East African Railways & Harbours collection

Skip to menu
Skip to content

Reference	2002/133
Archive collection	British Empire & Commonwealth
Level of description	Collection
Date	1899 - 1966
Description	The collection, which contains paper archives as well as photographs, was deposited by the editor of the EAR&H pensioners' newsletter ‘The Link’, who obtained the material from other former employees. The photographs are currently the only part of the collection which are catalogued and available for research; further records are scheduled to be added over the course of the next year. These photographs, mainly originating in the EAR&H Publicity Department, include opening ceremonies for new train lines, royal and official visits, trade shows, railway workshops and topographic images of EAR&H buildings. They were taken by EAR&H official photographers as a record, and for the company’s editorial and promotional uses. This catalogue was produced with support from the National Cataloguing Grants Programme for Archives
Extent and medium	1 box
Creator	John Wall
Biographical history	The East African Railways & Harbours Corporation operated railways and harbours in Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda. It was established in 1948 for the new East African High Commission by merging the Kenya and Uganda Railways and Harbours with the Tanganyika Railway. As well as this, the company also ran inland shipping services on Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga, Lake Albert, the Victoria Nile and the Albert Nile. The company was finally dissolved in 1977 after the High Commission's would-be successor, the East African Community, collapsed because of political discrepancies between the governments of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Following this, the East Africa Rail network was broken up into three national railways: Tanzania Railways Limited, Kenya Railways Corporation and Uganda Railways Corporation.
Access status	Open
Access conditions	None