Nairobi exists because of a railway. The Uganda Railway ran from Mombasa to Lake Victoria, and in 1899 the halfway supply depot on a swampy plain became the town that grew into the capital. The Nairobi Railway Museum, beside the main station, keeps the record of it: locomotives, rolling stock, signalling gear, photographs and archives covering the line’s construction and its grip on the shaping of modern Kenya.
Most visitors come for one exhibit. In 1898, while the bridge at Tsavo was being built, a pair of lions killed a succession of railway workers and brought construction to a standstill for months; the carriage tied to that episode is here. You can walk through the old coaches and climb up into several of the locomotives standing out in the yard. Entrance fees, hotel transfers, drinking water and a guide are included.
