Sierra Leone Railway

A few photos from the collection of Phil Cole

During the week before Easter your web host was at Llanfair. I had a couple of days driving followed by a couple of days in the workshops.
One lunchtime, I think that I had just finished helping coal up 85, I was approached by a visitor, Phil Cole, who was very interested in the engine. We got chatting and it turned out that during the 1970s he had spent some time out in Sierra Leone and had some photos of the railway that we might be interested in seeing. This set of pictures are from Phil's collection.

Saturday Feb 21st 1976 at Bauya Junction, this was the point where a branch line went north to Makeni (already dismantled when I was there) and east to Kenema and beyond. My journal notes that the locomotive arrived from Songo and coupled up to two coaches and moved them around a bit!  I also noted that people appeared to be living in some of the rolling stock arround the station so perhaps this is why some rolling stock was moved ocassionally. It also notes this was a very hot day (the middle of the dry season) and my friend and I had to move out of the way of a mini whirlwind that whipped dust and leaves high into the air!

Hudswell Clarke 2-8-2 diesel locomotive 133 shunting carriages at Buaya Junction. This locomotive survived the scrapman and all the "troubles" and is now preserved in a museum established in the former works at Cline Town.

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Photo 67 A notice on a carriage recording that it had formed part of the last passenger train

Photo 68 Loco 133 standing in the platform at Bauya Junction

Photo 69 A view of Buaya Junction taken from the balcony of the station building

Now the next lot are a mixture

Photo 110 is the station sign at Segbwema, my town about 200 miles down the line from Freetown, the line was removed a couple of years before I arrived in Sept 1974.  This was taken shortly after I arrived.

Photo 228 Railway bridge over the river Male outside Segbwema - I seem to recall two Royal Engineers graves from about 1914 whether they were here building/repairing the line or just passing through to the barracks at Daru I dont know.  Incidently the Barracks still exist as I did use the swimming pool there and the British army was based there very recently.

Photo 230 & Photo 231 Course of line from Segbwema to Daru

Photo 232 Platform - note Cocoa plants

Photo 233 Taken in the booking office.

Photo 234 Cocoa plant under cover on trackway

Link to site with some pictures of the SLR Railway Museum in Cline Town

Ownership and copyright of all photos on this page Phil Cole