Bulawayo Railway Museum

Bulawayo


Whether you're a train enthusiast or not, Bulwayo's Railway Museum rarely disappoints. Its passionate curator, Gordon Murray, will take you on a tour of the place, where you'll get a fascinating insight into the colonial history of the country through Bulawayo's extensive railway network. There are some wonderful Rhodesian Railways steam engines and carriages to clamber aboard, including the Jack Tar (1889), the first train to cross the Victoria Falls Bridge.

The tour takes around 1½ hours, visiting several 19th-century steam engines, diesel and electric trains, and the carriage that carried Cecil Rhodes' body to his burial site in Matobo. There's also a hand-pump trolley you can give a whirl outside. The main building is the former Shamva train station relocated here in 1972. There are some interesting books for sale, and visitors receive a collectable memento.


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