The Railway Conquest of the World

by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot

CHAPTER XII
CECIL RHODES’ DREAM—FROM THE CAPE TO CAIRO II.—Southwards from Cairo.

While the southern arm of the great line has been pushed on energetically northwards from Cape Town, the northern limb has descended almost as rapidly down the Valley of the Nile to the great interior, so that the heart of the continent is being eaten into spiritedly from both ends. The two branches have been built under totally different auspices. Whereas the southern section was carried out by private enterprise, the northern division is the work of Government effort.

In the north the railway has made history rapidly, and its conquest has been of a complex character. It placed a unique weapon in the hands of the Government, and it wrested a vast track of Africa, aggregating 950,000 square miles, from barbarity and religious fanaticism in the form of Mahdism.

Owing to the impoverished condition of the country, the railway in Egypt has experienced a very chequered career. It commenced its pacific invasion promisingly enough, but it was found to be a highly expensive settling influence for a land whose coffers had been depleted almost to the extent of emptiness.

The early lines, when laid, were neglected, and consequently fell into a sorry condition. The majority of people who had regard for their lives and limbs preferred other vehicles of transport. Everything in connection with the iron road was conducted in a haphazard manner. Trains started without any one having the faintest idea as to where they were going or what time they would reach some destination. Lord Cromer relates that when he first went to the Land of the Pharaohs all the lines were single track. No staff or block system of any kind was in vogue, and there were no signals. A train started from a station on the off-chance that another train was not coming in the opposite direction. Needless to say, as he tersely remarks, “he avoided those lines.”

In the Sudan matters were even worse. The Khedive embarked upon a laudable enterprise when he decided to carry the iron highway southwards from Wadi Haifa. Khartoum was the objective, but nearly half a century passed before the iron horse appeared at the latter point, for when the Khedive’s railway got so far as Sarras, 33 miles south, funds became exhausted and the scheme was abandoned. Another attempt was made in 1885–6, on the occasion of the Nile Expedition, to resuscitate the scheme, and by great effort another 53 miles were tacked on from Sarras to Akasha. The life of the second section was short, for when the British forces retired the track was pulled up by the dervishes, and Sarras reverted to its position as the southern terminus.

When Lord Kitchener was deputed to crush the Mahdi for once and for all, he found 1,200 miles of sandy desert between him in the north and the seat of the fanatic’s power. The river was available for the movement of troops as in the previous campaign, but the latter had emphasised the disadvantages of that highway through hostile territory. He foresaw that only one agency would enable him to accomplish the desired end, and that was the railway. Among his officers was a Canadian engineer, Sir Percy Girouard, and he discussed the possibility of building a line across the desert to span that inhospitable gap in order to pour his troops against the Mahdi forces. The engineer realised the situation and undertook to carry the line southwards from Wadi Haifa.

The task was commenced in 1896, and railway construction was pushed forward with such spirited energy that Kerma, at the head of the cataracts, was gained in a short time. No great engineering difficulties were offered because the desert is tolerably level, and the sand provided a good foundation for the steel sleepers, or ties, with the minimum of ballasting. The greater question was to maintain the steady supply of requisite material southwards from Alexandria. Yet an average speed of two miles per day was maintained, the rails being laid for the most part by natives, assisted by both British and Egyptians, under the military engineers.

The objective was Abu Hamed, where the Nile describes a big elbow, and at that time this point was in the hands of the enemy. Its capture, however, by the Anglo-Egyptian troops resulted in a speeding-up in constructional work on the advancing railway, and the 80 miles of line into this town were laid in about two months. Clinging to the east bank of the river, it was driven southwards to Atbara, where a halt was called, and where the headquarters were established for the Omdurman campaign. Curiously enough, although the railway has reached the capital of the Sudan, Atbara has not yet lost its importance from the railway point of view, being the administration centre for the whole Sudan Government railway system.

At this place the Nile is swelled by the waters of the Atbara River, which flows in from the east. While the campaign was in progress communication between the opposite banks was maintained by means of a wooden bridge. As the river, however, is tempestuous when in flood, during which period it rises to a high level, a more permanent structure was demanded for the iron horse. The width of the waterway called for the erection of over 1000 feet of steel bridging. When the advance of the railhead was determined, it was decided to rush the railway across the river before it once more rose in flood. Tenders were invited, only to be received with dismay, because it was found that the structure required was of such an elaborate character that no English firm would undertake to complete it within two years.