Israeli Steam

[daveklepper]

1944 "Palestine" Railways timetable  (Hebrew)

Shows train to Cairo. but not the one to Lebanon.

[M636C]

Jones1945

Breathtaking pictures! The streamlined coach looked vanguard with those sharp-cornered windows, even though they didn't match the oval-shaped windows on the doors.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/31225750863

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49060720243

 

 

The coaches are metre gauge and of course can't run with the streamlined Pacific....

Much further into the collection there is a colour photo of an Iraqi Pacific on a train. The locomotive appears to be black, although the coaches are green and cream.

One thing I'd never seen was the Hungarian 4-8-0s for North Korea, distinguishable only by the lack of buffers and knuckle coupler.

The most useful item for me is the North British brochure from the turn of last century exhibition in Buenos Aires. The locomotives listed formed the basis of steam motive power in Argentina until the 1950s.

Peter

[Jones1945]

Breathtaking pictures! The streamlined coach looked vanguard with those sharp-cornered windows, even though they didn't match the oval-shaped windows on the doors.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/31225750863

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49060720243

 

[NorthWest]

Some future IrSR PC Class photos recently uploaded to Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49061453077/in/dateposted/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49060720538/in/dateposted/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49060720348/in/dateposted/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/49061231196/in/dateposted/

With the cowling off. From the bullhead rail I'm guessing this was at the factory, but it already looks somewhat well-used.

[Jones1945]

Overmod

Not to distract from the precise topic, but I think Iraq had far more interesting steam:

and with the leaps and bounds being made in underwater exploration and recovery, it might be time to see where PC 504 actually reposes, as it might be retrievable.  New Zealanders have restored locomotives in worse initial shape!

 

"PC class streamlined loco"

http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/iraq/pc-class-streamlined-loco-photo/

[Overmod]

daveklepper

What happened to these locomotives?

There are some accounts that indicate the locomotives were beloved of Saddam Hussein and he set up special arrangements to preserve at least two.  How they survived the 'late unpleasantnesses' no one seems to know.  I believe that when Mark Hemphill was running things out there, he at least tried to find them -- but Westerners couldn't safely go a large number of 'likely' places.

[Jones1945]

daveklepper

What happened to these locomotives?   Ordered at a happier time when Iran was still friends with those it apparentl thinks of as enemies today.

Very true. I bet If the locomotive has feelings like a human, knowing what happened on the land all these years, she would have chosen to stay deep in the ocean instead. 

[daveklepper]

What happened to these locomotives?   Ordered at a happier time when Iran was still friends with those it apparentl thinks of as enemies today.

[Jones1945]

Overmod

Not to distract from the precise topic, but I think Iraq had far more interesting steam:

and with the leaps and bounds being made in underwater exploration and recovery, it might be time to see where PC 504 actually reposes, as it might be retrievable.  New Zealanders have restored locomotives in worse initial shape!

In case you missed the train. 

Original Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/27862259@N02/7908789206/
(non-copyrighted )

[daveklepper]

Steve Sattler's history, with my added comments:

The J&J railway.

The Jaffa–Jerusalem railway: was built by  Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem and finished  1892. The line is considered to be the first M.E  railway.

The line was originally built at 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) and then later rebuilt to 1,050 mm  and then to 1,435 mm  standard gauge. The line was operated by the French, the Ottomans, the British. After its closure in 1948, it was re-opened as  Israel Railways.

1838: Sir Moses Montefiore spoke of establishing a railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem. In 1856, he contacted the British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, and it would be a benefit to  Britain and Turkey. A meeting was organized with the Ottoman Grand Vizier Aali Pasha upon his visit to London on May  1856, where an agreement was signed. As a result, Laurence Oliphant, a Member of Parliament in 1865, also put his force behind the project. But in  1856,  a message from Istanbul that the Ottoman government was not willing to provide land for the construction: result, nothing.

In 1856, then Montefiore backed out of the project when it became obvious that the railway would serve Christian missionaries.

 

Financing.

      Yosef Navon, a Jewish entrepreneur from Jerusalem began to investigate the possibility of constructing a railway in 1885. His advantage over earlier proposers of a railway was that he was an Ottoman subject. He spent three years in Constantinople to promote the project and he obtained a firman for 71 yrs. For 5000 Turkish lira.

