Otavi Mining and Railway Company

The Otavi Mining and Railway Company (Otavi Minen- und Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft or OMEG) was a railway and mining company in German South-West Africa (today's Namibia). It was founded on 6 April 1900 in Berlin with the Disconto-Gesellschaft and the South West Africa Company as major shareholders.

OMEG built the longest 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) gauge railway in the world extending 567 kilometres (352 mi) from Swakopmund on the Atlantic coast to the mines of Tsumeb. Construction began in 1903 and reached Tsumeb three years later. The first 225 kilometres (140 mi) of railway required 110 steel bridges to cross deeply eroded gullies through sparsely vegetated arid terrain. Most were deck plate girders. Construction coincided with the Herero and Namaqua Genocide. Delays resulted from labor shortages and military feldbahn operations. A 91-kilometer branch was completed in 1908 from Otavi to mines near Grootfontein.

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