Reference Sources for Sierra Leone Railways

THE BRITISH OVERSEAS RAILWAYS HISTORICAL TRUST

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Reference Sources for Sierra Leone Railways

This page is to assist in research on Sierra Leone Railways. Please also reference our Nigerian page for further ideas.

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.

Sierra Leone has a dated detailed history of its railways.

On this page, the term Sierra Leone Railways includes the Sierra Leone Development Company.

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.

There have been three series of the Sierra Leone Studies Journal. The first ran from 1918 – 1939 with 22 issues. It was then re-established in 1944 and ran until 1970 with 26 issues although it had a short break between 1963 and 1966. The third series commenced in 202 and ran until 2020 with 16 issues. The only link found to any of the series is to the third series: The Journal Of Sierra Leone Studies. Please note, we have not discovered an index to any of the journals, with the exception of the latest series of Sierra Leone Studies and do not know if they contain anything of railway interest.

There was also a publication entitled Bulletin, the journal of the Sierra Leone Geographical Association no. 1-10 which became the Sierra Leone Geographical Journal in 1957 and lasted to 1971 with 15 issues. Likewise, there was also the Journal of the Historical Society of Sierra Leone which had 4 issues between January 1977 and December 1980.

The Sierra Leone Railway Museum's website is at Sierra Leone National Railway Museum.

There were two railway inspections carried out. The first in 1912 by Major Waghrn R.E.; a printed copy does not seem to have survived although there is extensive correspondence in the National Archives. The second was by Brigadier-General Frederick Dawson Hammond in 1927 and copies are available. Post-independence there were several reports and proposals, not all of which survive, the ones listed are available.

