Disused railroad material is also sometimes reused in Mauritania. Here at Ben Amira station, the building on the right is made from a former MIFERMA freight train carriage. The building on the lef... (more)

In Mauritania, disused railroad equipment, be it vehicles or superstructure material, is usually not scrapped but left standing somewhere. Near Boulenouar, at kilometer 96 of the 652-kilometer-lon... (more)

A train around two kilometers long takes a few minutes to pass by.

The large hall of Zurich's main station from 1871, today a large square, then with 6 head tracks. In 1902, the tracks were shortened for the first time and in 1930 they disappeared completely from... (more)

After several days of traveling through Mauritania, the group from Switzerland met the railroad for the first time at noon that day in Choum. A few minutes later, the empty ore train V5 from Nouad... (more)

In Mauritania, discarded rail vehicles are not scrapped but cannibalized and left somewhere. The remains of these two former diesel vehicles, known as draisines, can be seen in Choum. On the right... (more)

It is easy to imagine that drifting sand plays a major role on a railroad line through the Sahara desert. The track maintenance teams use shovels and manpower or, as here, a bulldozer. They will s... (more)

Modern wheelset lathe in the SNIM workshop in Nouadhibou. Photography was only allowed here, otherwise it was strictly forbidden inside the halls.

There is a large underground water reservoir near Boulenouar at kilometer 96 of the 652-kilometer railroad line from Nouadhibou to Zouérate. This is used to supply the villages and towns along th... (more)

In Mauritania, the disused permanent way material such as steel ties and rails is deposited next to the tracks and remains there. Some of the ties are reused for simple shade, as markings or even ... (more)

This is the last turnout of Boulenouar (PK 96) on the east side. The 652-kilometre-long railroad line through the Mauritanian desert is single-track throughout, with crossing points for the trains... (more)

Some kilometers north of Choum on the 704 kilometer long ore railway in Mauretania, the ties are beeing changed, from wooden to new concrete ties, fabricated in the SNIM work in Nouadhibou. A road... (more)

This is F'dérîk station, also called "Iron Ore Train Hop-on Point". A row of loaded ore cars fron the TO14 and Rouessa mines is standing in the station, some people sit already on top ... (more)

Nor nitrate, nor steel coils are loaded here, but brand new conveyer belts!

If you consistently drive at no more than walking pace, you can still manage.