There is a train track stretched out along the Western Sahara border connecting the port of Nouadhibou with the mining town of Zouerat. It is Mauritania's economical artery, and a relict of her colonial past. Built in the 60's by the French and taken over by SNIM in 1974 the railway has been operating for almost half a century, tirelessly transporting iron ore and, as there are no road connections between the two cities, people, their goods and livestock.