North Africa/Middle East

[Chen Melling]

Nick, as Jan noted, PMR stood for Palestine Military Railway (note singular, not plural) which was the name of the railway organisation in the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (South), at least since mid-1918 until 1 October 1920, when the railways passed to the mandated and civilian-run Palestine Government, established 1 July 1920. The newly re-named Palestine Railways (note plural) was a government department, with its General Manager answerable to the government's Chief Secretary. This remained the case until the dissolution of the Palestine Mandate on 14 May 1948.

 

 

 

Administratively, PR was in the uncomfortable position of having to un-naturally separate its accounts into four 'units':

 

 

• PR (Palestine Railway –note singular) – All army-built public railways in Palestine-proper, 'purchased' by the Government from the War Department, plus the former privately-owned Jaffa & Jerusalem Railways, purchased from its French owners after an arbitration. Almost all of this was standard gauge
• SMR (Sinai Military Railway), later KRR (Kantara-Rafa Railway) – The army-built standard gauge line across the Sinai Peninsula, ostensibly in Egyptian territory, but owned by the War Department and operated by PR, as it was built as part of the same line.

   

• HR (Hijaz Railway) – All Ottoman built 105cm-gauge railways in Palestine ( HR(P) ) and Transjordan ( HR(T) ) which survived WW1 intact. The ownership of these remained unclear until Independence of both territories, but they were entrusted to the Government of Palestine and operated for it by PR. However, these two parts were connected only through the French-mandated territory of Syria, where the remains of the original Ottoman Hijaz Railway (CFH) were operated by the French company DHP.

   

• PTR (Petah Tiqva Railway) – A short standard-gauge branch which construction was partly funded but the settlers of Petah Tiqva, and was partly owned by them, hence the need for separate accounting.

   

 

For completeness I should mention another acronym – HBT (Haifa-Beirut-Tripoli Line – A standard-gauge military railway constructed in WW2 by the WD as a continuation of the (dual-gauged) HR branch from Haifa to Acre. It did not affect the administrative structure of PR, though its operation was shared between PR and the WD.

 

 

Below is a schematic map of the system, taken from the General Manger report for 1946/7. It is missing the Rafa-Beersheba branch (closed 1927) and the short 60cm line to Jaffa Harbour, closed 1928, and doesn't note the dual-gauge sections near Haifa and Tulakrm, but it should give a general idea.

 

 

 

The PR suffered greatly from attacks and sabotage, especially in the years 1936-9 (the Disturbances) when the attackers were Arab gangs, and 1945-1948, when attacks came from both Jewish groups and Arab ones.

 

 

Jan, the availability of kits is of paramount importance, obviously, but if are prepared to go for scratch-building, I believe it should not be very difficult to reproduce the other relevant types with the information I have. It seems most PR drawings for the standard-gauge Baldwins survive here (though not-yet scanned), including GAs.

 

Regarding the Baldwin archives, it was only with the help of an American who saw my plea in an on-line forum that I was able to locate the references to all the Baldwins here (and in Egypt, for that matter) in the DeGolyer Library. This does not mean that the drawings exist, but Baldwins were very standardized, and the information given in the order books can lead to drawings of similar items.

 

 

I will give more detail in my email answer, and also suggest alternative locations with interesting operating potential which did see the types you mentioned.

 

 

Chen

 

 

 

 

 

[Chen Melling]

While in our email exchange I am trying to show Jan the modelling merits of another station on the Jaffa-Jerusalem line, namely that at Tel Aviv, I feel I still owe him and anyone else interested in Jerusalem or LSWR 0395 engines the picture below:

 

This picture, from the collection of Dudik Cohen of Jerusalem, was taken in the mid 1920s (according the rolling stock and buildings visible). It is a rather rare Mandate-period shot of the station yard in Jerusalem, and the only one I've see of an LSWR 0395 0-6-0 in Jerusalem Station proper.

 

Also visible in the photo are a Palestine Railways H2-class 4-6-2T (recently converted from a WW1 Baldwin 4-6-0) entering the station on the right, and in the two-stall loco-shed in the background the silouhettes of a K-Class 2-8-4T (Kitson 1921/2) to the left and what appears like a Baldwin 4-6-0, known to PR as H-Class.

 

The passenger coach near the left edge of the picture seems to be of the PR standard type (not the former MR or LSWR vehicles left from WW1) and the bogie tank wagon behind the 0395 quite certainly belongs to the Egyptian State Railway.

 

Chen

[Jan den Haan]

Very nice picture Chen!

However I am wondering where they left the turntable.In the 1050 mm gauge days there used to be one in front of the locoshed.On the layout plan from 1927 you showed us before there should be one on the spot where we can see the passenger coach in this picture.

 

On the left track there are two dark stripes.Are these just oil and grease leaking off the loco's or are these the traces of the 3rd and 4th rail which they used for the dual gauge tracks?I remember I have seen a picture of an 0395 on 4 rail dual gauge track on the Jerusalem line (in the journal Harakevet?)

 

Jan

[Chen Melling]

Jan,

 

If you closely observe the location of the coach compared to the turnouts leading to the loco shed you would find that the coach is standing just in front of the (new) turntable, thus obscuring it.

 

Palestine Railways' first shopping spree in the early 1920s also included several 65ft turntables for the standard gauge, at least some of them made by Metropolitan, see works photo below, from the Israel Railway Musum collection:

 

One was installed in Jerusalem, apparently at the location of the old metre-gauge turntable or nearby, but later this was moved to the location shown in the 1927 layout plan and the 1941 photo by John Goggs below:

 

(to the left is PR H3-class 4-6-4T no. 16, converted from a WW1 Baldwin 4-6-0, the coaching rake presents three of the four groups used by PR - from left-to-right are a PR stndard, an ex-MR, an ex-LSWR and another PR standard - also visible on the left is an ex-GCR brake van)

 

I don't know what the dark stripes on the track are, but photographic evidence from mid-1918 shows very clearly that the final stage of converting the Jerusalem Line to standard gauge invovled removal of all narrow-gauge track in the station yard and replacement with brand-new standard gauge track panels. This makes sense, as dual-gauge track was only necessary to allow continuous operation during the conversion process, and upon arrival at Jerusalem this need was eliminated.

 

Chen

 

 

[Jan den Haan]

Very nice pictures again.I am wondering how they could turn these turntables?I don't see any poles as on this picture :

http://147.237.72.31/scripts/topsrch/topapi.dll?Issues&E1&1&067959&THE%81BRITISH%81MADE%81%84PICLASS%84%81LOCOMOTIVE%81FOR%81PULLING%81PASSENGER%81TRAINS%81ON%81%84ISRAEL%81RAILWAYS%84.&d:\\web\\wwwroot\\topsrch\\datafile\\wwwi9248.ansZ*Zfile:///d:/web/wwwroot/topsrch/datafile/92480023.gifZ*Z2KW:LOCOMOTIVEZ*Z101111150001111110111000000000000000000000000000Z*ZKW:LOCOMOTIVE&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&99&99&33&33&99&99&33&33&99&99&99&99&99&99&

 

Jan

[Chen Melling]

Very nice pictures again.I am wondering how they could turn these turntables?I don't see any poles as on this picture :

http://147.237.72.31/scripts/topsrch/topapi.dll?Issues&E1&1&067959&THE%81BRITISH%81MADE%81%84PICLASS%84%81LOCOMOTIVE%81FOR%81PULLING%81PASSENGER%81TRAINS%81ON%81%84ISRAEL%81RAILWAYS%84.&d:\\web\\wwwroot\\topsrch\\datafile\\wwwi9248.ansZ*Zfile:///d:/web/wwwroot/topsrch/datafile/92480023.gifZ*Z2KW:LOCOMOTIVEZ*Z101111150001111110111000000000000000000000000000Z*ZKW:LOCOMOTIVE&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&0&99&99&33&33&99&99&33&33&99&99&99&99&99&99&

 

Jan

 

That's a good question, Jan, for which I do not know the answer yet.

