I’m reading an interesting book called Blood, Iron & Gold, how the railroads transformed the world.
It includes ta little trivial tidbit about a railroad line in Africa. The line passing near Mt. Kilimanjaro crosses a mountain pass at 8740 feet elevation, making it " the coldest railway station in the British Empire- and on the equator". (Of course, meaning back when that area was part of The British Empire.)
I realize, this is just the author turning a good phrase. Would 8740 feet up a mountain pass on the equator be colder than some of the higher elevation, and/or northern latitude stations in Canada?
I think Canada would take the honours for cold, in northern Ontario or the prairies rather than the mountains. Perhaps the author was differentiating between those countries that were still British colonies at the time, and those countries like Canada, Australia or New Zealand that were given full independence years ago. While we still share the British queen, in practice she has only ceremonial responsibilities and nominal authority. But I can respect her a lot more than certain politicians who like to pretend they are king, and there are benefits to having a formal head of state who is free from the stains of politics.
Getting back to the topic, I can’t imagine the African mountain pass having the bitter cold that parts of Canada occasionally experience. Or maybe the station building itself had no furnace or insulation, and in that case maybe it qualified fully!
By way of example; Irricana, AB, a typical CPR station on the Canadian prairie.
To heat our family of four we had three coal stoves, four before we got our first electric kitchen stove. One furnace in the basement, one pot belly stove in the waiting room, and a Quebec heater in the living room. We were supplied one forty ton boxcar of coal per winter.
I doubt it. A rough rule of thumb is about 3 degrees Fahrenheit temperature decrease per 1,000 ft. of elevation increase, “all else being equal”. So, that elevation would be around 26 deg. F colder than sea level right nearby. Add in something for airflows, changes in pressure and humidity, etc. - but I still doubt that it would get much below freezing.
Also, compare with similar elevations in North America. That would be about midway between Denver and the Moffat Tunnel, and just a little above the former CB&Q line to Deadwood in the Black Hills, I believe. Are any of those colder than in Canada ?
On the other hand, I believe that all of the western mountain passes in Canada are considerably lower than that elevation, and lower than most in the US, so perhaps that is what mislead the author.
That seems about right for those western Canadian passes. Compare with the Moffat Tunnel and Tennessee Pass - both over 10,000 ft. ASL, and I believe Norden is in the 7,000 ft. range. However, I recall - and please note, all of these are strictly off the top of my head, and hence surely subject to correction - that the highest ones on the Northern Transcons are in the 5,000 ft. range, and Raton is in the 4,000 ft. range.
Paul, it’s been very close to 45 years since my one and only meteorology class, but I recall that number as five and a half from that class. That and some bad joke about meteorologists going to an isobar after work seem to be the only things I remember from that course, though I thought it was pretty interesting at the time.
Paul, it’s been very close to 45 years since my one and only meteorology class, but I recall that number as five and a half from that class. That and some bad joke about meteorologists going to an isobar after work seem to be the only things I remember from that course, though I thought it was pretty interesting at the time.
In a country that was once considered to be a buffer country to the English Colonial Indian Subcontinent. Invaded in 1903-04 by a British/Indian Force under Maj. Francis Younhusband, and a British Foreign Service Trade Mission Post until 1944.
Chuck, I can’t even cite a long-ago class as a source for that number - just something I carry around in my head, which I might have derived myself someplace . . . [%-)] Upon a moment’s further thought, though, that rate of temp. change might not be all that constant, at either value - one figure lower down, say up to 10,000 ft. because of thick air density, high humidity, comparatively low wind speeds to stir it up and ‘even out’ localized hot and cold spots, etc. - and something different up in the stratosphere where airplanes like to fly, from 30,000 to 40,000 ft., where the air is considerably thinner, less dense, dryer, churned more by the jet stream winds, etc.
So let’s use the 5-1/2 deg. per 1,000 ft. elev. change instead, x 8,700 ft. = 48 deg. F. So if it’s 80 deg. F or warmer at sea level nearby at the equator, then it’s just freezing or above at that pass. I’d want a warm coat, but I doubt if that pass in Africa would be colder than the town in Michigan at N 42.43481, W 83.98488 = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan
I’m wondering if that railway line is related to the one in the book and movie, Out of Africa - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089755/ (1985), which if I recall correctly was set near Mount Kilimanjaro. I’ll have to ask my wife, who has read several of the books by Karen Blixen/ also as Isak Dinesen. For what it’s worth on the Original Poster’s question, here’s a quote from the movie by the Karen Blixen character, Meryl S
I believe it was David P. Morgan - longtime editor of Trains -who once wrote tot he effect that the railroad was the greatest civilizing influence around the world. It brought technology, organizations, training and schools, order, systems, schedules, money, communications, water, etc. to a great many primitive cultures and communities that had no idea about any of those until the steamcars showed up one day.
I read it as saying it was the coldest station in the Empire (at the time?) and that it also happened to be on the equator. That’s why it made me wonder.
Coincidently, I am also reading that book and am about 2/3 of the way through it. I am enjoying it, especially the author’s distinction between the America drive to build railroads versus the European’s driving force. (Not completely Manifest Destiny)
Don’t have the book here with me so will hold off further comments until I can make clearer references.