Windhoek – Nakop railway line

Windhoek – Nakop
Route length:	865 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Maximum slope :	29  ‰
Minimum radius :	150 m
Route
Legend from Kranzberg 0 Windhoek after Gobabis Auaspass 1922 m 30th Aris 41 Leutwein Haigomas 58 Mountain country 80 98 Rehoboth 1386 m Gebies 126 Heath Uitdrai 152 Tsumis Park 193 Limestone edge 210 Narib Salzbrunn Dabib 273 Mariental overnight stay, company workshop 290 Earth plane Orab The lime 336 Gibeon 352 Gründorn Grundorner 372 Asab 400 Brukkaros 422 Tses water 465 Itzawisis Gariganus Townlands 505 Keetmanshoop Gobas 558 Seeheim Noord to Lüderitz Lion river Gaab Rivier 622 Holoog 651 Little Karas 687 Grünau 740 Karasburg 855 Ariamsvlei 865 Nakop Namibia / South Africa to Upington

The Windhoek – Nakop line was built between 1910 and 1915 as a connecting line between Windhoek and Keetmanshoop on behalf of the State Railways of the German South West Africa Protected Area . The railway line is operated today from the TransNamib to Karasburg . The further connection to South Africa is used irregularly by luxury trains such as the Shongololo Express .

construction

The Lüderitz railway was from the start in Cape gauge built (mm 1067), the railway Swakopmund-Windhoek 1910/1911 in its portion Windhoek -Karibib on Cape gauge umgespurt Service. Therefore, the choice of the track width of a connecting track was also made in this sense. Construction began from both ends. The work from the south was carried out by the Deutsche Kolonial-Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsgesellschaft (DKEBBG), from the north a consortium led by Arthur Koppel Aktiengesellschaft , Berlin . The two construction lots met in Narib.

Historical operation

The railway was opened on March 3, 1912 and initially operated jointly by the Lüderitz Railway and the DKEBBG. From April 1, 1913, the state railway, together with the re-tracked Karibib – Windhoek line, operated as the German-South West African Railway (DSWAE). The route was available:

• 12 locomotives
• 9 passenger coaches (including a saloon coach )
• 2 luggage trolleys
• 4 baggage mail cars
• 155 freight cars

The staff consisted of 512 employees, including 127 Europeans.

Passenger traffic was only served once a week in each direction. It was only driven during the day, so that an overnight stay for the passenger was planned in Mariental , where there was the appropriate overnight accommodation. An operational peculiarity existed in Rehoboth , where the settlement was twelve kilometers from the train station of the same name . A connection with a 600 mm narrow-gauge railway is said to have existed here from 1912 .

Current operation

The route is operated several times a week by TransNamib with combined freight and passenger trains to Karasburg. The further connection to Upington in South Africa is used by the Shongololo Express.

photos

• 

  Gibeon train station around 1920

• 

  Gibeon train station in June 2009

• 

  Gibeon train station in April 2014

• 

  South of Keetmanshoop

• 

  Rehoboth station, aerial photo 2018

• 

  Railway bridge over the Gaab River, aerial view 2018

See also

• List of German colonial railways
• Rail transport in Namibia

literature

• Brenda Bravenboer, Walter Rusch: The First 100 Years of State Railways in Namibia . Windhoek 1997, ISBN 0-86976-401-2 .
• Helmut Schroeter: The railways of the former German protected areas in Africa and their vehicles = The vehicles of the German railways 7. Frankfurt 1961.

Web links

Commons : Windhoek – Nakop railway line  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Railway route system in Namibia, study by Klaus Dierks, 2004

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Shongololo Express Pretoria-Swakopmund ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ According to Schroeter and Internet source ; Bravenboer does not mention the railway, but a private freight forwarder.