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Name: VERNET, Charles Constant

Birth Date: 28.6.1868 Wandsworth

Death Date: 26 Dec 1943 Michigan City, Indiana, USA

Nationality: British

First Date: 1897

Last Date: 1898

Profession: Uganda Railway - recruited from Ceylon; appt. Loco Supt.; Listed as member of Mombasa Club 1899

Area: Mombasa

Book Reference: North, Mills Railway

General Information:

North - returned to Mombasa from Mtito Andei after erecting traction engines for trials 3/6/1898; Loco Dept., Loco Superintendent 30/6/1898; recommended to be replaced as Head of Loco Dept. & given 3 months pay in lieu of notice - 'of a very slow and lymphatic temperament' (Rawson, CO 537), 4/11/1898; forced to resign, dep. Mombasa for England 31/12/1898, end of appt. 1/1/1899
Mills Railway - The first Locomotive Superintendent had been a young relatively inexperienced man named Lockyer. As the number of engines, many second-hand, increased and the tough conditions led to breakdowns, it fairly soon became apparent that Lockyer, though willing and popular, could not cope. An older man, Vernet from Ceylon, was recruited to take charge of the department, but he proved little, if any better. The crux came in October, when the axle boxes of new wagons carrying supplies to railhead ran so hot that the wagons had to be taken off the train at every station and left to cool down. On this occasion Vernet was warned, but a further unfavourable report led the Committee to terminate his services; he left Mombasa on 31 December, and Lockyer resigned a year later. Vernet's post as Superintendent was filled by C. Sandiford who had a remarkable career.

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