Usakos Railway Station

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Usakos Railway Station is a railway station in Namibia serving the city of Usakos. It is part of the TransNamib railway network. The station building is dilapidated but passenger trains still stop at Usakos.[1]

The station was established in the early 1900s as a watering point, stopover, and workshop for the line from Swakopmund to Tsumeb,[1] an industrial narrow-gauge line operated by the Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahngesellschaft (Otavi Mining and Railway Company) (OMEG), and with a length of 567 kilometres (352 mi) the longest 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) gauge railway in the world.[2]

When the Windhoek—Swakopmund line was built in 1902 during Imperial Germany's colonial rule of German South West Africa, it also connected Usakos. In 1914 this line was extended to Walvis Bay.[3]

Usakos is connected to a number of towns in the north of Namibia via the railway junction in nearby Kranzberg, and to the south and east of Namibia via Windhoek.[3]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 von Schmettau, Konny (28 February 2013). "Usakos-Kurze Blüte, schneller Fall" [Usakos-Short Rise, Fast Fall]. Allgemeine Zeitung (in German) (Tourismus Namibia monthly supplement). p. 9. 
  2. ↑ Shaw 1958 pp.37-38
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dierks, Klaus. "The Development of the Namibian Railway Network. The Rail History Until the 1990s". www.klausdierks.com. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 

Literature

  • Shaw, Frederic J. (1958). Little Railways of the World. Berkeley, Calif.: Howell-North. 261 p. OCLC 988744. 
Windhoek-Tsumeb
Northern Extension
Windhoek-Walvis Bay
Windhoek-Gobabis
Windhoek-Upington
Keetmanshoop-Lüderitz

Coordinates: 22°00′01″S 15°35′17″E / 22.0002°S 15.5881°E / -22.0002; 15.5881

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