Steam in the mountains: Eritrea

The line from Massawa to Asmara in Eritrea is certainly one of the nicest mountain railway in the world. Climbing from sea level to an altitude of 2349 meters (7706 feet) in only 120 km (75 miles), the line was built by the Italians from 1887 to 1911. It was later prolonged to Cheren (1922) and finally reached Bischia in 1932. It is built to the Italian “meter“ gauge, i.e. 950 mm. The rolling stock currently includes 0-4-0 tank engines, one “light“ Mallet of type 440 and several “heavy“ Mallet of type 442,