Connecting train Mombo – Handeni
| Mombo-Handeni | |
|---|---|
| Route length: | 100 km |
| Gauge : | probably 600 mm |
The Mombo – Handeni connecting line was built in the first years of World War I in the German East Africa colony to connect the two railway lines in the colony.
history
With the beginning of the First World War in East Africa in August 1914, there was a complete lack of north-south traffic connections in the country for the colony of German East Africa. In the peacetime the sea connection along the coast of the Indian Ocean was sufficient for this. With the beginning of the war the British fleet blocked this connection. For this reason, so-called multi-stage roads inland were created for north-south traffic, on which carrier columns transported the goods.
In order to connect the two east-west railways of the German colony, the Mittellandbahn and the Usambarabahn , at their shortest connection point between the city of Mombo on the Usambarabahn and the town of Morogoro on the Zentralbahn, a stage road was first built between the two cities . The next step was the construction of a narrow-gauge railway from Mombo towards Morogoro. For this purpose, small railways on the colony's plantations were dismantled and the rails were laid on the new route. Since no steam locomotives were available for traffic, the carts were moved by hand on the rails. In any case, the expansion of the route to Handeni was successful and shortened the route from twelve daily marches for porters to nine daily marches on the Mombo – Morogoro route.
During the evacuation of the north of the colony in mid-1916 in front of the advancing British forces from British East Africa , the small train performed important services in the removal of material and the repatriation of troops of the protection force for German East Africa . Handeni fell into British hands on June 19, 1916. On the German side, as much as possible of the railway was destroyed during the retreat so that it could not be used by the British. The British, in turn, restored them for their own purposes as quickly as possible.
According to the information in the book by Vice Admiral Max Looff , the commander of the German naval troops in East Africa, German Colony in Need , the route from the German side was built not only to Handeni but also to the Mittellandbahn and was 100 kilometers long.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhard K. Lochner: Battle in the Rufiji Delta . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1987, p. 57. ISBN 3-453-02420-6
- ↑ Max Looff: German Colony in Need . Verlag Anton Bertinetti, Berlin 1928, page 191
- ^ Heinrich Schnee : German East Africa in the World Wars . Verlag Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1920, pages 161, map 168, 186
- ↑ Max Looff: German Colony in Need . Verlag Anton Bertinetti, Berlin 1928, page 191