The railways and water are the lifeblood of the Sahara. On the outskirts of Nouadhibou, Mauritania’s second largest city, a GPL-15T hauls a three car water train bound for a whistle stop town in the seemingless never ending Sahara Desert. The railway connects the Port of Nouadhibou to the iron mines at Zouérat and is a major driving force behind the economy of Mauritania. Founded in 1978, the Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière or better known as SNIM is a huge player here, as the company owns just about every portion of the industrial capabilities of Mauritania. From the railway, to the iron mines and port, and even branching into the hydrocarbon and tourism industries, SNIM has a hand in every pocket further solidifying their footprint in Mauritania. Pictured is one of the rarely seen workhorses of SNIM Railway, a GPL-15T. The GPL-15T was a collaboration between three companies, Mauritania based SNIM, and American companies Super Steel and EMD. Sixteen locomotives were supposedly built, with special modifications for operations in the hot, dry and sandy desert climate of the Sahara. Outfitted with EMD’s 1500 horsepower 645 engine, Blomberg swing hanger trucks and a two stage pulse air filtration system, these locomotives can operate in temperatures that well exceed 120°f. For the build, EMD provided new truck frame and bolster castings from Bradken in Atchison, Kansas. The trucks have a permanently fixed plow and also, a special pneumatically powered sand plow mounted to the axle 1 and 4 of the locomotive to prevent sand from derailing the engine. This locomotive was one of the last railroad equipment pieces built and assembled at Super Steel’s Glenville, New York plant before they shut down in 2008. GPL-15T locomotives are used in mostly local service while SDL40-2 and SD70ACS locomotives haul iron ore trains stretching over 200 cars long.
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