Sierra Leone Railway Specific Books and Articles

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Town	Remarks
Anon	2nd Special African Railway Number	1927	The Railway Gazette (5th December 1927)
Anon	Beyer-Garratt Locomotives for Sierra Leone	1956	The Locomotive Magazine (April): 60.
Anon	Beyer-Garratt locomotives for Sierra Leone	1956	The Railway Gazette (April): 200-202.
Anon	Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Service, Sierra Leone Railway	1929	Beyer, Peacock & Co.	Manchester
Anon	Handbook of Railways in Africa	1919	Naval Staff Intelligence Department	London
Anon	Iron Ore to Marampa	C1961	Sierra Leone Development Company
Anon	Memorandum adopted at a Joint Meeting of members of the West African Section and the East African Section of the London Chamber of Commerce held on 24th September 1923 for submission to The Private Enterprise Committee (Colonial Office).	1923	London Chamber of Commerce	London
Anon	Narrow-Gauge Locomotive	1900	The Engineer 89 (12 Jan): 38, 44-45.
Anon	Papers relating to the Construction of Railways in Sierra Leone, Lagos and the Gold Coast, Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty.	1904	Houses of Parliament	London
Anon	Passenger and goods tariff and telegraph regulations 1915	1915	Sierra Leone Railway: 60	Freetown
Anon	Proposals for the training of staff in the Locomotive, Traffic and Engineering sub-departments of the Railway	1939	Government Printer	Freetown
Anon	Public Timetable in force from 1st August, 1924 until further notice	1924	Sierra Leone Government Railway: 7	Freetown
Anon	Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Railway Workers' Union	1955	Government Printer	Freetown
Anon	ROADS AND RAILWAYS: Sierra Leone	2009	Africa research bulletin. Economic, financial, and technical series. VOL 45; NUMBER 11,
Anon	Sierra Leone	1971	Continental Railway Journal (No. 7 (New Series)): 213
Anon	Sierra Leone	1972	Continental Railway Journal (No. 10 (New Series))
Anon	Sierra Leone Government Railway	1905	The Engineer 100 (Aug 25): 194-196.
Anon	The Sierra Leone Railway	1899	The Engineer 88 (Sept. 8): 240-242.
Anon	Transportation Survey of Sierra Leone	1963	Transportation Consultants Inc.	Washington DC,
Anon	Working timetables and special instructions to the staff concerned, 1918	1918	Sierra Leone Railway: 62	Freetown
Ashby, Helen	The Sierra Leone Government Railway from Creation to Preservation	2022	Mainline & Maritime	Chippenham
Beale, PO	The Postal Service of Sierra Leone Its History, Stamps and Stationary until 1961	1988	The Royal Philatelic Society	London
Beale, Phillip and Mitchell, Vic	Sierra Leone Narrow Gauge.	2004	Middleton Press	Midhurst
Bell, S	The Sierra Leone Railway in 1946	1957	Talk to RCTS
Best, JR	A History of the Sierra Leone Railway 1899 - 1949	1949	Sierra Leone Government Railway	Freetown
Bruckner, Andrew Daniel	To Develop the Colonial Estate: The Reasons for British West African Railways	2011	MA by research, University of York
Bunning, AJF, C.M.G., M.Inst. T	Report on a visit to Sierra Leone	1949	Secretary of State for the Colonies	London
Cardew, F, Sir	Railway Schemes for the Colony of Sierra Leone	1895	The African Trade Section of the Incorporated Chamber of Commerce of Liverpool	Liverpool
Cardew, Frederick	Railway schemes for the colony of Sierra Leone: address given ... at a meeting of the members, held at the rooms of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, August 1st, 1895.	1895
Cardew, Frederick	Railway schemes: Sierra Leone : address given at a meeting of the Legislative Council of Sierra Leone, held at Freetown, May 1st, 1895	1895
Church, RJ	Railways of West Africa; A Geographical and Historical Analysis	1943	University of London	London
Clarke, JI, Dr., Nelson, SJA, et al., Eds.	Sierra Leone in Maps	1969	Hodder and Stroughton	London
Coulls, Anthony	Sierra Leone railway adventure : the remarkable story of the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum	2014	Published by Holne Publishing on behalf of the Friends of the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum	Leeds
Dalton, KG	Road and Rail Links of Sierra Leone	1957	University of Leeds	Leeds
Dalton, Kenneth Godfrey	The Road and Railway Network of Sierra Leone.	1957	MA, Leeds University
Darwin, Major	Railways in Africa	1896	Geographical Journal 8: p488-501
de la Motte, ESG	Railway Location and Construction in West Africa 1950-1955	1956	ICE, Conference on Civil Engineering Problems in the Colonies, Institute of Civil Engineers
Durrant, AE	The Garratt Locomotive	1969	David and Charles	Newton Abbot
Durrant, AE	Garratt Locomotives of the World	1981	David and Charles	Newton Abbot
Farid, Raymond Anthony	Sawpit Boy	1980		Freetown
Foray, CP	Historical Dictionary of Sierra Leone	1977	The Scarecrow Press, Inc	London,
Fyfe, C	A History of Sierra Leone	1962	Oxford University Press	London
Gatford, H, B.Sc. (Hons.), M.I.C.E.	Report on Civil Engineering Improvements to reduce the Operating Expenses of the Sierra Leone Government Railway	1948	On behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone by the Crown Agents for the Colonies	London
Greene, G	Journey without Maps	1978	William Heinemann & The Bodley Head	London
Hammond, FD, Lt. Col. R.E	Report on the Sierra Leone Government Railway	1929	Crown Agents for the Colonies	London
