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Coming Down the Escarpment
Eritrean Railway & Ropeway

Coming Down the Escarpment

This scene is just as the Rift Valley comes into view.  Here you can see a gondola from the Ropeway.  It is centered vertically and about 2/3 of the view from left to right.

This is after the first complete switch back.  The car has gone to the viewers right from the first view, doubled back and now is going back to the right.  At least two steam locomotives are waiting for Littorina to pass so they can work their way up the mountain.  Often between Nefasit and Asmara, either the train was split in two or the locomotives were double headed.

Here again we are going to the viewers right moving toward what I remember as the last switch back.

 Finally, we are coming around to the station.  Here it is on the far right.  It should be noted that the architecture of the Asmara, Ghinda and Nefasit stations were very similar.


Photo courtesy of Tom Johnson
I believe that the above view represents part of the rail path as I went down the Escarpment. I believe Tom Johnson's picture below is on the other side of the mountain from the one above.  There is a 372m tunnel about 2 or 3 km before Nefasit.  I believe the one below is that tunnel.


Photo courtesy of Tom Johnson

After the train got on the other side of the mountain, it played tag with the highway as is seen on Jerry Pry's picture.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Pry
There is one 5 arch bridge between Nefasit and Arboroba.  The one below is probably that bridge.  If it is not, there are nine other bridges between those two towns.

Photo courtesy of Chuck Moulton
Jerry Pry's picture (below) shows this same viaduct from the other end of the road curve.

Photo courtesy of Jerry Pry
It also shows the rail coming out from under the road.  I don't believe this is the the tunnel shown on the line's profile.  If it is, it definitely is a different tunnel than the one shown on Tom Johnson's picture.

Dave Engstrom recently visited Eritrea.  Originally, I believed the picture below may have been the same bridge. However, the height difference between the bridge and the road and the differences in the two end arches have lead me to believe it is a different viaduct.



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