Cabinet 9: Africa
Rhodesia Railways Magazine, January 1976.
Cecil Rhodes, the nineteenth-century politician and mining magnate, envisaged a rail system that would run from Cape Town to Cairo. Poor internal infrastructures, competing private and governmental factions, unrest from civil wars, a lack of funds, and problems caused by terrain, meant this vision would never materialize. Construction of the Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) rail system began in September 1892, and staggered along, facing logistical problems such as building a rail bridge across the Zambezi River at Victoria Falls. After numerous name changes, and in celebration of newly acquired independence, the National Railways of Zimbabwe came into being on 1 May 1980. Webber subscribed to this particular magazine.