Seeheim Railway Station
Seeheim railway station is a railway station serving the settlement of Seeheim in southern Namibia. It is part of the TransNamib Railway, and is located along the line that leads from Windhoek southwards. At Seeheim the railway splits; one line continues to Upington, connecting Namibia with South Africa, the other one once led to Lüderitz. The passenger line to Lüderitz has been defunct for many years because the rails were destroyed between Aus and Lüderitz. This missing section is currently being rebuilt. Until its estimated finish in 2010, the few irregular passenger trains to the West end in Aus. History Seeheim was founded in 1896 as a base for the German Schutztruppe. Early in the 20th century its sole purpose was that of a junction station where the lines from Keetmanshoop Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seeheim Namibia (2018)
Seeheim is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. The only notable structures in Seeheim today are the hotel and the railway station; only a handful of people live there. Seeheim belongs to the Keetmanshoop Rural electoral constituency. History Seeheim was founded in 1896 as a base for the German Schutztruppe. Early in the 20th century its sole purpose was that of a junction station where the lines from Keetmanshoop diverted to Lüderitz and Karasburg. The line Keetmanshoop-Lüderitz was built from 1905 to 1908, the line Keetmanshoop-Karasburg in 1909. The First World War was the reason to build these railway links through inhospitable land. Soon however, transport demand peaked due to the diamond rush that developed after a railway worker picked up a diamond near Grasplatz station, 24 kilometers east of Lüderitz. People travelling from the inland to Lüderitz had to stay overnight at Seeheim junction. This was the reason for the erection of two hotels, one of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Keetmanshoop
Keetmanshoop is a city in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia, lying on the Trans-Namib Railway from Windhoek to Upington in South Africa. It is named after Johann Keetman, a German industrialist and benefactor of the city. History Before the colonial era, the settlement was known as ''ǂNuǂgoaes'' or ''Swartmodder'', both of which mean "Black Marsh" and indicated the presence of a spring in the area. The first white settler, Guilliam Visagie, arrived here in 1785. When in February 1850 the Kharoǃoan clan (Keetmanshoop Nama) split from the Red Nation, the main subtribe of the Nama people, they settled permanently here. In 1860 the Rhenish Missionary Society founded a mission there to christianise the local Nama. The first missionary, Johann Georg Schröder, arrived in Keetmanshoop on April 14, 1866, which is now marked as the founding date of Keetmanshoop. The mission station was named after the German trader and director of the Rhenish Missionary Society, , who sup ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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TransNamib Railway
TransNamib Holdings Limited, commonly referred to as TransNamib, is a state-owned railway company in Namibia. Organised as a holding company, it provides both rail and road freight services, as well as passenger rail services. Its headquarters are in the country’s capital Windhoek. History A first local railway was constructed in 1895 by the Damaraland Guano Company for commercial purposes. The first public railway, and the core of the present system, was constructed by the German colonial government. The 383 km connection between Swakopmund and Windhoek was inaugurated on June 19, 1902. The German colonial railway was taken over by the Railways of South Africa after World War I, and linked into the network of South Africa. After the independence of Namibia, TransNamib took control of the national rail network. Operations TransNamib operated 2,883 km of rail in 1995. Since then, further track has been added to the network through the Northern Extension. It op ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway Stations In Namibia
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales, waiting rooms and baggage/freight service. If a station is on a single-track line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. Places at which passengers only occasionally board or leave a train, sometimes consisting of a short platform and a waiting shed but sometimes indicated by no more than a sign, are variously referred to as "stops", "flag stops", " halts", or "provisional stopping places". The stations themselves may be at ground level, underground or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems. Terminology In British English, traditional terminology favours ''railway station'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Rail Transport In Namibia
The history of rail transport in Namibia began with a small mining rail line at Cape Cross in 1895. The first major railway project was started in 1897 when the German Empire, German Colonial Authority built the gauge ''Staatsbahn'' (State Railway) from Swakopmund to Windhoek. By 1902 the line was completed. Parallel to this government initiative, the Otavi Mining and Railway Company (O.M.E.G.) was established. It built another gauge line, the ''Otavibahn'', from Swakopmund to Tsumeb via Otavi between 1903 and 1906, and a branch from Otavi to Grootfontein in 1907/08. The German colonial railway was taken over by the Railways of South Africa after World War I, and linked into the network of South Africa. After the independence of Namibia, TransNamib took control of the national rail network, which, by that time, had long since been converted to gauge. German colonial period Beginnings The basic structure of the Namibian railway system dates from the time when the country ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grasplatz
