Title got me stumped

[Milmed]

Got this white metal title recently and searched google to try and come up with its possible ID, but to no avail. I believe it my be railway related (due to the RLY to lower portion of title), so if there are any militaria collectors who dabble on the railway side as well, please help. The attachment is a brooch pin.

Thanks
Steven

[Peter Brydon]

Steven,

Doesn't help very much but it is not in Froggatt ( nor is there mention of any Railway with those initials in the book ) which suggests that it if it a Railway item ( which seems likely ) then it is not a British Railway Company.

Peter

[Postwarden]

The brooch pin and white metal letters suggest a colonial railway. I was going to suggest Kenya & East Africa until I noticed that the last two letters are the wrong way round.

Jon

[Milmed]

Thanks for looking this up Peter. At least we can rule out British Railways then.

Yes, Jon I also initially thought Kenya & East Africa and then saw the EA were in fact AE.

I still feel railways related and most probably colonial, so will keep looking. Have a feeling it may be Indian

Steven

[peter monahan]

I wanted to say 'Karachi & ???' but a quick scan of the history of Pakistan's railways doesn't turn up any obvious connections.

[High Wood]

Kuwait and Arab Emirates?

[Milmed]

Originally Posted by High Wood

Kuwait and Arab Emirates?

Sounds plausible but cannot find a railway network with that name. Only the Etihad Rail runs these routes.

The answer must be out there somewhere.

What about K&A Electric Railway... will see what google dishes up...

[Paul Spellman]

Kenya and East African Railways ????
Paul
Whoops just realised the e&a wrong way around

[peter monahan]

Milmed made the same 'goof' yesterday. Funny how the mind works - trying to impose 'order' where there is none.

[Milmed]

Originally Posted by Milmed

Sounds plausible but cannot find a railway network with that name. Only the Etihad Rail runs these routes.

The answer must be out there somewhere.

What about K&A Electric Railway... will see what google dishes up...

I started researching this title once again and this time I managed to solve the riddle. The K&AE RLY stands for 'Kimberley and Alexanderfontein Electric Railway'. It started operating in April 1905 running between Kimberley and the Alexanderfontein Hotel. There was a second Tramway company, the 'Victoria Tramway' that ran between Kimberley and Beaconsfield. The two companies amalgamated to form the 'Kimberley Tramway'.

Really pleased to discover this information and that the badge (I assume a cap badge) has a South African Railway connection which fits nicely into my railway collection.

Steven

[Roy]

Hi Steven,

Well done! A great badge and nice discovery. Thanks for the update and sharing this little find.

cheerio,

Roy

[Alex Rice]

Hi Steven
That's a great bit of detective work, well done. Must be a rare piece and anice find for you!
Cheers,
Alex

[natal01]

Hi Steven,
That is a great find.
How on earth did you stumble across the identification ? They don't get much more obscure than that . Well done !
Mike

[Milmed]

Hi Mike,Alex and Roy

Yes lots of detective work. I found a reference to K&AE on the University of Joburg's website. A thesis had been done on the history of the tramways of Kimberley. Once I had that bit of info, google brought up quite a bit of interesting information.

The K&AE Railway company was created by DeBeers to transport people from Kimberley to their Hotel at Alexandersfontein, a distance of around 11km. The company existed for around 10 years before merging with the Victoria Tramway Company to become the Kimberley Tramway.

The Alexandersfontein Hotel was used as a SAAF training base during WWII and is now the Jack Hindon Officers club at the Danie Theron Combat School in Alexandersfontein.

Steven

[Alex Rice]

I'm impressed, that is inspired investigation!
Cheers,
Alex