Across the world, there are many trains that pass through landscapes where ordinary travel becomes all the more demanding. But few examples are as striking as Mauritania’s iron-ore train, a vast industrial convoy that cuts across the Sahara and carries enormous loads from the nation’s central mines to the Atlantic coast.
Although it was built for freight rather than tourism, local people have long used it as transport, sometimes riding in open wagons exposed to iron dust, fierce heat, cold desert nights, and hours of relentless movement. Curious? Click on to see why this railway has been dubbed the "most dangerous train in the world."