Eritrea Steam 2004 Part 7 Nefasit to Asmara

A RTC trip to the amazing Eritrean Railway (Red Sea Railway) on 5 to 11-11-2004.
The line from Massawa to Asmara 117.5 km (73 miles) was built by the Italians to 950mm gauge and was completed in 1911, it was later extended 229 km (142 miles) to Biscia by 1932.
The country came under British Administration from 1941 to 1952, then it passed to Ethiopian goverment control from 1952 to 1991.
The railway was subject to attack from Eritrean liberation fighters from 1970 and closed in sections with Asmara to Massawa being the last, finally succumbing in January 1976 although it had been freight only since 1972.
During the war for independence from Ethiopia the railway was largely destroyed with most of the track torn up for use in trenches.
From 1991 Eritrea had its independence and the government started think about rebuilding the railway. There was not a huge budget available so in December 1994 work started using their own resources and railway workers bought out of retirement to rebuild the railway. Luckily the engine shed and workshops in Asmara were still relatively complete and the remaining locomotives and railcars were gradually restored. Work progressed slowly, not helped by hostilties with Ethiopia between 1998 and 2000, and the line from Massawa to Asmara was completed in February 2003 which was a great achievement.
In 2004 most of the railway staff were in their 80's but were very enthusiastic and proud of their railway.
Featured in Part 7 are
A trip with FE Ansaldo Class 442 0-4-4-0T 442 54 (1938) from Nefasit to Asmara, 24.5 km (15 miles) with a ruling gradient of 3.5% (1 in 29) in this distance the line climbs 670 metres (2198 feet), on 10-06-2004.
There is a mixture of onboard, runpast and linesiding shots.
Locos seen are
FE Ansaldo Class 442 0-4-4-0T 442 59

[@fernandosouzabenedito4601]

ferrovia encantadora

[@simonmcowan6874]

Love this series, haven't done my homework yet, but where does the coal come from?

[@trianghornby]

Thanks, they have to import the coal from China or South Africa I believe. Some railtour operators have done it themselves to make sure their tour runs. The Eritrean government doesn't make it easy for the railway to import coal, not for any green reasons but red tape and bureaucracy seems to rule.

[@simonmcowan6874]

@@trianghornby we in Wales on our railway had coal from down the road-basically, now it's Poland, Azerbaijan, or South America, Its bonkers, I can drive there in an hour, with minimal carbon emission.