Beit Shemesh - Jerusalem, part of most historic and the most scenic NE RR, service not (yet??!!) renewed

[daveklepper]

A few typos and a word migration corrected.

[daveklepper]

Jerusalem-Malcha – Beit Shemesh Railway, a Crown Jewel in Israel’s Tourist Sites   (Draft)

 

.1.   Summary

 

The rail line is being maintained, but not operated.  The large Jerusalem-Malcha Station building is not being used.  Both can be self-supporting, even profitable. This should be accomplished by converting most of the station building into two railroad-themed full-service-with-take-out Kosher restaurants, one meat and one dairy, and operating the train primarily as a sightseeing extension of the two restaurants.  Commuting and general transportation will be accommodated, but without diluting the primary purpose.

 

Greater detail is presented as follows:  2, The restaurants; 3. Building. Track, and platform modi-fications; 4, train scheduling and maintenance; 5. Train equipment and possible railway electrification; 6, alternative business plans.

 

.2.   The Two Restaurants

Although a Jerusalem resident can have a Pizza delivered at any time of the day or night, this and a few side orders are the only menu options outside normal meal hours.  The two quality restaurants here proposed will provide full-menu service 24-hours each weekday with take-out and home and business delivery.  The dining rooms will be railroad-themed, with railway photographs, timetables, signals, and posters\notices as wall decoration, and the menus, dishes, cups, and silverware will follow railway patterns, possibly French Wagon-Lits in one restaurant, and British Pullman in the other.  Delivery trucks, like the kitchen areas of the passenger equipment, need hot-plates. Microwaves, and refrigerators. Basic meal preparation will be done at the restaurant kitchens, not on the trains.

 

If battery capacity is sufficient, considering the meal preservation load, the trucks might be all-electric-battery-operated.

 

.3.  Jerusalem-Malcha Station Alterations

 

Transfer between buses and taxis and the trains will be on one level, with the single station platform usually used being an extension of the exterior sidewalk, and the security-checks, fare-inspection and exit gates, ticket machines, information booth, all located between the sidewalk andc the platform.  Only this track and platform will normally be used both for arrivals and departures.

 

A second platform will be between this single passenger track and the second remaining station track, a track used mainly as a small yard.  This track would be equipped with a maintenance-and-insp4ection pit and appropriate lighting, and the platform have a movable scaffold.  The second platform’s primary use will be for loading meals and returning used implements to the two restaurants vis elevators and food carts.

 

Remaining existing track not required will be replaced by delivery-truck loading area.

 

The second floor will be reconfigured to optimize the two restaurants.  Possibly smaller rooms for groups would be included.  A small hotel operation might be included with the few rooms duplicating the exact appearance and layout of deluxe double-bedrooms or drawering-rooms of the 20^th-Century Limited,  Broadway, or Super Chief.

 

4.   Train Scheduling and Maintenance

 

Overnights and Sabbaths at the Jerusalem-Malcha Station.

 

7:15 departure to Beit Shemesh, used primarily by those spending a business day in Beit Shemesh or connecting with the morning IR Tel Aviv train to travel to Ramla, Lod, or Chabad.  Meat diner serves a breakfast of orange-juice, bagel, chicken or onion soup, and tea, coffee, soda, or Coca-Cola.  Dairy diner orange juice, olive pizza, or bagel with lox, cream-cheese,, or lox-and-cream-cheese, and the same drinks as the meat diner plus hot chocolate.  The few sightsee-meal travelers who book a round-trip will have the full menus available.

 

8:00 departure for Jerusalem-Malcha, primarily for commuters, same breakfast menus.

 

12:30 departure for Beit Shemesh and 13:30 departure for Jerusalem.   Primarily for sightsee-meal travelers with full menus, and one-way travelers offered the breakfast menus.

 

17:45 departure for Beit Shemesh and 18:45 departure for Jerusalem.  Sightsee-meal travelers as above and returning commuters offered breakfast menus.

 

Overnight inspection and maintenance in the Jerusalem-Malcha Station.  Yearly one-week absence inspection and maintenance at Israel Railways, Lod.

 

.5.   Equipment

 

The seating area wil have tables for four on onr side and for two on the other and be divided into meat and dairy areas.  At each end of the seating area will be a small kitchen with refrigerator, Microwave, hot-plates, and a general storage area.

 

Older, single-level IR equipment, being replaced by cars with two-level seating may be convcerted for this application.  Two cars would be kitchen-and seating, the third car seating-only. With a movable partition for dividing meat and dairy area, usually located between the two cars with kitchens and adding capacity to them, but omitted when patronage is light. 

 

Possibly sn alternative would be the coמversion of two Danish IC-3 sets.  Or a  Brighton-Bell electric multiple-unit ser, still awaiting restoration, with one of the most-preferred interior styles, might be purchased, motors rewired for 750-volts for possible compatibility with Jerusalem Light-Rail, asnd the line electrified.  (Which it will be eventually for extension of Jerusalem Light Rail as per Government plans for the future.) 

