The Sahara Desert Railway - Mauritania #1 - One of The World's Longest and Heaviest Trains

SNIM (Société Nationale Industrielle et Miniere) operates the 704 Km / 437 mile railway in Mauritania, which transports iron ore from mines at Zouerate in the North East to Nouadhibou on the West coast. The railway was built in 1963.
The trains can have up to 4 EMD diesel locomotives pulling over 200 fully laden ore wagons, weighing over 17,000 Tonnes and over 2 Km in length. The EMD locomotives have been specially adapted to cope with extreme heat and desert conditions. They are of the types:-
SD70-ACS
SDL40-2
GDL-15T
CC 123 + CC 122 - EMD SD70-ACS, Co-Co, 4,500 Hp, V16 Diesel Electric. Specially designed for extreme heat and desert conditions. Built for SNIM in 2011 as part of a batch of 6. Seen here pulling 180 loaded wagons of Iron Ore - 84 Tonnes each. Clips filmed between F'Derik and Choum.

[@bentstrider]

Awesome scenery. Could easily pass for the UP or BNSF running through the Mojave Desert in parts!! Especially with the use of the EMD locos. Of course those additional cooling and filter boxes on the locos are definitely needed in those extremes.

[@jitendrakumar-he4hp]

nice capture beautiful shots

[@DrTubeman]

Stunning country the train travels through.

[@dennisdingeman1564]

Used to be called the Sahara Forest before I got my new chain saw!

[@MrEmeritus74]

200 likes!!! Good videos!

[@ahmedthecreator1736]

They have the same sounds as that?! Here in the uae

[@zirchosanico5708]

cool sd70acs locokotivrs

[@fabrizioviscardi40]

Very interesting movie!!

[@witthayasrisucondharatana7519]

It looks like Mars

[@andrewthacker114]

Good clip.whats the track gauge for that line-3Ft 6inch like South Africa

[@EvenFurtherRail]

4 ft 8 1⁄2 in standard gauge

[@baniorztrains5054]

I cordially invite you! Poland is a very safe and hospitable country. Greetings, Tomek.

[@EvenFurtherRail]

Ok. I have Subscribed.

[@KCSM_1200]

EMD SD70ACS

[@ntduane_yllw]

Wait...the cargo cars are so small compare to tho locos😮

[@torquetrain8963]

South Africa also runs some of the heaviest trains in the world.

[@rogerevans936]

How difficult was the trip logistically ? Visa, transport, accommodation, personal safety etc

[@EvenFurtherRail]

The trip was organised by FarRail Tours via a local agent. Visa on arrival organised by local agent well in advanced, you can't just turn up. Accommodation were mainly tents - basic hotels in Nouadhibou and Zouerate. Personal safety - no problem. Food was mainly camel or camel, no alcohol apart from one restaurant with special licence in Nouadhibou - expensive. Travelling was in a convoy of six Toyota Landcruisers or Hillux. Challenging - the itinerary was too ambitious for the limited time we had. Although some great photos were taken, I think with the benefit of hindsight, we should have gone for quality rather than quantity. Links to photo albums available on request.

[@timtwichell1534]

By far NOT the longest or heaviest trains... Western AU Iron ore trains can weigh more than 30,000 tons, In Canada Iron Ore trains are nearly 30,000 tons... US Marine Container trains can be 3 MILES long, and weigh more than 23,000 tons... In Brazil Trains are run that are over 40,000 tons.... Potash Trains in the USA and Canada weigh 20,000 tons.... The Monster Stack Trains of the BNSF railroad use TEN 4,400 hp Locomotives to handle them..... All these trains can be seen with a simple Search of KZbin.

[@batang1807]

Plok plok

[@SKYKOP1972]

You might try backing up just a little.

[@zirchosanico5708]

sorry i was spelling wrong

[@johnny_salmon]

2:10 free travelers?

[@rasulmirza8665]

Vah

[@DRCrimeCircle]

Yo we Eafrica we some of the ore

[@barrycook5607]

The Sahara DESERT? Please check out what the word "sahara" means!

[@EvenFurtherRail]

So, it's a pleonasm. And no doubt you point that out to every charity that provides a "safe haven" to a variety of good causes.