Memories of the much loved Kenya-Uganda Railway

 

Memories of the Kenya-Uganda Railway

By Professor Terence Price

Both my grandparents came to build the Kenya-Uganda Railway and my uncle was a train driver (goods train) based in Mombasa, and he and my dad both worked for over 40 years in the railways and my brother Henry, sister Mary, cousin Denis also followed suit until we had to leave Kenya in the mid 60's. As my dad worked in the railways, we were entitled to train travel so he would send us kids - 2nd class to Mombasa/Kampala but would speak to the Goan cooks so we had to wait for the last sitting in the dining car.

 

We soon knew why as we had the best meals from the cooks who really loved and respected my dad.  Years later when in high school and playing soccer I accompanied the Nairobi Goan Heroes soccer team to Mombasa to play their equivalent match with the Mombasa GI team over a weekend and travelled in the 3rd class carriage! But we joked and sang so had a great time as we occupied the entire carriage despite the discomforts as described by others! 

 

I stayed with my uncle in Mombasa for six months when I was doing HSC at Allidina Visram HS as my elder brother Cyril had to go on leave to Europe with his family so my uncle would arrive at different times of the night as he drove the trains to Kampala and he would bring back eggs, vegetables, fruit bought at some of the local stations on the way back. He told us many stories around the dining table of his train journeys from the 1920s to the 1950s.

 

My last train journey was in 1964 when I returned for a holiday from the UK where I was doing my University studies and took my widowed mother on the train First Class to visit my brother and uncle in Mombasa - her first train journey since returning from India after the war in 1946. 

 

What is remarkable is the friendships forged during my schooldays in Kenya have remained; although my former classmates are also scattered around the globe, and so many have also been lost through death. 

 

I looked via Google Maps for the houses my parents built in Eastleigh after my dad retired but they too have disappeared and been replaced by multi-storey buildings - so the only place still recognizable is the St Teresa's Catholic Church and St Teresa's Girls school. 

Maybe one day some of you may write a history on the contribution of the Asians to Kenya both prior to and since independence!  

Best wishes to all and sundry including my good friends Mervyn Maciel (Agriculture Kenya), and St Teresa's schoolmates Kersi Rustomji and Cyprian Fernandes.

 On a funnier note, I was once sitting on a plane travelling from Melbourne to the USA for a Scientific Conference in the 1980s and the person sitting next to me was an American. He was so fascinated that  I came from Kenya in Africa to teach Australians Agriculture and Plant Protection!  

CYPRIAN FERNANDES MY OWN UNFORGETTABLE MEMORY OF A TRAIN JOURNEY IN KENYA:

Then there was Corned Beef aka (late) Polycarp Fernandes. On a Hornets hockey team visit to Mombasa, Polly and his teammates (late) Steve Fernandes and Hygino Vaz leapt off the slowing train as it was inching its way to a dead stop in Voi.

On the journey to Mombasa, finger food provided by the various mothers was stored away in one of the carriages. There was music, card games and various other activities to keep everyone occupied. However, when they stopped for dinner, there was none to be found in the carriage where the food had been stored. Laughing from ear to ear, the trio admitted their crime. On the way back, Fernandes arranged for a kind lady to pack a box of finger foods and it was stored on the train with a guard of four to keep the three food robbers at bay. When dinner came, they asked for some food. No! No food for the trio because they had eaten all the food the last time. So, as we approached a train station, they wanted to be first in line for their sandwiches. Jumping off a moving train is forbidden and as luck would have it, they were nabbed by the local police. As there were no available cells, the two had to crouch under a police officer’s desk. It must have been pure agony for Polly dreaming of that sandwich.

Another teammate Hilary Fernandes went to the police station to enquire about their whereabouts. “I could not see them but heard a faint cry for help. They were under the desk,’’ Hilary laughed.

“Our manager Cyprian Fernandes rushed to see the station master who turned out to be Menino Viegas, a fellow Goan but he was not paying any attention to Fernandes’ pleadings. “They have broken the law”.

Fernandes asked Hilary to see if he could convince Viegas and get him to release the “starving” prisoners.

 “After pleading with Menino Viegas (a hockey player himself) for what seemed like an eternity, they were allowed out. We will never forget that day,” said Hygino, who now lives in Mississauga. “We can all laugh about it now but it wasn’t funny then.’’ Polly’s love for food was legendary.

Once at an Indian restaurant in Pangani, Polly, Octavio (Pereira) and I were handed four gulab jamuns (Indian sweets) following our meal. We tossed a coin to see who would win the extra gulab jamun. Polly was the winner but before Polly could get his hands on it, Octavio quickly stuffed it into his mouth. The next minute we saw the confectionery fly out of Octavio’s mouth and on to the floor. A furious Polly had punched him in the face.

Polly was a superb hockey goalkeeper in school and went on to play for the Railway Goan Institute.  He was a member of the RGI team that won the M.R. de Souza Gold Cup and several other local trophies. He also represented Nairobi in the Tata Cup and went on to play against the touring Pakistan national team led by incomparable Gen. Mansoor Atif. 

Also, on the RGI team was his younger brother James, who was an excellent left-back.  Polly’s older brother Jacinto was Kenya’s badminton champion and represented the country at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh in 1970.