 

Of course, one can dream, and for me the ideal train would be based on the design of the two Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Electroliners, complete with animal-cracker interior decoration

 

During periods during the day when the regular train is not operating, special occasions might see use of equipment from the Haifa Israel Railways Museum. This might include steam operation, with a duplicate of the 2-8-0 (European 1-4-0) used in Israel still available in Turkey, converted to vegetable-oil fuel for minimal pollution, as the Grand Canyon Railway has done with their 2-8-2.

 

The experience of the Durango and Silverton narrow-gauge railroad night be relevant for the operation of an open=air sight-seeing car for passengers not using the meal service but wishing to be as close to the scenery as possible.

 

.6.  Business Plan

 

Traveler payment should be as fair and easy as possible.  Any Jerusalem hotel guest should be able to pay for the trip and meal as part of his or her hotel bill, and be able to order from the menu in advance.  For Israelis, the telephone the internet, payment by mail or the internet, and identification by the Rav-Card should make use of this  service equally simple.

 

Israel Railways continues to own and maintain the track.  Aditionally, major alteration of equipment can most logically occur in their workshops, although in the Malcha Station is a possibility.  The IR involvement can supply the locomotive, the passenger equipment, and operating crews.  Required is the use of IR’s Beit Shemesh Station.

 

A partner with excellent experience in first-class restaurants is required.  This might best vbe one of thev Israeli hotel chains, one with willingness to work with other Jerusalem hotels.  They wii wish to influence interior decor treatment and many details and should have that right. Obviously much detailed planning is necessary.  Also, a substantial capital investment.  This may require an outside investor, possibly one with both general railroad experience and operation bof tourist and dinnerv trains.  Or the hotel chain and Israel Railways may wish to have their representatives visit some of the many similar

operations in the UK and North America.

 

דוד לויד בן יעקה יהודה קלפר    טו חשון תשפ"ג

David Lloyd (ben Yaacov Yehuda) Klepper, Yeshivat Beit Orot, Jerusalem, Israel

>9'l>

[BEAUSABRE]

If locomotive #122 looks vaguely familiar, it's because it's an EMD G12. The Israelis bought 23 of them between 1954 and 1962 and captured a further 4 from the Egyptians in 1967. So it's contemporary to a GP9. Some had their engines upgraded from 567's to 645's. EMD G12 - Wikipedia

 

[daveklepper]

Here are two mare views of the line with Danish IC-3 diesel-MU equipment:

[daveklepper]

UTube of TA-JerusAlem old line

Consider watching this for a few minutes.

https://youtu.be/5tHHTHfO8I0

Steve

 

Not the scenic tour I hoped it would be, but rather on the abandonment of service between the Shopping Center and the old station near the Old CIty that former P. M. Olmert forced on us.

[daveklepper]

Impotant enough for a new thread

From Steve Satler:

Steve Sattler	Dec 1, 2021, 9:03 PM (15 hours ago)
to me

David, 

Since I will be overseas very soon  and extremely busy with my W.H.O conference -

I'll ask you to contact the various 'food' people and investigate 

their ability to run a  'food' service on the BS >> Malha tracks.

2... At - this time - most of us feel that only IR can run this train service 

on these tracks and we have let the other 3 options - just drop. 

3... Can you please - contact the various USA 'train-groups'  and your

'train' friends  [in the USA]- and give them the info that this BS>>Malha

train service will not be revived by IR after their 'covid' stop in 2020.

We want a lot of pressure from 'overseas' at the IR leadership

 

Steve

 

 

Readers of this  post can contact Israel Railroads on their website

 

 

But:

 

 

The though t of running a tourist operation was rejected by Steve and our friends,

because estimated ticket revenue. five milliom Sheckles, pr 1.5 million Dollars, was

considered to low.  But is it?   Israel Railways is obligated to continue maintaining the

line, even without service.  The Interior Ministry does intead to connect it, eventually,

to Jerusalem's Ligh Rail, and also build connecting street  trackage in Beit Shemesh,

where the station is inconvenient for most commuters to Jerusalem.

 

There is now high-spped elecgtric rail service direct Jerusalem - Ben Gurion Aie orppot -

Tel Aviv.  Also frequent diesel commuter servicre Beit Shemesh - Lod - Habad - Tel Aviv/  

To enjoy the scenic and historic original TA - Jer line, one must change twice,  Once at

Beit Shemesh and then at the Jerusalem Malcha Shoppping Center station, to a locsl

bus to the center of Jerusalem.  When Ehud Olmert was Prime minister, he forced Israel

Railways to stop serervice betweeen the Malcha Shopping Center and the original 1892

Jerusalem Stationb to promote a Japanese financed  business development that never

took place.

 

I'd like to learn something about self-sustaining non-volkunteer tourist operations in North

America.  How  does the  Napa Valley Wine train make e4nds meet?  Or the Durango And

Silverton?  Others?   Any information would be helpful.

 

Also the Malacha Station was badly designed, without an "across-the-platform" bus rail

connection, which could have been done easily and still can be done.

 

The needed through TQA - Jerusalem tourist train should have a fine dining car,

comperable to the Belmond Pullman service and priced accordingly, a regular coach,

and an open-ar-with-glaas-roof observation car. 

 

 

Some views of the line, starting with a 1996 through train to T. A. at the old station,

now a cultural center:

 

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