African Railway

I'm not sure what the difference between a railroad and a railway is. I've been reading Ann Perry's new Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery set in late Victorian England. The mystery revolves around folks who want to build a transAfrican railway from Cape Town to Cairo. I wondered if this south-north railroad was ever built. It turns out most of it was, backed by Cecil Rhodes. The wikipedia article did not say who raised the money, engineered and supervised it. Much of it still operates though are gaps, most notably in the Sudan. The Sudan has been lawless country for a good while.

This got me thinking--how writers can delve into a historical setting and pull out some most interesting items. I had never thought about a railroad and African though I know about the AMerican coast-to-coast railroad and how they met in the middle, well, how they almost didn't meet in the middle and the golden spike. No golden spike here.

One of the thing Perry talks about about is British sensibility--about one's rightful place of ruling the seas and by implication having control over a great deal of the planet. I'm guessing this is fairly accurate. It's something Americans deal with today. I once heard it said: The sun never sets on the British Empire; God doesn't trust them. I wonder what will be said of us.