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Uganda Railway
The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the line is now in the hands of the Kenya Railways Corporation and the Uganda Railways Corporation. Construction Background Before the railway's construction, the British East Africa Company had begun the Mackinnon-Sclater road, a ox-cart track from Mombasa to Busia in Kenya, in 1890. In July 1890, Britain was party to a series of anti-slavery measures agreed at the Brussels Conference Act of 1890. In December 1890, a letter from the Foreign Office to the treasury proposed constructing a railway from Mombasa to Uganda to disrupt the traffic of slaves from its source in the interior to the coast. With steam-powered access to Uganda, the British could transport people and soldiers to ensure dominance of the African Great Lakes region. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Government-owned Corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government, control monopoly of the private sector entities, provide products and services to citizens at a lower price and for the achievement of overall financial goals & developmental objectives in a particular country. The national government or provincial government has majority ownership over these ''state owned enterprises''. These ''state owned enterprises'' are also known as public sector undertakings in some countries. Defining characteristics of SOEs are their distinct legal form and possession of financial goals & developmental objectives (e.g., a state railway company may aim to make transportation more accessible and earn profit for the government), SOEs are government entities established to pursue financial objectives and devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foreign Office
Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United States state law, a legal matter in another state Science and technology * Foreign accent syndrome, a side effect of severe brain injury * Foreign key, a constraint in a relational database Arts and entertainment * Foreign film or world cinema, films and film industries of non-English-speaking countries * Foreign music or world music * Foreign literature or world literature * '' Foreign Policy'', a magazine Music * "Foreign", a song by Jessica Mauboy from her 2010 album '' Get 'Em Girls'' * "Foreign" (Trey Songz song), 2014 * "Foreign", a song by Lil Pump from the album ''Lil Pump'' Other uses * Foreign corporation, a corporation that can do business outside its jurisdiction * Foreign language, a language not spoken by the peo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rivet
A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched or drilled hole, and the tail is ''upset'', or ''bucked'' (i.e., deformed), so that it expands to about 1.5 times the original shaft diameter, holding the rivet in place. In other words, the pounding or pulling creates a new "head" on the tail end by smashing the "tail" material flatter, resulting in a rivet that is roughly a dumbbell shape. To distinguish between the two ends of the rivet, the original head is called the ''factory head'' and the deformed end is called the ''shop head'' or buck-tail. Because there is effectively a head on each end of an installed rivet, it can support tension loads. However, it is much more capable of supporting shear loads (loads perpendicular to the axis of the shaft). Fastenings used in traditional w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rail Fastening System
A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties (North America) or sleepers (British Isles, Australasia, and Africa). The terms ''rail anchors'', ''tie plates'', ''chairs'' and ''track fasteners'' are used to refer to parts or all of a rail fastening system. The components of a rail fastening system may also be known collectively as other track material, or OTM for short. Various types of fastening have been used over the years. History and overview The earliest wooden rails were fixed to wooden sleepers by pegs through holes in the rail, or by nails. By the 18th century, cast iron rails had come into use, and also had holes in the rail itself to allow them to be fixed to a support. 18th century developments such as the flanged rail and fish bellied rail also had holes in the rail itself; when stone block sleepers were used the nails were driven into a wooden block which had been inserted into a recess in the block. The first chair for a rail is thought to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fishplate
A fishplate joins two lengths of track A fishplate, splice bar or joint bar is a metal connecting plate used to bolt the ends of two rails into a continuous track. The name is derived from ''fish'', a wooden reinforcement of a "built-up" ship's mast that helped round out its desired profile. The top and bottom faces taper inwards along their short dimensions to create an even alignment between the two rails when the fish plate is wedged into place by tightening its bolts during installation. In rail transport modelling, a fishplate is often a small copper or nickel silver plate that slips onto both rails to provide the functions of maintaining alignment and electrical continuity. History The device was invented by William Bridges Adams in May 1842, because of his dissatisfaction with the scarf joints and other systems of joining rails then in use. He noted that to form the scarf joint the rail was halved in thickness at its ends, where the stress was greatest. It was firs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railroad Tie
