the railway from Swakopmund to Windhoek, Namibia

Train on the Swakop River bridge, 1902

Okahandja station, 1903 with a recognisably German architectural style.

In 1897 in the colony of German South West Africa, the German Colonial Authority launched the project to build the Staatsbahn (state railway) 383 km from Swakopmund to Windhoek (Windhuk in German, same pronunciation) which was completed in 1902. After WW1 the colony was taken off Germany by the British and the railways were operated by South African Railways until the independence of present day Namibia in 1990. As in South Africa, NZ and parts of Australia, the gauge is 3'6" or 1067 mm. Namibia's rail network today totals 2,382 route-km.