Lacking capital, so Navon went to Paris 1889 A French lighthouse inspector, bought it for a million francs, so, 1889, the Jaffa to Jerusalem Railway Company  founded in Paris. The total shares were  8,000.

Navon sat on the board of directors. ,The company raised 14 million francs, from Christian religious followers. Construction was carried out by a  Parisian Company for Public Works.at a cost of 10 million francs, and  completed by April 1, 1893.

 

Additional notes by Dave Klepper:  Joseph Navon was born in Jerusalem, son of Eliyahu Navon, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Jerusalem, who represented "The Jews of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas” in the Turkish Parliament.  He studied  engineering in France.  After Theodore Herzl spurned his offer to assist with settlement construction, he lived the rest of his life as an engineer in France.  His marriage to a daughter of the Frunkin banking family was an early Sephardic-Ashkenazi wedding.

 

The railway was considered a rare collaboration between Jews, Catholics and Protestants.  When the project ran out of money, Navon secured more funds from investors in Germany, and Switzerland. Theodore Herzl, was  not interested and wrote that it was a "wretched little line from Jaffa to Jerusalem and  was of course quite inadequate for our needs”.

    The track was chosen to be of 1,000 mm, similarly to French minor railways, and the rails were brought in from France and the Belgian. But, some stock came from the Panama Canal. 

 A short 600 mm section,  was laid between the Port and the Jaffa Station for easier transport/goods from the harbor.

Native Arabs were used in the work, although many were farmers and worked only during certain seasons. Stonemasons from Bethlehem  did the construction in the Judean hills. Despite receiving medical treatment, a considerable number of workers died of malaria, scurvy, dysentery, and other diseases. More died of construction accidents, including the process of cutting through rocks on the approach to Jerusalem. Numerous bridges were built along the line. The shorter ones were of stone, while six of the seven longer ones were iron, from  the Eiffel Co. 

Water for the railway's operation was taken from wells in Jaffa, Ramla and Bittir.  Bittir also supplied water to the Jerusalem station.

FIRST RUN: October 1890, a major event that was attended by 10,000 onlookers, mostly from Jaffa. The locomotive was a Baldwin 2-6-0, one three built for the line, and carried the American and French flags.

The company tried to build the stations as close as possible to the old cities, but the Ottoman authorities prevented them from doing so, resulting; the Terminuses' relative distance from the city centers. 1-3 kms.

Sleepers from oak, and the Belgium rails, with spikes.

The line officially opened on September 26, 1892. The length of the journey was approximately 3.5–6 hours, about equal to the same trip on a carriage, and contrary to the original plan, which envisioned a 3-hour trip. Even so, the opening event received international media coverage and  >Bey <  Yosef Navon, was awarded the French Legion of Honor  and a Turkish medal.

The railway became profitable by 1897.

Theodor Herzl visited Palestine in October 1898 and was not impressed by the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. Baron Edmond de Rothschild funded several villages along the line, which contributed to its financial development. In Jerusalem, Boris Schatz founded an arts and crafts school in 1906 to cater to the tourists. [sell trinkets]   Dave Klepper:  The school today is the Bezalel School, teaching sculpture, architecture, lighting, photography, cinema, art, fashion, and still jewelry.   Two campuses, an innovative and rather fun building on the Hebrew University Mt. Scopus campus, and rented quarters in the heart of Jerusalem.  A new building for the entire school near the center of the city is under construction, but I suspect that the school’s growth with have them retain the building on the HU Campus.

The line showed an overall growth trend between 1896 and WW1 Soon it became clear that more locomotives were needed for the tourists. The Company ordered 4 Mallets  from Germany in 1904.

World War I

During 1915 the Turks; the  German engineer Heinrich August Meissner was put in charge, and in 1916 The Jaffa–Lydda section was completely dismantled. The Lydda -Jerusalem section was re-laid to 1,050 mm  connected to the Hejaz railway via the Tulkarem branch of the Emek line, and thus the Hejaz.

