Released on = October 24, 2006, 10:29 pm

Press Release Author = John Gaudet/Brandylane Publishers

Industry = Entertainment

Press Release Summary = The Iron Snake a new novel by John Gaudet out this fall is
set during the construction of a railroad in Kenya made famous by the wild nature of
the line in the Victorian era, and by newsworthy passengers since then. Called the
"Lunatic Express," it changed the lives of millions of Africans.

Press Release Body = They've all had the experience of riding on a railway completed
in 1901 in Kenya. That line variously called the 'Iron Snake' by the Africans, the
'Lunatic Line' by Victorian tabloids, and later known as the 'Lunatic Express,' is
still in use. The trip from Nairobi to Mombasa, a journey of 13 to 14 hours across a
panoramic savannah, was made in comparative luxury in 1907 by Winston Churchill who
was impressed with the effort required to build it. The British art of 'muddling
through,' he said, was seen here in one of its finest expositions "...Through
everything - through the forests, through the ravines, through troops of marauding
lions, through famine, through war, through five years of excoriating Parliamentary
debate, muddled and marched the railway..."

It was the animal life that attracted Teddy Roosevelt and his son Kermit in 1909.
In Kenya on a hunting expedition, they were provided with a bench bolted to the
cowcatcher so they could witness the unparalleled vista, a pristine ecosystem
teeming with game animals, on a track described by them as "...a railway through the
Pleistocene."

It continued to impress, and the Queen on visits to Kenya in 1959 just four years
before Independence, and again in 1983, on the 20th anniversary, enjoyed the
privilege of special cars, which on her last visit included, two renovated Royal
coaches, two diesel engines, four coaches, two covered bogies, a brake van and two
motorized trolleys.

This fall, Brandylane Publishers, an independent press in Richmond, VA, will publish
"The Iron Snake," a new novel by John Gaudet based on the saga of this same railroad
and the people affected by it ([email]brandylanepublishersinc@yahoo.com[/email];
$16.95 plus shipping, $5.95). When Gaudet traveled on it in 1984 he found the
service was still good, the dining car provided great food, the trains generally ran
on time and comfortable two-berth sleeping compartments were available in first
class. In fact, things looked pretty much the way they did in the days of
Churchill, Roosevelt and the Queen. The only disadvantage was that the train leaves
Nairobi in the evening and arrives the following morning in Mombasa. Thus the
modern traveler, unlike Kermit, Teddy or the Queen, has no view of the animal life,
unless, as often happens, they run over one in the middle of the night.

Also, since the 1980's most of the rolling stock, tracks and other essential works
have been allowed to deteriorate. Now it's quite rough around the edges. So rough
that Bill Bryson, in Kenya on a charity tour sponsored by CARE in 2002, thought the
line had reverted to the original Victorian concept, where the British taxpayer was
appalled by the wild nature of it - shaky looking wooden trestle bridges, enormous
chasms, prohibitive cost, hostile tribes, men dropping like flies from disease, and
man-eating lions pulling railway workers out of carriages at night - Lunatic Line
seemed to fit.
Bryson had no reservation about calling it the Lunatic Express; he thought the trip
was like trying to sleep through an earthquake! But all that may soon change, as
the Kenya and Ugandan governments have recently signed a joint agreement to allow
privatization of the line. And in September, 2006, the World Bank approved the
first grant ($70 mill.) to help the railway regain its position as a relevant and
competitive mode of transport. It may yet prove to be what it once was, one of the
most exciting railway rides in the world.



Web Site = http://www.brandylanepublishers.com

Contact Details = Brandylane Publishers,5 South First St., Richmond, VA 23219
Media contact: Mary Tobey, Publicist or Robert Pruett 804.644.3090 or
rhpruett@brandylanepublishers.com
For details about the book see www.theironsnake.com