Serving overseas in the Royal Air Force during World War 2 as a Beaufighter navigator and postwar as a Navigating Officer with BOAC gave Sam Wright a taste for adventure and foreign travel, so when he noticed a newspaper advert announcing that Rhodesia Railways were looking for staff he immediately responded.

It was to lead to 26 years of adventures in one of the most remarkable countires in the world...

Leaving dreary postwar Britain behind, Sam and his family set off to build a new life in Southern Rhodesia ~ a place they considered to be a veritable Garden of Eden, with its delightful people, wonderful scenery and remarkable wild animals.

Starting at small, wayside railway stations in the Bush, Sam soon became a Station Master and relished the job of controlling trains over the mostly single-line system. All the locomotives were steam-powered and he vividly describes the pleasure and excitement of handling these snorting monsters.

During his lengthy career with Rhodesia Railways, which continued until 1976, when he and his family reluctantly left the country they had come to love, Sam served in a variety of capacities and travelled the length and breadth of the railway system, which he came to know in great detail. 

His recollections provide a vivid insight into what many regard as the golden age for both Rhodesia as a nation and for its railway system, which at the time could boast railway journeys that ranked among the most luxurious and spectacular in the world.