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Name: DALTON, Alfred CBE

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Birth Date: 20 Jan 1892 Cork, Ireland

Death Date: 26 Oct 1984 Nairobi

Nationality: Irish

First Date: 1921

Last Date: 1984

Profession: Went to Tanganyika in 1921 to work on railways. Transferred to KUR in Nairobi 1936. Retired as General Manager of EAR&H in 1953

Area: Dar es Salaam, Nairobi

Married: In Kenya 1922 Editha Hogan b. 6 Sep 1896 Epsom, d. 27 Apr 1961 Nairobi

Children: Patricia (Tomalin) (1927); Joan (1926)

Book Reference: EAWL, Permanent Way, Staff 39, Colonial, Red 22, Rugby

War Service: Military service 1914-19, Captain

School: A.M.INST.T.

General Information:

His Railway House was in Rawson Road, below Nairobi Club. He retired in 1953 and moved to his own home, newly built, in Riverside Lane West - it had been part of Derek Erskine's coffee estate. When we first came to Nairobi locust swarms were still usual. I remember once we were in Nairobi shopping, and a huge swarm approached. My mother rushed us (my sister and me) to the car, a 1927 Clymo and drove home. Already there were so many crushed bodies on Secretariat Hill that the wheels spun but my mother kept the car moving and we got home - leapt out and got saucepans and lids and joined our houseboys who were already running about the compound making as much noise as possible to prevent the swarm landing. Trains had to have a truck in front of the locomotive, full of sand which was shovelled onto the track so that the loco wheels could get a grip on the rails. My father had 3 cars in his life - a 1927 2 seater Clymo, with a dicky at the back. In 1936 he got a new Dodge and my mother took over the Clymo. In 1954 he got a new Rover and I got the Dodge, and my mother's car, by then known as "Waltzing Matilda" or "The Elizabethan Bedstead" went to the Railway apprentices. ........ After the war my father used to ride with Derek Erskine and later they lived near each other, and Derek used to walk with my father after tea. ........... During the war, my father, as Superintendent of the Line, had to juggle with something like 45 passenger coaches to move school children 6 times a year, transport soldiers and prisoners of war and keep the ordinary services going. One of his main worries was the Makupa bridge joining Mombasa Island to the Mainland. It was our only link to sea-borne supplies and the Italians had only to bomb it to make life impossible. He managed to get through a plan to turn the bridge into a causeway and this was done. I remember his great relief when it was finished. Bomb the causeway and it could be mended much quicker than a bridge.  Source: Mrs P. Tomalin   
Staff 39 - Superintendent of the Line, Railways & Harbours Dept., in 1939, appointed 1938. Originally Asst. Supdt. of the Line 1936. Transferred from Tanganyika Rlys. Service with Tanganyika Rlys. from 1920-36
Colonial - Asst. Traffic Supt. T.R. & P.S. 1920; Traffic Supt. 1930; Asst. Supt of the line KUR&H 1936; Supt. 1938; Dep. Gen. Manager 1942; General Manager EAR&H 1948
Rugby - Rugby Football Union of Kenya - President 1946-48
P.W. - Superintendent of the Line 1938-48.
Gazette 28 Dec 1984 probate
Langata cemetery, Nairobi: :Editha Dalton / dear wife of / Alfred Dalton / and mother of Jo & Pat / born 6.9.1896 / died 27 .4.1961 / blessed are the / .

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