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Reference Sources for African Railways in General

African Railway 1

Following on from the Nigerian reference sources this document is to list reference sources that deal either with Africa in general or cover a specific issue over several countries.

Firstly, a word of warning, there has been a spate in recent years of people finding books that are out of copyright, OCR’ing them and offering the copies for sale. Admittedly they do warn that the copies may not be perfect. The Trust brought a copy of a French book on African Colonial Railways that is extremely rare but found that no more than 25% of the pages were legible.

Some of the titles below are available in the British Library and can be found by searching their catalogue.

Journal articles listed should be available through JSTOR or appropriate online sources.

In producing these research files use has been made of the following reference source: TRANSPORT RESEARCH BIBLIOGRAPHY, Gordon Pirie, African Centre for Cities University of Cape Town December 2018, however much additional material has been added.

African Railway 2

Books or Journal Articles on African Railways

Author

Title

Date

Publisher

Town

Remarks

African Development Bank

Rail Infrastructure in Africa: Financing
Policy Options

2015

African Development Bank

Abidjan

 

Ahiable, Anthony

Air Transportation in the Economic Development of
the Less-Developed Countries, the Proposed Kumasi-Navrongo Railway
Extension Project

1975

MSc, Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

 

Amin, Mohamed, Willetts, Duncan, and Matheson, Alastair

Railways
Across the Equator: the Story of the East African Line

1986

Bodley Head

London

 

Anon

Notes on railway construction

1912/13

Journal of the Royal African
Society, 12 (47), 290-295

 

 

Anon

Railways and harbours in tropical Africa

1941

Royal Engineers
Journal, 55, 341-349

 

This article contains the only detailed account of the Royal Engineers building the Baro-Kano railway seen.

Anon

Road and rail transport links in southern Africa: a selected and
annotated survey

1987

Southern African Update, 2 (1)

 

 

Arnold, Guy

The TANZAM railway

2000

In World Strategic Highways, pp.
120-126.  Fitzroy & Dearborn

London

 

Arnold, Guy, and Weiss, Ruth

Strategic Highways of Africa

1977

Julian Friedmann

London

 

Ayoola, Tokunbo Aderemi

Railways

2008

In New Encyclopaedia of Africa,
edited by John Middleton. Gale

Farmington Mills

 

Baltzer, Franz

Die Kolonialbahnen mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Afrikas [The Colonial Railways with particular reference to Africa]

1916

Berlin, Leipzig, Göschen: (Reprint: Leipzig 2007: Holzminden Reprint-Verl.). ISBN 9783826202339.

Berlin

(in German)

Beach, DR

Road and railway organisation and administration in
Nigeria and the Ivory Coast

1965

MA, American University

 

 

Bergoudian, J

A Geographical Study of Selected Equatorial and East
African Railways

1964

MA, Marshall University

 

 

Brackenbury, RH

A feeder system of transport for arterial railways in
equatorial Africa

1927

 

 

 

Carter, Reg

Kitson Works List

1997

Private.

Kingston-upon-Thames

 

Christ, Nannette, and Ferrantino, Michael J

Land transport for export:
the effects of cost, time, and uncertainty in Sub-Saharan Africa

2011

World
Development, 39 (10), 1749-1759

 

 

Christy, C

The Cape-to-Cairo railway

1924

Scottish Geographical
Magazine, 40, 331-334

 

 

Darwin, Major

“Railways in Africa”

1896

Geographical Journal 8: p488-501

London

 

Day, John Robert

Railways of Northern Africa

1964

Arthur Baker

London

 

Day, John Robert

Railways of Southern Africa

1963

Arthur Baker

London

 

de Renty, Ernest Amédée

Les Chemins de Fer Coloniaux en Afrique

1903

De Rudeval

Paris

Pt 1 is German, Italian and Portuguese Colonies, Pt 2 the British Colonies and Pt 3 the French Colonies

Demangeon, A

The Cape to Cairo dream

1929

The Living Age, 365-368

 

 

Due, John F

The Problems of Rail Transport in Tropical Africa

1979

The Journal of Developing Areas
Vol. 13, No. 4 (Jul., 1979), pp. 375-393
Published by: College of Business, Tennessee State University

Nashville

 

Due, John F

Some Observations on Rail and Road Transport in
Commonwealth Tropical Africa

1977

In Transportation Research Paper No. 14. University of Illinois

Urbana-Champaign

 

Due, John F

The economic viability of the railways of tropical Africa

1980

Journal of Development Economics, 7 (2), 263-272

 

 

Dumett, Raymond E

Joseph Chamberlain: imperial finance and
railway policy in British West Africa in the late nineteenth century

1975

English
Historical Review, 90, 287-321.