Hardy, C	Hudswell Clarke & Company Ltd Locomotive Works List	1982	Thomas Aleksandr	Birmingham
Huxley, E	Four Guineas, A Journey through West Africa	1954	Chatto & Windus	London
Jaekel, F	A History of the Nigerian Railway	1997	Spectrum Books Limited.	Ibadan
Jarrett, HR	Rents, roads and railways: a study of their interrelationship in Freetown	1955	Sierra Leone Studies, 5, 36-43	Freetown
Kamara, James Saybome	The Introduction of the Railway in Sierra Leone with Special Reference to the Yoni Chiefdom	1983	Dissertation for Higher Teachers Certificate Milton Margai Teachers college
Kesson, JM, C.B.E., B.Sc., M.I.C.E.	Report on Sierra Leone Railways	1965		London
Lardner, Henry Harold	The agricultural & commercial problems in Sierra Leone: with an illustration of a prospective railway train from Freetown to Timbuctoo	1893		Freetown
Mance, HO, Capt. D.S.O.	The Railway Systems of West Africa	1913	Journal of the Royal United Services Institute 57: 167-194
McPhee, A	The Economic Revolution in British West Africa	1971	Frank Cass & Co Ltd.	London
Migeod, FWH	A View of Sierra Leone	1926	Kegan Paul, Trench, Tubner & Co Ltd.	London
Milton, Harvey	A geographical study of the pattern, processes and consequences of urban growth in Sierra Leone in the twentieth century.	1966	Durham University, thesis?
Moore, GS	The Sierra Leone Government Railway	1976/77	The Narrow Gauge (74): 11-17
Mukonoweshuro, EG	Colonialism, Class Formation and Underdevelopment in Sierra Leone	1993	University Press of America	London
Neale, A	Hunslet Narrow Gauge Locomotives	1995	Plateway Press.	Brighton
Ormsby-Gore, William	Report on a visit to West Africa	1926	Colonial Office	London
Proud, EB	The Postal History of Sierra Leone	1994	Proud Bailey Co. Ltd.	Heathfield
Redman, RN	The Railway Foundry Leeds 1839 - 1969 E.B. Wilson - Hudswell Clarke & Co. Ltd.	1972	Goose & Son	Norwich
Robertson, SDM	The Sierra Leone Railway	1961	Corona 13: 109-113
Saunders, ARG	A Paradox of Modern Railway Management	1954	The Railway Gazette(August and September 1954): 206-207, 234-235, 262
Sells, MP, Major	Sierra Leone Government Railway	1952	The Locomotive Magazine Vol. LVIII No. 720(August, September, October 1952): 129-132, 145-147, 165
Sesay, Shekou, M	Transport in relation to social and economic development in Sierra Leone	1967	Durham University PhD Thesis
Shelford, F, B.Sc (Lond), M.Inst.C.E, F.R.G.S	On West African Railways	1902	Journal of the African Society 1(III): 339-354
Shelford, F, B.Sc (Lond), M.Inst.C.E, F.R.G.S	Some Features of the West African Government Railways.	1912	Proceedings of the Institute of Civil Engineers 189(1911-1912 Pt III: 1-80.
Shelford, F, B.Sc (Lond), M.Inst.C.E, F.R.G.S	The Development of West Africa by Railways	1904	Royal Colonial Institute	London
Stevens, SP	What Life has taught me	1984	Kensal Press	Bourne End
Sunderland, David, general editor, advisory editor, Godfrey N. Uzoigwe.	Communications in Africa, 1880-1939, volume 1, Railways : proposals	2018?	Routledge	London
Tourret, R	Allied Military Locomotives of the Second World War	1995	Tourret Publishing	Abington
Trevor Rowe, D	The Sierra Leone Government Railway	1998	Locomotives International(41): 6-11
Turner, B. S.	The Story of the Cyprus Government Railway	1998	Mechanical Engineering Publications Ltd.	London
VAN CRIEKINGE, Jan	HISTORISCH OVERZICHT VAN DE SPOORWEGEN IN WEST-AFRIKA	1989	Afrika Focus, Vol. 5, Nr. 3-4, 1989, pp. 133-152	Brussels
Venner W	Something About the Sierra Leone Railway	1950	Government Printer	Freetown
Venner, W	Something about the Sierra Leone Railway, A few notes about its History, what it is doing and what it hopes to do in the future.	1950	Sierra Leone Government Railway	Freetown
Venner, W	The Sierra Leone Railway	1951	Corona 3: 335-6
Whitby, JHM	A general report covering the present Railway Staff and Control Telephone system with suggestions for their improvement	1965		Freetown
White, HP	The Railways of Sierra Leone	1960	Railway Magazine, 106, 231-237
White, HP	The Railways of Sierra Leone	1960	The Railway Magazine Vol. 106(April 1960): 231-237 , 284
Whiteman, K	Road Transport takes over from Rail	1969	Financial Times	London
Williams, GJ and Hayward, DF	Changing land transport patterns in Sierra Leone	1973	Scottish Geographical Magazine 89(2): 107 -118
Williams, WC	Some References to "Beyer-Garratt" Performances on the Sierra Leone Government Railway	1929	The Beyer-Peacock Quarterly Review (April 1929)

Books or Journal Articles on African Railways that will Mention Sierra Leone

Author	Title	Date	Publisher	Town	Remarks
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.
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)
Carter, Reg	Kitson Works List	1997	Private	Kingston-upon-Thames
Darwin, Major	Railways in Africa	1896	Geographical Journal 8: p488-501	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
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
Durrant, AE; Jorgensen,AA; Lewis, CP	Steam in Africa	1981	Hamlyn	London
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
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
Palterman, Jonathan	African Railway Album, Vol 1	2006
Wiener, Lionel	Les Chemins de fer coloniaux de l'Afrique	1930	Goemaere	Brussels

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