African Railway

[class156]

Seen this program tonight and it was very interesting to say the least.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s6bgw/African_Railway/

 

[O L Leigh]

Yes I saw that too. Everyone was very relaxed and smiled and laughed lots even though the situation was desperate, especially the shunter. He was hilarious.

"Red flag means stop."
*Crunch*
"He didn't stop."
"Yeah."
*Crunch*

O L Leigh

 

[rail-britain]

Almost reminds me of working on BR in the 1990s, but at least it wasn't that bad

Had to laugh when the "Depot Controller" advised the loco was new at about 15 years old
Looked like the Chinese had retired it from service 15 years ago
Then he said it had arrived in 1996 and was still waiting spare parts

It was also a great way of knowing where trains were!
Signals? No, lets use radios and ask the stations if they have seen a train?!?

Finally, the response from the Chinese Chief Operations Officer
"He must contact the Embassy to talk to us"
Now you know the Chinese are in charge!

 

[LE Greys]

The thing that got me was the contrast between the operators, who seemed to be doing their very best to get the trains through and to their destinations, and the managers, who had disappeared. A pity it isn't possible to switch places.

Almost reminds me of working on BR in the 1990s, but at least it wasn't that bad

Had to laugh when the "Depot Controller" advised the loco was new at about 15 years old
Looked like the Chinese had retired it from service 15 years ago
Then he said it had arrived in 1996 and was still waiting spare parts

It was also a great way of knowing where trains were!
Signals? No, lets use radios and ask the stations if they have seen a train?!?

Finally, the response from the Chinese Chief Operations Officer
"He must contact the Embassy to talk to us"
Now you know the Chinese are in charge!

I thought he said 50 years old. There was another loco present that bore a strong resemblance to a Class 50, any idea what it was?

I wonder what happened to all the old CSR equipment and whether there is not some way to sell it on. Preserved lines do very well out of Network Rail for old equipment, so can African lines use various other stuff that we no longer need (provided it works, of course).

Now the Chinese really do worry me. It's bad enough that our country decided to screw the place over and make a lot of money out of it, they don't need someone else to come in and do the same.

 

[heart-of-wessex]

I was laughing my head off at the shunter incident and the red flag!

Some of those locos look beefy, I liked the claggy ones!!
Anyone notice the coaches on the set, that some of them sort of bares a resemblance to the NSE livery?

I'd like to go to Africa for a rail holiday, has anyone done this before?

 

[the sniper]

I only got around to watching this yesterday, so thanks for the link class156. Funny program, you couldn't make half of it up!