 

 

Durrant, AE; Jorgensen, AA; Lewis, CP

Steam in Africa

1981

Hamlyn

London

 

Farquharson, James Robbie

The role of railways in developing
countries

1962

Conference on Civil Engineering Problems Overseas

London

 

Fox, H Wilson

The Cape-to-Cairo railway and train ferries:
development of the Great Lakes of Africa by train ferries

1920

Geographical
Journal, 55 (2), 73-101.

 

 

FoxLee, Richard William

The railway gauge problem of tropical Africa

1948

In Conference on Civil Engineering Problems in The Colonies, pp. 61-73.
Institute of Civil Engineers

 

 

Gautier, EF

The Trans-Sahara railway

1925

Geographical Review, 15 (1),
51-69

 

 

Girouard, EPC

The railways of Africa

1906

Scribner's Magazine, 39, 553-
568

 

 

Gray, A

Africa's pressing transport problem: plans to relieve rail and
port capacity.

1953

African World, 15-19

 

 

Griffiths, Ieuan L

'Web of Steel': the development of the railways

1986

Geographical Magazine, 58, 512-517

 

 

Haefele, ET and Steinberg, EB

Government Controls on
Transport: an African Case.

1965

Brookings Institution

Washington, DC.

 

Hanes, W. Travis

Railway politics and imperialism in central Africa,
1889-1953

1991

In Railway Imperialism, edited by Clarence B. Davis, Kenneth
E. Wilburn and Ronald E. Robinson, pp. 41-70. Greenwood

Westport

 

Harrison-Church, Ronald James

The evolution of railways in French
and British West Africa

1949

Paper presented at the International Geographical
Congress, Lisbon

 

 

Harrison-Church, Ronald James

The Railways of West Africa: A
Geographical and Historical Analysis

1943

PhD, University of London

 

 

Harrison-Church, Ronald James

Trans-Saharan railway projects: a
study of their history and of their geographical setting

1951

In London Essays in
Geography, edited by L.D. Stamp and S.W. Woolridge, pp. 135-150.
Longmans, Green

 

 

Heffernan, Mike

Shifting sands: the trans-Saharan Railway

2011

In Engineering Earth: the Impacts of Mega-Engineering Projects, edited by Stanley D. Brunn, pp. 617-626. Springer

Dordrecht

 

Honig, ET

Railway Networks in West Africa.

1989

Röhr Verlag

Krefeld

 

Jedwab, Rémi, and Moradi, Alexander

Transportation Technology and
Economic Change: the Impact of Colonial Railroads on City Growth in
Africa.

2013

CSAE Working Paper WPA/2013-17

 

 

Johnston, Alex

Fresh fields for African railways

1904

Journal of the Royal
African Society, 3 (11), 271-276

 

 

Johnston, HH

Railway projects in Africa and the Near East

1912

The
Nineteenth Century and After, 558-569

 

 

Laight, JC

Railway expansion during the post war period

1957

South
African Journal of Economics, 25 (2), 115-123

 

 

Lewin, E

Railways in Africa

1917

United Empire, 8, 23-30; 94-99; 172-178

 

 

Lotz, WPN

A diversity of gauges: obstacle to intra-African rail
transport

1971

South African Journal of African Affairs, 4, 81-90

 

 

Lowe, CM

On the road to recovery: rehabilitating the rails

1989

Africa
Report, 3 (May/June), 38-41

 

 

Maasdorp, Gavin

A strategy for rail and road transportation in
southern Africa

1991

Africa Insight, 21, 7-13

 

 

Maasdorp, Gavin

Making Southern African railways more competitive

1995

Urban Forum, 6 (2), 79-90

 

 

Maggi, Stefano

The railways of Italian Africa: economic, social and
strategic features

1997

Journal of Transport History, 18 (1), 54-71

 

 

Metcalfe, Charles

Railway Development of Africa, Present and Future

1916

The Geographical Journal
Vol. 47, No. 1 (Jan., 1916), pp. 3-17
Published by: The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)

