and other places of interest, he had ordered 12 large picnic-baskets.’ Also on the indent were 400 cane-bottomed chairs, 800 hat-and-coat hooks, 48 Madeira easy chairs, a dozen rocking chairs and at least two pianos. Special arrangements were made for the railway trucks containing the goods, and labelled ‘Railway Festivities,’ to be speeded on their way by the Traffic Managers at Port Elizabeth and Kimberley, by Mr Pauling and the Station Master at Francistown...

"By the end of September both the Railways Festivities Committee and the railway construction contractors were working at pressure to have things ready for 4th November. Mr Townsend’s weekly report stated that the contractors were putting nearly all their energies into pushing plate-laying, and not much else attended to. This had been delayed for a whole week for the want of fish bolts. Meantime the Festivities Committee had arranged with Mr Zeederberg to run two coaches a day for the eight days of the festivities to the Mattoppos. Visitors would breakfast at Mr Rhodes’ farm, and thereafter proceed to ‘the World’s View.’" (Bolze, 1968)

The Rails at Bulawayo

In early October Mr Harold Pauling updated the Committee of the Bulawayo Chamber of Commerce on the imminent arrival of the railway.

"Mr Pauling anticipates that the rails will be laid to Bulawayo on the 20th of this month. During the ensuing five days they will be occupied in carrying forward the material for the temporary goods and passengers stations, &c. From the 25th October he will be able, he thinks, to carry general goods forward for the public to a temporary siding, half a mile from the present station site." (Bulawayo Chronicle, October 1897a)

The final section of the extension, Francistown to Bulawayo, 122 miles (196 km), was completed in mid-October 1897. The first construction train, pulled by the same engine that had been used for the plate-laying of the line from Lobatsi, No.289, arrived at Bulawayo on 19th October 1897. Decorated with flags it carried the banner ‘Advance Rhodesia’ on the front, surmounted by the arms of the Chartered Company.

"A Chronicle reporter went out to the old B.A.C. ground on Tuesday afternoon shortly after two and sat with a number of others on the bank between the cuttings to await the arrival of the first construction train. The work of laying the rails which have now advanced some distance to the town side of the refreshment room, was going on cheerily and expeditiously at the feet of the expectant watchers. All eyes were turned towards the rise to the south of the town over which it was known the train must travel, Suddenly someone said ‘There she comes!’ Everyone rose to his feet, and could just discern a faint column of smoke over the crest of the rise. It advanced rapidly, and presently the train emerged from the bush and became visible, a shrill whistle demonstrating to another sense its approach almost at the same time...

"The engine, the same one that has been used for the platelaying all the way up from Lobatsi, was gaily decorated with bunting and greenery. On the front were the words ‘Advance Rhodesia,’ surmounted by the Arms of the B.S.A Company. Miniature Union Jacks, Stars and Stripes, and Harps of Erin adorned the escape pipe, and a variety of flags were wreathed gracefully round other portions of the iron monster. The passengers by the first train included: Mr H W Pauling, Mrs Pauling, the Misses (2) Pauling, Dr Pauling, Mr R B Carnegy and Mr Buchan, one of the engineers of the Bechuanaland railway. The train also brought some of Mr Pauling’s horses, a quantity of timber for the temporary buildings at the station site, and some miscellaneous goods. The rear trucks having been detached, the train moved slowly to the old B.A.C. ground... The train came to a standstill and the engine responded to the cheers with a series of shrill whistles.

"After gazing a while on the wonderful invention, which brings Bulawayo within four or five days of sea breezes and makes progress with giant strides a possibility, the crowd dispersed. It is probable that the railway will not be taken over by the Cape Government until the end of the year. But it is here at last. The contractor, despite immense difficulties, has accomplished his work well under the specified time, and coaches and wagons along the great artery from Capetown to Bulawayo are almost things of the past." (Bulawayo Chronicle, October 1897b)

First train in Bulawayo, William Rausch
Arrival of first train, Bulawayo, October 1897 (82)
(photograph by William Rausch)

The 588 miles (946 km) of line from Vryburg to Bulawayo was built between May 1893 and October 1897 at a total capital cost of just over £2,270,628, or £3,681 per mile (Bolze, 1968). The economy of construction was remarkable considering that all the construction material and rolling stock had to be shipped from England and then transported by rail for over a thousand kilometres to the advancing railhead (Jones, 1997).


Next page: Opening of the Line to Bulawayo

References

Bolze, L. W. (1968) The Railway comes to Bulawayo. Rhodesiana, No.18, July 1968, p.47-84.

Bulawayo Chronicle (June 1896) Mr Rhodes and Railways. 6th June 1896.

Bulawayo Chronicle (November 1896a) Railway Progress, 7th November 1896.

Bulawayo Chronicle (November 1896b) Railway Progress, 14th November 1896.

Bulawayo Chronicle (November 1896d) Railway Progress, 21st November 1896.

Bulawayo Chronicle (December 1896) Railway Progress, 12th December 1896.

Bulawayo Chronicle (May 1897b) The Railway - Completion of Survey, 1st May 1897b)

Bulawayo Chronicle (July 1897) The Railway Stations. 10th July 1897.

Bulawayo Chronicle (October 1897a) Mr Pauling Interviewed. 7th October 1897.

Bulawayo Chronicle (October 1897b) The First Train. 21st October 1897.

Croxton, A. (1982) Railways of Zimbabwe

Jones, D. (1997) 100 Years The Railway in Zimbabwe 1897-1997. Pangolin Press, Harare.

Metcalfe, Charles (1916) Railway Development of Africa, Present and Future, The Geographical Journal, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Jan 1916), pp. 3-17

Pauling, G. (1926) Chronicles of a Contractor

Rhodesia Railways Magazine (October 1965) At the Turn of the Century - The Railways Sixty-Five Years Ago. Vol.14, No.6, p.17 and 49. [BRMA]

Further Reading

Roberts, P. (2021) To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910). Zambezi Book Company.


To The Banks of the Zambezi and Beyond Railway Construction from the Cape to the Congo (1893-1910)

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