The first stopping point after the railway left Nairobi was Kikuyu. There, railway officials put down roots by erecting an interim base as they co-ordinated the ongoing laying of tracks taking place in the Rift Valley escarpment. From there, the line went through Gilgil in 1900 then Nakuru. Mile after mile the railway came to life and all eyes turned towards Lake Victoria: the prize that had been coveted back in 1896 at the railway’s inception.
Harsh Conditions
But as had become the custom of the line, not all was rosy. The Rift Valley proved treacherous, and workers were met with escarpments, lakes and ranges. With no machinery to combat this challenging terrain, the manual work was brutal. Even so, with bare hands and sheer force, the labourers carved their way through the unrelenting terrain.
Apart from manual labour, this endeavour was also expensive. In fact, it required the purchase of viaducts – materials to build bridges across valleys and low ground. The expense and time it took to traverse the Rift Valley exhausted the line’s resources. Though the initial plan was to cross into Uganda via the Malaba roads, it became clear that a change of strategy was needed. Engineers swooped in to map out a different route through Kisumu instead of the land route initially planned for.
A Moment’s Peace
After enduring a tumultuous journey to Nakuru, the railway received reprieve during its construction towards Kisumu due to a better climate and access to clean water and plenty of food. Though delays persisted, they were typically resolved after a couple of days and the building would press on.
On 19th December 1901, colonial officials breathed a sigh of relief. After a gruelling 930 km, an estimated 5,502,592 pounds, and 2500 casualties, their lunatic line had come to be. Its tracks were entrenched in the ground from humid Mombasa, through the rocky Rift Valley and ended at the shores of Lake Victoria. The lead engineer, George Whitehouse sent the first telegram to the British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, to celebrate the feat. The point of stopping was named Port Florence after Whitehouse’s wife. It later became known as Kisumu.
Finding a Way Across Lake Victoria
A monument crowning the herculean effort was planted to mark the event. One of the first ever colonial structures in Kisumu, this little-known symbol immortalises the railroad with its train wheels and train track.
Though the railway itself was completed, the question of how to cross over to Uganda came to the fore. At the shores of Lake Victoria, the only answer was to employ canoes and ships to cross over to the resource-rich country that necessitated the railway. Disassembled ferries were shipped in from Scotland via Mombasa. They were then taken to Kisumu where they were put back together to cross the body of water.
The first ever ship to ply the lake’s waters was called the SS William Mackinnon. Fascinatingly enough, all 70 tonnes of it were painstakingly carried on foot from Mombasa to Kisumu after a trip from Glasgow, Scotland.
The R.M.S Victoria and the Clement were other formidable ships used to sail over Lake Victoria to Uganda’s Port Bell. The Victoria took this twelve-hour trip across the water on Wednesdays and Sundays – completing the journey from Mombasa to Uganda.