London

 

Morrell, JC

Advantage of railway communication in Africa as
compared with any other mode of transport

1879

Journal of the Royal Society of
Arts, 27, 479-488

 

 

Naval Intelligence Department

Handbook of Railways in
Africa

1919

The Admiralty

London

 

Orr, CWJ

Light Railways for Tropical Africa

 

1911

Journal of the Royal African Society
Vol. 10, No. 38 (Jan., 1911), pp. 179-190
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Royal African Society

Oxford

 

Oyemakinde, Wole

The railway workers and modernisation in colonial
Africa

1979

Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 10 (10), 113-124

 

 

Palterman Jonathan

African Railway Album, Vol 1

2006

 

 

 

Pauling and Co. Ltd

The Works of Pauling and Co. Ltd

1930

London

 

 

Pauling, George

Chronicles of a Contractor

1926

Constable

London

Reprinted by Books of Rhodesia in 1970’s

Penn, P, Lt-Col and Street, Lucie

Tomorrow’s Continent

1948

Sidgewick & Jackson

London

 

Pirie, Gordon H

The decivilising rails: railways and underdevelopment
in Southern Africa

1982

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 73
(4), 221-228

 

 

Prout, HG

A central African railroad

1891

Journal of the American
Geographical Society of New York, 23, 566-574

 

 

Ram, KV

British Government, finance capitalists and the French
Jibuti-Addis Ababa railway, 1898-1913

1981

Journal of Commonwealth and
Imperial History, 9, 146-168

 

 

Ravndal, GB

The Cape to Cairo railway

1902

Liberia Bulletin, 21, 7-9

 

 

Reichardt, M and Duncan, D

Rail transport and the political
economy of southern Africa, 1965-1980

1990

Africa Insight, 20 (2), 100-110

 

 

Richardson, Ralph

British trans-Africa railways

1910

Scottish Geographical
Magazine, 26, 633-638

 

 

Richardson, Ralph

Railways in Africa

1906

Journal of the Royal African
Society?, 6, 291-296

 

 

Richardson, Ralph

The railways of Africa

1906

Scottish Geographical
Magazine, 22 (12), 621-636

 

 

Roberts, Trevor W

The Trans-Saharan railway and the politics of
Imperial expansion, 1890–1900

2014

Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth
History, 43 (3), 438-462

 

 

Schwarz, EHL

Railway development in Africa

1921

South African
Geographical Journal, 4, 21-29

 

 

Shepstone, HJ

Cape to Cairo railroad

1912

Westminster, 21, 83-91

 

 

Shepstone, HJ

Railway building in central Africa

1913/14

Boy's Own
Annual, 36, 428-431

 

 

Smalley, Rebecca

AGRICULTURAL GROWTH CORRIDORS
ON THE EASTERN SEABOARD OF
AFRICA: AN OVERVIEW

2017

Agricultural Policy Research in Africa

 

 

Sölch, Werner

Kap-Kairo

1985

Alba

Dusseldorf

 

Spiller, John Wyatt

Colonial railways 1929-1938: an economic review

1941

Journal of the ICE, 16 (8), 425-430

 

 

Stead, William Thomas

The Cape to Cairo railway

1899

Windsor
Magazine, 363-374.

 

 

Sunderland, David

The departmental system of railway construction in
British West Africa, 1895-1906

2000

Journal of Transport History, 23 (2), 87-112

 

 

Tabor, George

The Cape to Cairo Railway and River Routes

2003

Genta

London

 

Talbot, E

Steam from Kenya to the Cape

1975

Continental Railway Circle

Stafford

 

Travis, R

Railways of Africa

1930

Journal of the Institute of Transport, xxx,
224-232

 

 

van Criekinge, Jan

Historical survey of the railway development in
West-Africa

1989

Afrika Focus, 5 (3), 133-152

 

 

van der Meulen; Parker, RD; CJC

FREIGHT RAILWAYS FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM: AFRICA AS GLOBAL PLAYER?