When the British advanced over Nov. 1917, the railway was sabotaged by Austrian saboteurs from the retreating army and five bridges were blown up. The Turks carried away anything that was movable, from railway cars, furniture, stock  and  rails. 

Dec. 1917: It was valuable to the British, as it provided the only viable link from Jerusalem to Egypt, as the roads were very difficult. [The lousy weather] Trestle bridges were installed and the first British train reached Jerusalem on De. 27, 1917. An essential extension was built from the Jaffa station to the port, which operated until 1928.

1918: May till Sept, (and possibly till Nov) 1918-

the unique El-Bira line    = 600mm.

 

 British Mandate

 

The High Commissioner, Herbert Samuel, re-inaugurating the line on 5^th Oct. 1920

Because the line was still narrow-gauge and incompatible with other British lines, proposals were brought forward to deliver locomotives and coaches from either the Sudan or Australia. However, the Palestine Military Railways, decided to rebuild the line to the wider 1,435 mm.

In April 1920 the civilian Palestine Railways took over the line. The coastal railway now extended from El Kantara to Haifa, intersecting the Jaffa–Jerusalem line with a junction at Lydda. [The famous junction station; battle, 14^th Nov 1917]

 However, the future of the J&J was linked with electrification. There were  exchanges between Herbert Samuel and Pinhas Rutenberg – who held the concession for the electrification of Palestine – resulted in a perfect agreement: that was torpedoed by the Treasury in London, as  un-economical.

During the 1948 War, the service was stopped. After the war many sections of the line ended up under the  Arab Legion's control. But following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the entire route was returned to Israel, and officially restarted operations on August 7, 1949, when the first Israeli train, loaded with a symbolic shipment of flour, cement and Torah scrolls, arrived at Jerusalem. 

End part 1.

 

[M636C]

NorthWest

And it has a lot more photos of the weird SFAB NW5ms! Thanks for sharing!

 

Including a shot of one under test in Belgium....

It really is a lot bigger than the standard European steam locomotives. I assume there are dynamic brakes in the high short hood.

Peter

[NorthWest]

And it has a lot more photos of the weird SFAB NW5ms! Thanks for sharing!

[M636C]

I was looking for some details of some Buenos Aires and Pacific locomotives when I found:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/albums/with/72157678740608775

which revealed:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124446949@N06/sets/72157652018831313

four pages in all.

I note a coloured version of a photo found by Wanswheel.

Wanswheel might like to find further detail of the Handley Page Heracles fuselage being lifted by a Palestine Railways steam crane...

Peter

[Firelock76]

I may have posted this in the past, but here's a link to the MIT model railroad club...

http://tmrc.mit.edu/

Interesting site!  Go to the "About" section for a history of the club plus a membership list going back to 1946.  Guess who's in there?

No, not me, I don't have the brains for MIT!  David's there all right!  Cool!  Like meeting an old friend in a faraway place!

[daveklepper]

I went through ROTC at MIT.  Wasn't all patriotism, needed the money also, and was glad I enrolled after the Korean War broke out, after I was enrolled.  Took ROTC Summer Camp at Fort Monthmouth, NJ, a year early, between Soph abd Jr years, enabling me to have summer job with EMD, La Grange, the next year, summer 1952.  After a not-especially productive year at Grad School, MIT, went on active duty 1954, and after brief assignments af Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth, began service as Asst. Audio-Radio Member, PsyWar Board, Ft. Bragg, NC.  Back to grad school 1956, Masters Degree June 1957, Bolt Beranek and Newman, architectural acoustics to 1971, month at Bell Labs, Klepper Marshalll King to June 1996.

Here am I and my detachment at Fort Bragg:

I'm in the center.  To the left, also in Kakis, is PFC (eventually to make Staff Sgnt.), Jerry Dyar, also a railfan, and classmate at MIT who did not take ROTC.

And even though I was his immediate boss in the Army, we remained good friends.

