Ever since my earliest childhood days I have been fond of everything that rolls, flies and floats.
One of the most impressive forms of transport still remains the steam-engine.
Even in The Netherlands I remember them seeing operate and, as a young boy with my father holding my hand, witnessed a steam train rolling into the station of Oisterwijk in southern Holland carrying numerous Hungarian refugees. That was in 1956. Already in the fifties my father used to explore disused railway yards in search of unusual accessories. "Just take them with you", used to be the common reply in those days.
With that background I departed to Mozambique in 1980, camera and darkroom equipment in my luggage, still not fully aware that steam traction was something quite mundane and commonplace over there.
Some years later the scenario had changed quite a lot. Governments in Southern Africa wanted something different, something more modern: diesel! Despite the fact that for example, in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South-Africa, coal was plentiful and almost all spare parts could be manufactured locally. But the international donors were also eager to sell their products and so, diesel traction became the new trend. Long live independence! With some luck, an average diesel loc in Africa will do 100.000 kilometres while the famous American Atlantic steam-engines easily clocked two million!
Steam traction disappeared in Mozambique by 1994, in Zimbabwe a little later and what"sleft is a giant 20th Class Beyer Peacock Garratt that takes a handful of well-paying tourists from Bulawayo to Victoria Falls.
Hence, this photo series show few "real" steam-engines but mostly wrecks and cannibalized wonder machines.
In 1998 however in the Mozambican town of Inhaminga on the Indian Ocean, the new trend had not yet sunk in with the railway workers. They kept the Porter steam-engine in running shape, convinced of the fact that it would run the line to Inharrime someday, somehow...
P.S. Attentive readers draw attention to the fact that steam-engines are running again in Zimbabwe. The national stock of diesel fuel ran dry...
Captions
1. A 'Ernesto Breda' steam locomotive (built in 1929) at the Asmara workshop. Eritrea. February 1994
2. A former railway bridge near Asmara, Eritrea. The war for independence destroyed the only rail link between Asmara and Massawa. February 1994
3. Passengers abandon a derailed train near Dondo in Mozambique. April 1994
4. A Garratt steam locomotive at sunset. Mozambique, Machipanda near the border with Zimbabwe. April 1992
5. A cargo train on its way to Zimbabwe. Near Bengo, central Mozambique. March 1991
6. The civil war (1976-1992) destroyed also this railway workshop in Inhaminga, central Mozambique. April 1995
7. A Garratt steam locomotive hit by a landmine near Lamego in central Mozambique. September 1989
8. Tools at the workshop of the Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), the National Railways of Mozambique. Gondola. September 1994
9. Derelict steam locomotives at the Gondola workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
10. A welder at work. Railway workshop in Gondola, Mozambique. September 1994
11. The Gondola workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
12. Garratt Nº 989 rest in peace. Gondola, Mozambique. September 1994
13. Lunch break at the Gondola workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
14. Lunch break at the Gondola workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
15. Railway workers in front of a Porter steam locomotive Nº 572. Inhambane. September 1998
16. The Bulawayo National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) workshop before sunrise. Zimbabwe. March 1986
17. The Bulawayo NRZ workshop. Garratt locs under steam before departure. Zimbabwe. March 1986
18. 20A class Garratt locs under steam before departure. Zimbabwe. March 1986
19. The Bulawayo workshop. Zimbabwe. March 1986
20. The Bulawayo workshop. Zimbabwe. June 1992
21. Between Mbalabala and Bulawayo. Zimbabwe. March 1986
22. Between Mbalabala and Bulawayo. Zimbabwe. March 1986
23. A 16th class Garratt loc shunting at Mbalabala station. Zimbabwe. March 1986
24. Taking in water. Mbalabala, Zimbabwe. March 1986
25. The controls and fire place of a 16th class Garratt loc, Nº 606. Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. March 1986
26. The Gondola railway workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
27. Doing laundry in the pit of the destroyed Inhaminga railway workshop. Mozambique. April 1995
28. Nearby the Gondola railway workshop. Mozambique. September 1994
29. The railway track between Beira and Tete. Nearby Savane, Mozambique. January 1995
30. Rail road and road between Cuamba and Mutuáli. Nampula province, Mozambique. April 1995
Ernst Schade (1949) is a Dutch photographer. He received training in tropical agriculture. For 16 years he worked in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique with governmental institutions and non-governmental organisations in rural development programmes. Since 1995 he lives in Lisboa, Portugal. Photography is now his main activity. He is represented by the photo agencies Hollandse Hoogte (The Netherlands) and Panos Pictures (UK).
Click here for his series 'The children of Africa"
Click here for his series 'Time out in Guinea Bissau"
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