Grasplatz (''grass place'') is a defunct railway station in the south of Namibia on the decommissioned Aus–Lüderitz line. It is the place where in 1908 railway worker Zacharias Lewala found the first diamond in German South-West Africa and handed it over to his foreman August Stauch. Stauch's subsequent investigation triggered a diamond rush. The place was originally called Grasabladeplatz (''grass offload point'') because here, before the railway was in place, alfalfa was stored to feed oxen before the ox wagons set off through the waterless Namib The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami .... References Railway stations in Namibia German South West Africa TransNamib Railway Buildings and structures in ǁKaras Region {{Namibia-railstation-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Diamond Rush
A diamond rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area where diamonds were newly discovered. Major diamond rushes took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in South Africa and South-West Africa. Diamond rushes by chronology * In 1871, the discovery of an 83.50 carat (16.7 g) diamond on the slopes of Colesberg Kopje on the farm ''Vooruitzigt'' in South Africa led to the foundation of Kimberley Mine, and eventually the town of Kimberley. This diamond rush was termed the "New Rush",Roberts,Brian. 1976. ''Kimberley, turbulent city''. Cape Town: David Philip pp 45-49 as diamond prospectors were already operating in the country. * In 1908, the discovery of a diamond near Grasplatz station in German South-West Africa led to a diamond rush developing the town of Lüderitz and creating several mining settlements that today are ghost towns. * In the 1990s, several frequency domain heliborne electromagnetic anomalies were discovered by Charles E. Fipke around L ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Ocean, Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in Genocides in history (World War I through World War II), genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the Spanish flu, 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising French Third Republic, France, Russia, and British Empire, Britain) and the Triple A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Karasburg
Karasburg ( naq, ǀNomsoros, old name af, Kalkfontein, literally "carst spring") is a town of 4,000 inhabitants in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia and the district capital of the Karasburg electoral constituency. It lies at the heart of the southern Namibian sheep farming industry. Location There are three main routes that lead into Karasburg. From Grünau in the west, Onseepkans in the south and the B3 national road that leads to the South African border in the east. The town lies south of Windhoek, north of Cape Town and 110 km west of the Ariamsvlei border post. Karasburg is the only relatively large town south of Keetmanshoop in Namibia. Economy Karasburg's main industry is sheep farming, but it is also an important truck stop for transport vehicles streaming into Namibia from the South African border. The town supports several massive farms in the area. The town also has its own airstrip which is used mainly for light aircraft or as an emergency landi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Schutztruppe
(, Protection Force) was the official name of the colonial troops in the African territories of the German colonial empire from the late 19th century to 1918. Similar to other colonial armies, the consisted of volunteer European commissioned and non-commissioned officers, medical and veterinary officers. Most enlisted ranks were recruited from indigenous communities within the German colonies or from elsewhere in Africa. Military contingents were formed in German East Africa, where they became famous as , in the Kamerun colony of German West Africa, and in German South West Africa. Control of the German colonies of New Guinea, in Samoa, and in Togoland was performed by small local police detachments. Kiautschou in China under Imperial Navy administration was a notable exception. As part of the East Asian Station the navy garrisoned Tsingtao with the marines of III, the only all-German unit with permanent status in an overseas protectorate. Deployment The name of the Germa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Railway Station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on Railroad tie, sleepers (ties) set in track ballast, ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower friction, frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The rail transport operations, operation is carried out by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Aus, Namibia
Aus is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on a railway line and the B4 national road, 230 km west of Keetmanshoop and about 125 km east of Lüderitz and belongs to the ǃNamiǂNûs electoral constituency. Trains from Keetmanshoop now terminate at the village but formerly continued on to Lüderitz. The settlement is small but has a number of amenities including a hotel, police station, shop and garage. It is located in the Aus Mountains above the plains of the Namib Desert. The climate is usually hot and arid but snow has been recorded in winter in 1963, and the area features the coldest winters recorded in Namibia. The village's name comes from the Khoekhoe for "big snake." The village was formerly the site of a prisoner-of-war camp established by the South African army in 1915 to house German inmates captured during the First World War. The inmates initially lived in tents but later built brick houses. The number of prisoners reached 150 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |