Compagnie du chemin de fer du Congo
The Railway Company of the Congo was a gauge railway company in the Congo, which built and operated the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway initially with a gauge of.
History
The Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Congo was founded on 31 July 1889. The construction of the railway was directed by Albert Thys, whose name was given to one of the railway stations, Thysville.The completion of the Matadi–Kinshasa railway, in 1898, provided an alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. Its construction cost the lives of 1,932 people. The living conditions in the construction of this railway were miserable. The sanitary and medical facilities were insufficient. In 1892, about two thousand people worked on the railroad, of which an average of one hundred and fifty workers per month lost their lives due to smallpox, dysentery, beriberi and exhaustion. By the end of 1892, 7,000 workers had already been recruited, 3,500 of whom had died or fled. These conditions made it more difficult to recruit workers. Thys therefore attracted people from Barbados and China in September and November 1892 respectively. The Barbadians refused to leave the boats in the port of Matadi until they were forced by firearms. Seven people lost their lives in this action.
The main challenge was to build the railway track through the gorges of the Congo River, onwards through the M'pozo River, and a difficult passage along the Monts de Cristal.
Gauges
Starting in 1890, the railway line was initially built to a nominal gauge of, and all rolling stock was constructed to this gauge. However, as local labour had difficulty understanding the concept of gauge widening on curves, the entire line was rebuilt to a gauge of. Modifications were made from 1923 to 1931, when it was converted to gauge on a new alignment.Since the local government considered this massive renovation project of ‘national importance’ it requested that a national labor force would be organized to conduct the work. As a result the colonial government in Léopoldville devised a complex plan to recruit indigenous labor in other parts of the Congo through a system of monetary incentives. Over a period of nine years thousands of laborers were thus press-ganged in far-flung regions of the Congo. They were to make days-long marches through the forest or savannah, often accompanied by their wives and children, to an inland port where they were loaded into sternwheelers for a week or longer journey to Léopoldville. The government promised to provide adequate food, lodgings, pay and a free return trip after their contact expired.
From the start the system was abused at all levels, among them: to reach their quotas the local colonial agent would often bribe local chiefs, medical personnel were forced to approve individuals that would not be apt for the job, food & lodgings were always below officially approved standards, pay was low and often arrived late, laborers would barter their food with locals, etc. Regularly justice officials would complain about the abuse, but most of the excesses were cleverly covered-up. Statistics still exist, but most figures are assumed under reported.
In spite of the technical and financial difficulties related to the construction of the railway line, it quickly proved to be profitable, mainly thanks to the transportation of ivory and rubber. As a gauge railway it operated a large fleet of 0-6-0T, 0-6-2T, 2-6-2T steam locomotives before turning to 32 0-6-0+0-6-0 Garratts, and finally 5 outside-framed 2-8-2 locomotives.
Rolling stock
- Locomotives