Uganda Railway, Circa 1899-1901

The idea of building a railway line from Mombasa to the Victoria Nyanza was first proposed in 1890 by the promoters of the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA), whose officers carried out the initial survey. However, work on the building of the line, which was to become known as the Permanent Way, did not start in Mombasa until 1896. The line reached Port Florence in 1903 (named after the Chief Engineer’s wife and later renamed Kisumu). From Kisumu in British East Africa, the onward journey to Uganda was completed by steamship across Lake Victoria to Entebbe. The line cost, at the time, approximately £5.5 million to construct. Once the railway had reached the upland areas, it was first necessary to negotiate several escarpments (e.g. the Kikuyu and Mau Escarpments) by erecting either rope inclines or temporary viaducts (these were in use from May 1900 to November 1901). Several of these are depicted by William Young in this album. For the history of the Uganda Railway see, Hill, M.F., Permanent way : the story of the Kenya and Uganda Railway, East African railways and harbours, Nairobi, 1949.