1999

SOUTH AFRICAN TRANSPORT CONFERENCE.; Road infrastructure and concrete roads; Pretoria, 1999

 

 

van der Poel, Jean

The Railway and Customs Policy of the African
States and Colonies, 1885-1910

1929

PhD, University of London

 

 

Varian, HF

Some African Milestones

1953

George Ronald

Oxford

 

Vernon, SP

Cape to Cairo railway

1899

Liberia Bulletin, 16, 30-40

 

 

Weinthal, Leo

The Story of the Cape to Cairo Railway and River Route, from 1887 to 1922

1924

The Pioneer Publishing Co. Ltd.

London

There are 4 volumes and a map set in total

Weinthal, Leo, ed.

The Story of the Cape-to-Cairo Railway and River
Route, 1887-1922.

1923

Pioneer Publishing

London

4 vols. And map set

Welensky, Roy

Railway, road and air plans for central Africa

1955

New
Commonwealth, 65-68.

 

 

Wiener, Lionel

Les Chemins de fer coloniaux de l'Afrique

1930

Goemaere

Brussels

 

Williams, Robert

The Cape to Cairo railway

1921

Journal of the Royal
African Society, 20 (80), 241-258

 

 

Williams, Robert

The Cape-to-Cairo railway from the point of view of
African development

1922

Journal of the Central Asian Society, 9 (3), 147-166

 

 

Wills, JT

The Cape to Cairo, the Bulawayo - Tanganyika and other
railways

1899

Contemporary Review, 75, 159-168

 

 

Wyse, Akintola GJ

The 1926 railway strike and Anglo-Krio relations:
an interpretation

1981

International Journal of African Historical Studies, 14 (1),
93-123

 

 

Yates, BA

Railroads and waterways of Africa

1961

Journal of Geography,
60 (3), 120-135.

 

 

Suez Railway Station

Books or journal articles written by either serving or former members of Nigerian Railways, but not necessarily on Nigerian Railways but are of general interest

Author

Title

Date

Publisher

Town

Remarks

BULKELEY, George Vicary Owen

Mechanical Appliances for Handling Railway Traffic.

1921

Railway Gazette

London

General Manager Nigerian Railways in 1933

BULKELEY, George Vicary Owen

Railway and Seaport Freight Movement. With examples of British and American practice, etc.

1930

C. Lockwood & Son

London

 

BULKELEY, George Vicary Owen

Some considerations regarding locos. for colonial railways.

1947

Locomotive Mag., 1947, 53, 20

London

 

BULKELEY, George Vicary Owen

The 4-8-0 locomotive on Colonial railways

1947

Locomotive Mag., 1947, 53, 187

London

 

BULKELEY, George Vicary Owen

Transport Administration in Tropical Dependencies

1946

Railway Gazette

London

 


Books on Steam Locomotives

Author

Title

Date

Publisher

Town

Remarks

Carling, D Rock

4-8-0 Tender Locomotives

1971

David and Charles

Newton Abbot

The quintessential African steam engine

Durrant, AE

The Garratt locomotive

1969

David and Charles

Newton Abbot

 

Durrant, AE

Garratt locomotives of the world

1981

David and Charles

Newton Abbot

 

Tourret, R

Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War

1995

Tourret Publishing

Abingdon

 

Wiener, Lionel

Articulated locomotives

1930

Constable

London

 

Pattison, RG

The Cape Seventh Class Locomotives

1997

Railway History Group of Southern Africa

Kennilworth

 

Holland, DF

Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways

1971

David and Charles

Newton Abbot

2 Volumes

Germiston Railway Station

Books on the Locomotive and Rolling Stock Builders

The history of the locomotive builders is reasonably well covered, but much less so on the rolling stock builders. We have concentrated on British builders and include foreign builders if relevant.

Author

Title

Date

Publisher

Town

Remarks

Alexander, Colin

The Vulcan Foundry : 150 years of engineering

2017

Amberley

Stroud

 

Alexander, Colin;  Siton, Alon

The North British Locomotive Company

2018

Amberley Publishing

Stroud

 

Anon

Henschel Lieferliste 1848-1998

1999

Lok Report

Munster

 

Anon

R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co. Ltd., Newcastle-upon-Tyne

1910

Mawson, Swan & Morgan, printers

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

 

Anon

R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd : shipbuilders and marine engine builders

1955

R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd.

Newcastle upon Tyne

 

Anon

Short history of R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company, Ltd, locomotive manufacturers

1920

R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd.

