International Railroad Discussion > Thompson Jct. Evening

After spending a day rail fanning in Zimbabwe almost 40 years ago, I came across NRZ 386 (4-6-4+4-6-4) resting after a long day of handling coal loads around the mines near Hwange. It was a special time to hang out at the Baobab Hotel and watch the parade of  Garretts. The Rhodesia/Zimbabwe civil war was winding down, but soon Zimbabwe would spiral into poverty.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots

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Great photo! Unfortunately there are many countries where it is not possible to railfaning anymore. 

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

Good to see this. I was working at Hwange about then, and living a few doors from The Baobab. Happy days. Chris uk.

Nice image and excellent subject matter we do not see much of here on trainorders.
Thanks for sharling it.

Hard to believe they went from about the 4th most dynamic economy in the world under Smith, then the Gleneagles agreement decided to ''fix'' the place. 
Very nice photo .
Regards,DK

DKay Wrote:
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> Hard to believe they went from about the 4th most
> dynamic economy in the world under Smith, then the
> Gleneagles agreement decided to ''fix'' the
> place. 
> Very nice photo .
> Regards,DK

I would love to know your source for "4th most dynamic economy in the world under Smith"....and what the metric for "dynamic" is.  Seems highly unlikely that a country almost universally cut off from  international finance and trade, and engaged in a ruinous civil war, would have anything near a healthy economy.  Ian Smith handed over the reigns of government to Bishop Abel Mozerewa in 1979, but the war didn't end until the peace agreement was struck with Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkoma's forces in 1980.  The first years of ZANU-PF rule were indeed an optimistic time in Zimbabwe, with significant economic improvement.  However, this advantage slipped away in the 1990's and 2000's under Mugabe's increasingly despotic rule and gross mismanagement of the economy.  

I visited Zim in 1993 - not a railfan trip per se - but did manage to find one Garratt switching coal wagons in Bulawayo.

Dave