New, old worlds collide on train tracks
Relic rattler railway carriages with timber-slatted seats still run between Ethiopia and Djibouti, here on the horn of Africa, and smugglers like them.
You can take anything you like on the train — sheep, goats and contraband electronic goods. The smugglers push them out of the glassless windows before arriving in a town, cohorts collecting and loading them onto camels.
The rolling stock and yards of the old railway station in Dire Dawa look like an unkempt museum. But a ute backs up to the maintenance shed, and men start unloading a big engine part. The shed is full of massive machinery — lathes the length of a van.
Yes, this is still a working station, but not the one I am using today.
See the full story at West Travel Club
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