 

[Anonymous]

Neat trains!  You recall that the late great self-proclaimed "Doctor of Sick Railroads" John W. Barriger III was a MIT graduate too.  I imigine you were an officer in the US Army?  I made Sp4 in the Transportation Corps.  I retain fond memories when I attended the USATC school at Ft. Eustus, VA during the autumn of 64.  Took ACL home for Christmas to visit my folks in Tampa; SAL back to VA.  MATS flew me to Germany in Jan. 65 just so I could witness all that beautiful active Deutsche Bundesbahn steam firsthand!

I received a Lionel 027 set for my 1951 Christmas, then modeled some in HO.  Now all I have is a large scale ATSF red caboose made by LGB to remind me of  days spent working for John Santa Fe in Dallas.

[daveklepper]

I was.   Had a small oval-with-siding HO layout in my parents' home basement, first with an American Flyer NYC J1 with New Haven coaches, then with a Penn-Line K4 and assorted kit-assembled freight cars and a P-54 coach from someplace, plus a Mantua open-platform coach and combine.  Everything went to the MIT Tech Model Railroad Club in 1949, and also got a PCC for the streetcar line there.   When I left MIT in June 1957, my active model railroading ended.  I left the equipment behind there.  I subscribed to the Model Railroader about 1945-1957.   There was also an hiatus while in Army active service 1954-1956.

[Anonymous]

Dave: Off subject perhaps but are you a model railroader?

[M636C]

daveklepper

The track north from Haifa to Naharia is still in use for daily except the Sabbath freight and passenger service.  Some passenger trains run between Naharia and Beir Sheva in the south, running express between Haifa and T. A.  When I was last in Rosh Hanikra, the track into the tunnel at the border was still in place but not used, and there was a wall in the tunnel, seen from the tunnel entrance.  Not sure the track still exists north of Naharia.  And possibly the tunnel has been closed further with Hezbolah controling nearby areas in Lebanon at the moment,

 

Dave,

 

I seem to have misread Hugh Hughes' book on this subject.

He may have been referring to the cessation of through traffic and not the closure of the line on each side of the border. The book is a bit complex, with references to this line in sections on Palestine, Lebanon and a section called "Middle East Forces". His maps show the line on the Isreali side open to Naharia.

 

I even got the reference to the builders wrong. It was South African troops wo built the section from Haifa to Beirut, the Australians building the section north of Beirut.

 

However, it was British Commonwealth forces that built the line, of course.

 

Peter

 

[daveklepper]

The track north from Haifa to Naharia is still in use for daily except the Sabbath freight and passenger service.  Some passenger trains run between Naharia and Beir Sheva in the south, running express between Haifa and T.  A.  When I was last in Rosh Hanikra, the track into the tunnel at the boarder was still in place but not used, and there was a wall in the tunnel, seen from thr tunnel entrance.  Not sure the track still exists north of Naharia.  And possibly the tunnel has been closed further with Hezbolah controling nearby areas in Lebanon at the moment,

[M636C]

wanswheel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://archive.org/stream/australianimperi07gulluoft#page/384/mode/2up

 

Thanks, wanswheel, for those photos...

I note the camel soldier has emu feathers on his hat. I assume he transferred to the Imperial Camel Force from the Light Horse. The thing that struck me was the photographer was a sergeant in the Australian Flying Corps.

Many of the photographs are credited to the "Auistralian War Museum". When this was finally opened (in 1941, a rather unfortunate year regarding war) the name became "The Australian War Memorial". This is located a block from my home and is an amazing place, definitely a museum rather than a memorial.

The title, "Australian Imperial Force" was used again in WWII, but because it was only twenty years later, the title was the "Second Australian Imperial Force".  The "second" was repeated all the way down the line, my father's regiment being the "2nd/1st Anti- Aircraft".

In 1941, the Australian Army Engineers built a standard gauge railway from Haifa in Palestine to Beirut in Lebanon which formed a link from Egypt up to Turkey, to avoid having to use shipping in the Mediterranean for military supplies. The section in Palestine (noe Israel) was closed after the war, but most of the line in Lebanon remained open into the 1960s. This line used the strange little EMD G6Bs, which had a single traction motor geared to three axles.

Peter

[wanswheel]

M636C

Another headwear option is the so called "slouch" hat of the Australian Army. This was clipped up on the left side, but could be worn as a normal hat. The brim was clipped up to allow the Lee-Enfield 0.303 rifle to be "shouldered". I myself learnt to do this in the high school cadet corps with a gun that dated back to 1917.

