It is used to carry iron ore from the mine to the port of Nouadhibou on the Atlantic Ocean and it was (and probably still is) the longest train in the world (up to 3 km). As you can see, there were two cars for passengers, but the Mauritanians used to ride free on the iron ore freight cars with whatever they were taking with them, including cattle...
Here is were the track leads:
Now, I take almost weekly this one to go to Paris or Brussels...
I sure preferred the first one, the dust was awful, but the passengers much nicer... "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
I planned a later instalment just on heavy-haul ore trains, but here: the currently longest (and heaviest) are in Australia, BHP's regular trains are up to 3.6 km, and BHP holds the world record with a test train twice as long (100,000 tons total!).
PS. do you have close-up images of cattle and people atop the ore? It would fit nicely for the theme I plan for next week! *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I am coming to Budapest next week. Will you be around? "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
