The good old days of Palapye railway station

SIKI MOTSHWARI JOHANESS
Correspondent | Tuesday April 21, 2009 00:00

There was a connection between the railway station and the people. The station was the most frequently visited part of the village. Like a magnetic force, the station had the power to attract all people - old and young.

Judging by the low level of development then, it may not be hard to understand the affinity and affection that people had for the railway. Here are some of the known facts, which are sometimes taken for granted. Save for Morupule power station, the railway line was perhaps the most single important development in this part of the world. Rail transport in Botswana is a rarity. Unlike South Africa, which boasts a network of railways connecting different cities, Botswana has a single rail track constructed along the so called eastern margin. This means that the majority of Botswana villages and towns are not directly linked to rail transport. Thanks to its strategic geographical location, Palapye is one of the few villages in the country that have the rare distinction of having a railway passing through its soil.

The station therefore was the village's hub - the centre of commerce and business. 

Palapye had every reason to treasure its rare possession - the railway line. Palapye commanded the respect of surrounding villages partly on account of the railway line.

Whereas a train is a common sight for those born in Palapye, the same cannot be said of Lecheng. Children from other villages admired those from Palapye for their early exposure to the rail transport.

Residents of Palapye did everything to exploit opportunities that the railway station presented.  The station served as a great impetus for development.

A Palapye resident, Shapie Kgoboge speaks fondly of the golden years at the railway station. 'Life without the railway station was meaningless and unimaginable,' he says.

The biggest source of entertainment and recreation was the station to the youth of those days. At the station, a businessman called Shaw  organised bioscopes which were used in the open space of the railway grounds. The bioscopes attracted many people especially the youth. The young folk also had another reason to be at the station especially at night - street lights. The lights were the type that made one's clothes look like they had changed colour. Even football was played along the railway line. Football grounds of major teams like Swallows and Palapye United were a stone's throw from the station.

The railway line defined the character and tone of the village. Major developments took place in the vicinity of the railway line. The station is where Palapye residents shopped.

Rumour has it that some residents looted a coach full of goodies and a number of them opened businesses from the proceeds of the plunder. Whatever the truth, it is a fact that many business such as Bailey, Shaw, Haskins, Shashane - the list is endless - got many customers because of their vicinity to the station. Shaw in particular had established a thriving tuckshop sandwiched between the railway ticket office and Palapye Hotel. The small tuckshop became the people's shop, says Thapelo Seofela. It served as a fast food restaurant and a grocery. Thapelo remembers with nostalgia the delicious loaves of bread the shop used to sell. Apparently there were no viable bakeries in Palapye then, and the bread was imported from neighbouring Zimbabwe.

The station served as the main socialising point and for the romantic the railway station proved to be a good hunting ground. It was at the railway station that new love relationships developed. Some came to the station to while away time, to trade and catch the latest gossip in the village. This is where most young people usually discovered and met their first date. For many young women, the star attraction was the miners plying their trade in South Africa. It was every woman's wish to attract and win the love of (monna wa makgoweng - man from the whiteman's world).

These men had everything - money, flair and glamour. The women had to use every trick to get hooked up with the miners. Right at the station, they would way-lay the unsuspecting returnees from the mine. The men who surrendered to the charm of the women always counted their losses the next day.  It is said some of the men were cleaned of their hard earned before reaching their homes. Once caught in this predicament, the poor men had to seek new mine contracts as there was no way they could explain how they lost their earnings to the family.

The station served as a viable market for agricultural produce for framers in Palapye.

There was a thriving local beer brewing industry. Local beer made of sorghum and sometimes Setopoti (beer made from watermelons) were sold to railway customers and staff. By then, the railway staff lived along the railway line in round cubicle-like houses, which have since been demolished. From the railway station, some enterprising people earned enough to educate their children. On the dark side, the station attracted all sorts of undesirable characters like thieves and tricksters.

These days, the station has ceased to be the centre of attraction. New developments have relegated the station to the background. Palapye now boasts modern shopping centres, which have taken all the limelight away from the station. A visit to the Palapye railway station reveals its sorry and gloomy picture. The old red-face brick which sheltered travellers, is in a state of disrepair. It has been reduced to a warehouse of debris of all sorts. The recent decision to stop the passenger train service, once a darling of many, has squashed all hopes of ever reviving the fortunes of the station. The picture is one of doom and gloom.