Nicholas Rainer
9 April 2008
Port Louis — They may not even be known by youngsters but now a bunch of enthusiasts want to bring the memory back to life.The old railway bridge that straddles over Rivière la Chaux.
They went by the elegant sobriquets of Swiftsure, Speedwell, Lady of the Lakes, Pandora and Fire Fly, to name but a few. The last of their kind, the aptly named Cyclops, embarked on its final journey on 31st March 1956 ferrying passengers from Curepipe to the South. Unbeknown to many, the old railway system still exists, albeit as a shadow of its old glorious self.
It may be dilapidated and all but forgotten but long stretches of rusty railway tracks still wind along the countryside, snaking around hills and over rivers. Train stations, ancient and crumbling, still dot the island. Carriages can be found here and there. A group of enthusiasts now hopes to bring all of it back to life with a travelling exhibition called "No.21".
The advent of the automobile a few decades ago revolutionized society. It changed the way we go places and even the way we think about them. It gave us a degree of mobility that hitherto had been unconceivable. We needn't but think of a destination, hop in a car and drive there. But the arrival of cars, buses and trucks also claimed a venerable and austere victim: the railway system.
Talking of trains might seem anathema nowadays, especially on such a small island, but not so long ago the majestic locomotive reigned supreme. It was the cornerstone of Mauritian life, the only way of getting from A to B. Sadly, the railway system was deemed too costly to maintain and was thus forced to give way to the automobile.
Trains also transported many illustrious passengers. In Following the Equator, American author Mark Twain tells his train journey from Port-Louis to Curepipe. "Took the train for Curepipe at 1.30 - two hours' run, gradually uphill. What a contrast, this frantic luxuriance of vegetation, with the arid plains of India; these architecturally picturesque crags and knobs and miniature mountains, with the monotony of the Indian dead-levels. Curepipe (means Pincushion or Pegtown probably). Sixteen miles (two hours) by rail from Port-Louis. At each end of every roof and on the apex of every dormer window, a wooden peg two feet high stands up; in some cases, its top is blunt, in others the peg is sharp and looks like a toothpick. The passion for this humble ornament is universal."
Waiting endlessly for the train's arrival
The concept behind Project No. 21 is simple. Its organisers want to enroll historians, artists, teachers, students and the like in the task of creating a mobile exhibition that will travel from station to station, spending approximately a week in each location. The main exhibition will be in the form of carriage-shaped posters recounting the trains' histories and other anecdotes. "The old stations seem to be waiting, embarrassed by the futility of their situation, they wait endlessly for the train's arrival. Are they waiting in vain? This project, 'No. 21' wants to remedy this by creating a 'fictional train'. By awaking the collective memory, the memory of a nation, the train will burst forth from the past and reenter the social landscape."
But the organisers also want the exhibition to be "interactive", meaning that visitors will be able to share their recollections of the heyday both orally and in writing. They also plan to make a short film about the country's trains.
Sébastien Sauvage, the instigator-in-chief behind the project, explains how his fascination with trains arose. "In Curepipe, I noticed small houses near the bus station and I wondered what they were. Someone told me that they were part of the old railway system. As time went by, I thought about them more and more. I asked myself why the trains had disappeared. I had never heard anyone in my family talk about trains. Eventually, I came up with the idea of organizing an exhibition about the remnants of the railway system so that people can come, breathe in the atmosphere and relive those wonderful times."
Sébastien Sauvage concedes that the project is still in its inception but he hopes to bring it to fruition rapidly. Meanwhile, aficionados can scour the island in search of ancient railway tracks, stations and carriages. There is also a wealth of written information. Tristan Bréville's book, Le dernier train, is a good place to start for anyone who wants to learn more about a by-gone epoch.
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