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper (Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties transfer loads to the track ballast and subgrade, hold the rails upright and keep them spaced to the correct gauge. Railroad ties are traditionally made of wood, but prestressed concrete is now also widely used, especially in Europe and Asia. Steel ties are common on secondary lines in the UK; plastic composite ties are also employed, although far less than wood or concrete. As of January 2008, the approximate market share in North America for traditional and wood ties was 91.5%, the remainder being concrete, steel, azobé (red ironwood) and plastic composite. Tie spacing may depend on the type of tie, traffic loads and other requirements, for example 2640 concrete ties per mile on North American mainline railroads to 2112 timber ties per mile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passing Loop
A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or trams travelling in opposite directions can pass each other. Trains/trams going in the same direction can also overtake, provided that the signalling arrangement allows it. A passing loop is double-ended and connected to the main track at both ends, though a dead end siding known as a refuge siding, which is much less convenient, can be used. A similar arrangement is used on the gauntlet track of cable railways and funiculars, and in passing places on single-track roads. Ideally, the loop should be longer than all trains needing to cross at that point. Unless the loop is of sufficient length to be dynamic, the first train to arrive must stop or move very slowly, while the second to arrive may pass at speed. If one train is too long for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Single Track (rail)
A single-track railway is a railway where trains traveling in both directions share the same track. Single track is usually found on lesser-used rail lines, often branch lines, where the level of traffic is not high enough to justify the cost of constructing and maintaining a second track. Advantages and disadvantages Single track is significantly cheaper to build and maintain, but has operational and safety disadvantages. For example, a single-track line that takes 15 minutes to travel through would have capacity for only two trains per hour in each direction safely. By contrast, a double track with signal boxes four minutes apart can allow up to 15 trains per hour in each direction safely, provided all the trains travel at the same speed. This hindrance on the capacity of a single track may be partly overcome by making the track one-way on alternate days, if the single track is not used for public passenger transit. Long freight trains are a problem if the passing s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track Gauge
In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges exist worldwide, gauge differences often present a barrier to wider operation on railway networks. The term derives from the metal bar, or gauge, that is used to ensure the distance between the rails is correct. Railways also deploy two other gauges to ensure compliance with a required standard. A '' loading gauge'' is a two-dimensional profile that encompasses a cross-section of the track, a rail vehicle and a maximum-sized load: all rail vehicles and their loads must be contained in the corresponding envelope. A ''structure gauge'' specifies the outline into which structures (bridges, platforms, lineside equipment etc.) must not encroach. Uses of the term The most common use of the term "track gauge" refers to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after Lake Superior in North America. In terms of volume, Lake Victoria is the world's ninth-largest continental lake, containing about of water. Lake Victoria occupies a shallow depression in Africa. The lake has an average depth of and a maximum depth of .United Nations, ''Development and Harmonisation of Environmental Laws Volume 1: Report on the Legal and Institutional Issues in the Lake Victoria Basin'', United Nations, 1999, page 17 Its catchment area covers . The lake has a shoreline of when digitized at the 1:25,000 level, with islands constituting 3.7% of this length. The lake's area is divided among three countries: Kenya occupies 6% (), Uganda 45% (), and Tanzania 49% (). Though having multiple local language names ( luo, Nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kisumu
Kisumu ( ) is the List of cities and towns in Kenya by population, third-largest city in Kenya after the capital, Nairobi, and the coastal city of Mombasa (census 2019). It is the third-largest city after Kampala and Mwanza in the Lake Victoria Basin. Apart from being an important political city, it is one of the premier industrial and commercial centres in Kenya. The city is currently undergoing an urban rejuvenation of the downtown and lower town which includes modernizing the lake front, decongesting main streets, and making the streets pedestrian-friendly. Culturally, Kisumu serves as the center of the Luo people of East Africa. It was the most prominent urban centre in the pre-colonial, post-colonial, and modern era for natives of the Kavirondo region. It was briefly renamed to Port Florence before being reverted to its original name. The city serves as the capital city, capital of Kisumu County and was the immediate former capital of now defuct Nyanza Province. It is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British East Africa
East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britain in the late 19th century, it grew out of British commercial interests in the area in the 1880s and remained a protectorate until 1920 when it became the Colony of Kenya, save for an independent coastal strip that became the Kenya Protectorate.Kenya Protectorate Order in Council, 1920 S.R.O. 1920 No. 2343, S.R.O. & S.I. Rev. VIII, 258, State Pp., Vol. 87 p. 968 Administration European missionaries began settling in the area from Mombasa to Mount Kilimanjaro in the 1840s, nominally under the protection of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. In 1886, the British government encouraged William Mackinnon, who already had an agreement with the Sultan and whose shipping company traded extensively in the African Great Lakes, to establish British inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
