International Railroad Discussion > Angola 2022 Benguela Railway (v)

Some more highlights of the Benguela Railway (Caminho de Ferro de Benguela - CFB) from my recent visit to Angola. 

Picture 1: An out of service GE U20C locomotive in Lobito. 22 of these were supplied to the Benguela Railway in 1973/74 just prior to independence and the subsequent three decade civil war that destroyed the railway. 8 remain in service today. November 5, 2022.

Picture 2: A mural inside the railway headquarters in Lobito shows the railway system, all 3'6" gauge, in Southern Africa. The strategic role of the Benguela Railway can be fully appreciated in this image as the line run westward from Dilolo on the DR Congo border to Lobito on the South Atlantic Ocean. The beige shading of Angola and Mozambique represent Portuguese colonies at the time the mural was painted. November 5, 2022.

Picture 3: Two oil-burning "Double Mountain" 4-8-2 + 2-8-4 Garratt locomotives work a train up the 2.5% grades between Benguela and Cubal, likely in the early 1970s. This alignment from the coast up to the Angolan plateau, which reached 6,082 feet above sea level east of Cubal, was eliminated in 1974 with the Cubal cut-off and its reduced 1.25% grades. I found this picture on FB but it had no date nor photographer credit.
 



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/22 12:48 by GN1969.

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GN1969 Wrote:
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>
> Picture 2: A mural inside the railway headquarters
> in Lobito shows the railway system, all 3'6"
> gauge, in Southern Africa. The strategic role of
> the Benguela Railway can be fully appreciated in
> this image as the line run westward from Dilolo on
> the DR Congo border to Lobito on the South
> Atlantic Ocean. The beige shading of Angola and
> Mozambique represent Portuguese colonies at the
> time the mural was painted. November 5, 2022.

Interesting mural....looks like someone updated the name of Zimbabwe's capital city to Harare.  It would have been called Salisbury when Angola and Mozambique were still Portuguese colonies.  

Dave

This is a great series of photos, makes me want to visit. Curious, haven't seen any photos of freight trains in your series. Did you see much freight operating?

Very nice picture of the old garrats. We had garrats in Brazil too.
Sad to see the scrapped U20C's.

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Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

I did not see a freight train operating. As I was told, there is little freight traffic now as the railway is rebuilding its credibility as a viable operator after being closed for so many years. Going forward a new agreement has been signed for 30 years (option 20 more) with a Portuguese, Swiss and Belgium consortium to take over freight operations. They intend to grow the freight business significantly including transit business with the DR Congo.

BTW, the scrapped U20C were built in Brazil in the old GE plant in Campinas, SP. That plant was closed in 1996 and only the Contagem, MG plant is operating nowadays.

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Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1

Any idea when the concessionaire takes over?
https://www.trafigura.com/press-releases/concession-agreement-signed-with-the-angolan-government-for-rail-services-and-logistics-support-for-the-lobito-corridor/