This is relevant because one hundred years ago, the Australian Light Horse (wearing these hats, with emu feathers), took part in the last big cavalry charge, occupying the town of Beersheba in Palestine, which opened the land route to Gaza, Jaffa and Jerusalem. We are told that this marked the end of Turkish rule in Palestine. It is possible that the story told elsewhere might give more credit to the British Army. 

https://archive.org/stream/australianimperi07gulluoft#page/384/mode/2up

[Firelock76]

You're not kidding!  Real men ain't stupid!

As much as I love my flintlocks there's no way I'd bring one to a modern fire-fight.  That's what the M-1's for! Or the M-1A, or the M-1 carbine...

I don't think I could pull off a Zouave uniform like Colonel Ellsworth's boys anyway.  Those guys had panache!

And M636, certainly the surrender of the Japanese on Borneo didn't get the attention that the surrender in Tokyo Bay did, but your father and the rest of the lads DID get the satisfaction of seeing the Japanese officers, from generals down to second lieutenants, lay down their samurai swords.  That must have been priceless!

[Overmod]

And here I am thinking miningman had Firelock76 in the fez as part of a Zouave uniform.  I have family history in connection with that, so was tickled to see the reference.

REAL men lie down to reload!

[M636C]

If you return to the 1930 Jerusalem photo, there is a man standing under the left edge, as viewed, of the "jerusalem" sign wearing a topee. This must be John Mills, although I don't know what role he is playing...

Another headwear option is the so called "slouch" hat of the Australian Army. This was clipped up on the left side, but could be worn as a normal hat. The brim was clipped up to allow the Lee-Enfield 0.303 rifle to be "shouldered". I myself learnt to do this in the high school cadet corps with a gun that dated back to 1917.

This is relevant because one hundred years ago, the Australian Light Horse (wearing these hats, with emu feathers), took part in the last big cavalry charge, occupying the town of Beersheba in Palestine, which opened the land route to Gaza, Jaffa and Jerusalem. We are told that this marked the end of Turkish rule in Palestine. It is possible that the story told elsewhere might give more credit to the British Army. 

My father visited Palestine in 1941. There are photos of him in the doorway of a large four wheeled box car lettered "PR", and shots from the train of a long string of such boxcars winding through the hills. I think my father made it to Jaffa, but not to Jerusalem. Of course, his itinerary wasn't at his discretion, and he returned to Australia in late 1941 by ship. There was some concern about aircraft, and there is a photo of his Bofors 40/60 Mk 3 gun set up on the deck of the ship.

The photo collection ends with my father's own photos of the Japanese surrender in Borneo, a bit like the one in Tokyo Bay but with less exalted attendees on each side.

Peter

[Anonymous]

David, thanks for sharing a photo of you with friend.  How large is your apt?

[Miningman]

Well I just knew that would flush you out Firelock.

The reason for donning you with the Fez is I thought the Topee would interfere with your 1776 Musket aim and firing but I suppose not. A coon skin or beaver hat would look out of place and too hot. So the Pith/Topee is it then. 

Regardless we would all look pretty good boarding the Orient Express. Now that would be something. 

Don't think you could even make that movie today, history or not. 

[Firelock76]

Me in a fez?  Hmmmm, I don't know if I could pull that one off, not sure I've got the head or the profile for it.

But one of those Victorian pith helmets, whoops, "Topees," like they wore in "Zulu?" I think I could manage that with no trouble, but not as well as the fine NCO with the mutton-chop whiskers we're about to visit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivaKBtZ_WvA

 

[Miningman]

M636C--Fascinating account. It actually makes sense to wear the Topees for the men during those hours. Quite the striking scene to see a full crew of men on an armoured train wearing these. Shades of the movie "Zulu".

I see Firelock with his musket wearing the Fez with a fine emblem on the front and some kind of flourish hanging down along the side. 

I've decided that, myself being such a striking fiqure, I will forgo the Pith and go all out Lawrence of Arabia and don the Keffiyeh in that non traditional but stylish fashion.