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In the story this village is in, the railway company has a phone line coming from the south that reaches as far as the village.
The phone line doesn't go any further north, thus the phone line and poles are no longer present along the railway tracks north of the village.
This phone line is the only link of communication the village has (car radios are the only means of incoming news).
The phone line is owned by the railway company, and was put in so the passenger depot and freight depot can have a means of contact with the rail yard at the south end of the railway line (near the Namibian border).
Being there are no utilities in this part of the Cunene Province, the railway company has agreed to provide the availability of phone service to businesses in the village...Those businesses that have a phone pay their phone bill to the CFB railway.
The businesses that use the railway phone service are;
1. The cafe' (that service drop going off to the left in the pic is to the cafe').
2. The bank.
3. The metal fabrication shop.
As for anyone else who wants to use a phone, everyone knows everyone and doesn't mind as long as the phone doesn't get tied up for too long.
The constable's office does not have a phone...Not too odd when you realize no one else has a phone either (except for the railway depots and the three businesses)...So if someone in a rural area needs the constable they certainly could not reach him by phone, even if the constable's office did have a phone.
The railway didn't provide phone service for residences...That is because the phone line and system were originally designed for only the usage load of the railway depots...Businesses having phone service puts a work load on it as it is.
The service drop going to the metal fabrication shop crosses above the tracks from where the railway depots are and along the main dirt street until it gets to the metal fabrication shop.
This is where the phone line ends. As the tracks go further north, no phone line is seen again until about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Kuvango which is more than 75 miles away (there, the line there comes from a different direction).
BTW, the metal fabrication shop is the only location around that has electrical power...That's only because they have an onsite generator ran by a twin cylinder steam engine, which is needed to run tools and equipment.
The cafe' gets their ice from an ice maker the metal fabrication shop has...In return, the cafe' gives discounts on meals for anyone who is employed by the metal fabrication shop.
The locomotives which are common on this line are the Garrett articulating steam locomotive in the narrow gauge version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itJBnRAJrW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfyLBmA-NHY
https://www.dropbox.com/s/26bnsg9y2rarieg/0000a.JPG?dl=0
![https://www.dropbox.com/s/26bnsg9y2rarieg/0000a.JPG?dl=0](\"https://www.dropbox.com/s/26bnsg9y2rarieg/0000a.JPG?dl=0\"){kind=link}