Newcastle upon Tyne

 

Bailey, MR

Built in Britain, The Independent Locomotive Manufacturing Industry in the Nineteenth Century

2021

Railway and Canal Historical Society

Market Drayton

 

Baker, Allan C & Allen Civil, TD

Bagnalls of Stafford, builders of locomotives for the world's railways : a history of the firm and & its folk

2008

Phyllis Rampton Narrow Gauge Railway Trust

High Halden

 

Baker, Allan C and Allen Civil, TD

Bagnalls of Stafford, locomotive builders and railway engineers ... 1875-1972

1973

Oakwood Press

Lingfield

 

Beddoes, Keith; Wheeler, Colin; Wheeler, Stephen

Metro-Cammell : 150 years of craftsmanship

1999

Runpast

Cheltenham

 

Carter, Reg

Kitson Works List

1997

Private

Kingston-upon-Thames

 

Clark, Edwin Kitson

Kitsons of Leeds, 1837-1937 : a firm and its folk by one of them, Edwin Kitson Clark

1938

The Locomotive Publishing Company, Ltd

London

 

Clarke, Joseph Finbar

Power on land and sea : 160 years of industrial enterprise on Tyneside : a history of R. & W. Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd, engineers and shipbuilder

1979

Northumberland Engine Works

Wallsend

 

Court, JH

North British steam locomotives built 1857-1956 for railways overseas

1978

Bradford Barton

Truro

 

Gudgin, Douglas Stuart Edward

Vulcan foundry locomotives 1832-1956

1976

Bradford Barton

Truro

 

Hills RL and Patrick, D

Beyer, Peacock : locomotive builders to the world

1998

Venture

Glossop

 

Hills, RL

Beyer Peacock : locomotive builders of Gorton : a short history

1985

North Western Museum of Science and Industry

Manchester

 

Hills, RL

Beyer, Peacock

1972

North Western Museum of Science and Industry

Manchester

 

Hypher, John;  Wheeler, Colin; Wheeler, Stephen

Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Company : a century of achievement, 1855-1963, in pictures and words

1995

Runpast

Cheltenham

 

Marconi

The Vulcan Locomotive Works, 1830-1930

2003

P & D Riley

Cheshire

 

Marconi

Vulcan steam locomotives : a collection of steam trains produced at the famous locomotive works in Lancashire, England

2003

P & D Riley

Cheshire

Previous ed. published as: Vulcan locomotives.  Newton-le-Willows : Vulcan Foundry Ltd. 1955.

Nicolson, Murdoch

Glasgow : locomotive builder to Britain

1998

Glasgow City Libraries and Archives

Glasgow

 

Redman, RN

The Railway Foundry, Leeds : Hudswell Clarke & Co Ltd : the diesel era

2015

The Industrial Railway Society,

Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire

 

Redman, RN

The Railway Foundry, Leeds, 1839-1969: E. B. Wilson-Hudswell Clarke & Co.

1972

Goose & Son

Norwich

 

Rodger P. Bradley

Giants of steam : the full story of the North British Locomotive Co. Ltd

1995

Oxford Publishing

Oxford

 

Rolt, LTC

A Hunslet hundred; one hundred years of locomotive building by the Hunslet Engine Company

1964

David and Charles

Dawlish

 

Townsley, Don

The Hunslet Engine works : over a century and a half of locomotive building

1998

Plateway Press

East Harling

 

Vernon, Tony

Yorkshire Engine Company : Sheffield's locomotive manufacturer

2008

History

Stroud

 

VULCAN FOUNDRY LTD.

The Vulcan Locomotive Works, 1830-1930

1930

Locomotive Publishing Co. Ltd.

London

I only know of 2 copies, one in BL and I have the other.  I will look to see what it has of relevance

VULCAN FOUNDRY LTD.

Vulcan Locomotives  [With illustrations]

1955

VULCAN FOUNDRY LTD.

Newton-le-Willows

 

WARREN, James GH

A Century of Locomotive Building by Robert Stephenson & Co., 1823-1923

1923

A. Reid & Co.

Newcastle-on-Tyne

See also A century of locomotive building by Robert Stephenson & Co., 1823-1923.  A reprint with a new introduction, by David and Charles 1970

Wear, Russell

Barclay 150 : a brief history of Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co. Ltd. and Hunslet-Barclay Ltd., Kilmarnock from 1840-1990

1990

Hunslet-Barclay Ltd., 1990

Kilmarnock, Scotland

 

 

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