The Eritrean Railway (slideshow), The Kenyan Cannonball (song), Train Songs

Splendid slide-show of the Eritrean Railway.

And a humorous pastiche country song I wrote in Kenya back in the 1970's:

The Kenyan Cannonball

I've heard of all your Cannonballs

rattling down the line;

they're always heading southwards,

they all pull in on time.

The wheels keep on a-turning

and the smokestacks always shine -

but if you want to see God's country

then try this train of mine.

CHORUS

The Kenyan Cannonball, the Kenyan Cannonball,

The steam comes from the chimney, oh hear the whistle call.

It chugs across the sleepers, it seems ten miles a day,

If you want to get there faster, you can push or you can pray.

Some folks talk of walking down that lonesome railroad track,

they're forever counting cross-ties, with a sack upon their back.

I'm not saying that they romanticise

the freight-train or hobo-

but they're not the only ones

who've heard steam whistles blow.

CHORUS

The trains all start rolling from the East towards the West,

And way out here in Kenya, they still think steam's the best.

They send goods to Uganda, and back towards the Coast,

And though I've never hopped a freight, I'm quite prepared to boast:

From the wide old Indian Ocean across to that great Lake,

Over rivers and Rift Valley

runs the Iron Snake.

Yes, the mean man-eating lions once made an awful mess,

But none of them could speed it up, the lunatic express.

CHORUS

From Mombasa to Kisumu, and to Kampala too,

You can pay or ride the box-car, you can yodel till you're blue.

You can use the rails for bracelets, you can twist them round your arm,

But if you want to get there quicker, ride a tractor from your farm

CHORUS

A comment from Slim Dusty:

The Nomad (YouTube)

Further information:

The Uganda Railway

YouTube Video Nairobi-Kisumu Line

BBC 2011 report

The 'lunatic' line in pictures

See also "The Stourbridge Lion"

In Kenya