From Head-Loading to the Iron Horse
Railway Building in Colonial Ghana and the Origins of Tropical Development
Publication Year: 2012
Published by: African Books Collective
Cover
Title page
Copyright page
Acknowledgements
I would like to express profound gratitude and appreciation to my family, friends and colleagues, too many to identify individually by name, for their moral, intellectual and practical support while I was undertaking research and . . .
About the Author
Professor Komla Tsey comes from Ghana, where he attended primary and middle schools at Botoku before going to secondary school at Awudome Tsito and later Okwapeman at Akropong. He studied at the University of . . .
Contents
List of Tables
Download PDF (70.5 KB)
p. vii-vii
List of Maps and Figures
Download PDF (69.6 KB)
p. viii-viii
Introduction
Download PDF (122.0 KB)
pp. ix-xiv
From Head-loading to the Iron Horse tells the story of railway building in British colonial Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and its social and economic consequences. Two factors motivated me to write. First, I believe that there . . .
Part I
Chapter 1 - A Slow Beginning, 1879-1895
Download PDF (243.9 KB)
pp. 3-12
The earliest phase of the Gold Coast railway system was marked by indecision and delay, resulting from a lack of commitment to a railway policy. Discussions began as early as 1879, but it was not until 1893 that the . . .
Chapter 2 - The Development of the Western Line, 1895-1912
Download PDF (402.2 KB)
pp. 13-31
A metals industrialist-turned-politician, Joseph Chamberlain became the leading spokesman for ‘economic imperialism’ among commercially minded British politicians of his age.32 He had always had a grand vision of empire . . .
Chapter 3 - The Eastern Line and the Development of Lighterage Ports, 1904-1918
Download PDF (379.0 KB)
pp. 33-46
In 1898, when Messrs Coode, Son and Mathews published their report on Gold Coast harbours, the colonial administration was particularly drawn to the section dealing with the railway line from Accra to Volta River . . .
Chapter 4 - Post-War Expansion - The Ten-Year Development Plan 1920-1930
Download PDF (259.6 KB)
pp. 47-61
The post-war spike of relatively intensive infrastructural development marked a new phase in the history of British economic activity in the Gold Coast. The end of the war ushered in a decade of rehabilitation of the . . .
Part II
Chapter 5 - The Recruitment of Construction Workers and Colonial Labour Policy
Download PDF (137.4 KB)
pp. 65-76
Railway construction normally required a very large labour force, especially when, as in the Gold Coast, railways were being built in a taxing environment. The key demand was for an army of unskilled workers at all . . .
Chapter 6 - The Acquisition of Railway and Harbour Land and Colonial Land Policy
Download PDF (183.1 KB)
pp. 77-89
As transport agents, railways operate over very long distances and affect property values on a wide front. This makes the acquisition of land more contentious than for other industrial or agricultural enterprises. The . . .
Chapter 7 - Railway investment and Colonial Financial Policy
Download PDF (151.1 KB)
pp. 91-98
In order to understand the pattern of railway finance on the Gold Coast, it is important to appreciate the colony’s dependence on Britain and the British Government’s attitude to public finance in the Crown Colonies. Earl Grey’s . . .
Chapter 8 - The Management System, Personnel and Labour Relations
Download PDF (303.7 KB)
pp. 99-119
Following the British model, a centralised and functionally departmentalised structure was established. However, as the Gold Coast railways were publicly owned, the upper tier of decision taking was not a chairman and board of . . .
Chapter 9 - Operational Problems and Issues
Download PDF (247.8 KB)
pp. 121-141
While labour recruitment and industrial relations were the biggest problems railway managers faced, managerial and technical staff also had to solve a host of problems relating to day-to-day operations. Although relatively . . .
Part III
Chapter 10 - The Economic and Social Impact of the Railways
Download PDF (553.8 KB)
pp. 143-175
Traditionally, railways have been thought of as a dynamic force in economic development. Max Weber called them ‘the greatest innovation in history393 and Joseph Schumpeter argued that American economic history in the . . .
Chapter 11 - Railways: Commerce and Crafts, Urbanisation and Public Health
Download PDF (119.8 KB)
pp. 177-186
The railways had an impact on commerce and traditional crafts. By stimulating trade in imports and exports, railways were instrumental in transforming the spatial distribution and organisation of commerce as well as . . .
Chapter 12 - Railways and Economic Development: The Gold Coast Experience in the Global Context
Download PDF (198.6 KB)
pp. 187-201
This final chapter locates the Gold Coast railway experience in the global context of the link between railway innovation and economic and social developments of the time. In what ways, if any, did railways on the Gold . . .
Notes
Download PDF (171.7 KB)
pp. 203-229
Bibliography
Download PDF (109.3 KB)
pp. 231-238
Back cover
E-ISBN-13: 9789956728701
Print-ISBN-13: 9789956728992
Page Count: 258
Publication Year: 2012