 

Ostensibly, the Haifa Loco Shed turntable (shown in the picture of Israel Railways P-Class No. 60) was of the same type as that in Jerusalem, though I've not yet found any picture of the Jerusalem one in use.

 

When I return to my office next week I will check the makers' drawings for these to search for answers.

 

Chen

[Fat Controller]

That's a good question, Jan, for which I do not know the answer yet.

 

Ostensibly, the Haifa Loco Shed turntable (shown in the picture of Israel Railways P-Class No. 60) was of the same type as that in Jerusalem, though I've not yet found any picture of the Jerusalem one in use.

 

When I return to my office next week I will check the makers' drawings for these to search for answers.

 

Chen

The turntable could be powered by air from the loco compressor (or vacuum from the ejectors if vac-braked); more probably the bar used to lever the turntable around would have been stowed somewhere, and not left standing in the pit. The two chaps at far end of the turntable seem to be working without the aid of a lever.

[dullsteamer]

Looking at the builder's photo, the poles/handles are only mounted on the right-hand side of the turntable, so they wouldn't be visible in the 1941 photo. They appear to be permanently mounted on a bracket, in a fairly vertical position. By contrast the Haifa photo shows the handle at a much lower angle, which suggests the handles are hinged at their base. I've only ever seen one Metropolitan-built turntable, and the handles had long since been removed, but the brackets on it evidently allowed them to hinge. They were also apparently connected to the locking/alignment pawls on either end of the t/table.

 

As for the two blokes on the far end of the t/table in the Haifa photo, they're probably just pushing on the handrails. If a loco is properly balanced on the table, you can usually turn the thing with surprisingly little effort. My home depot here at Waterfall has a 60' Sellers turntable which I've used on many occasions over the years. It never had handles, so engine crews either pushed on the handrails, the edge of the deck or the loco's buffers. Even the electric 75' table at Eveleigh could be moved that way if you got desparate!

 

And while I'm here, this is a great thread- thanks to all the posters involved ! 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Chen Melling]

Oops!

 

I forgot I have a better version of the picture of Israel Railways P-Class no. 60 on the Haifa Loco Shed turntable. It was taken for the Government Press Office on 18.09.1950, hence it is now in the public domain.

 

 

Mark, the hinged handle is, I believe, for locking the TT in place when locomotives get on or off. In the Haifa picture you can actually see the two workers in the background using a much heftier wooden pole, placed in a holder whose counterpart can be seen in the near end.

 

Chen

 

[trisonic]

Turned into a great thread!!! Thank you everyone.

 

Best, Pete.

[brack]

I'm modelling an 18" line in Sudan, close to the eritrean border. Though fictional, there were 2 18" lines built by the royal engineers in Sudan, so my ex-military one isn't that far of a stretch. It is not finished yet, and is home to far too many locos (with many more to come). Inspiration comes from Narrow Gauge by the Sudanese Red Sea Coast, the Hedjaz and Eritrean lines, plus a liking for 18" stuff and colonial narrow gauge railways in general.

 

Since these shots were taken the ground cover has been advanced, the shed is finished bar the doors and interior and the cliffs have had a shadow wash. The entire layout is pink foam - cliffs, bridges, baseboards, whilst the engine shed is built from blue foam backed with mountboard.

 

 

(Viaduct is carved from solid foam, loco is Leo70, a german new build feldbahn loco based on a hartmann original. One of my own 3D printed designs)

 

 

The NS2 has since been sold, whilst the Bagnall is a scratchbuild very much inspired by Rameses, the loco the royal engineers left behind at El Teb which was buried in the sand and rediscovered when that line was relaid to 2ft gauge a couple of decades later (it is called Ozymandias, both for the poem and for it being another of Rameses' names).

 

 

Too many locos - and thats not even all of them! the tortoises are 3D printed - I drew them up in CAD after finding that nobody produced them in 7mm scale (surprisingly). That one is an adult, and there is a smaller one elsewhere. Leo70 (back left), Annie and Sipat (front left and centre) are my 3D printed designs, whilst Ozymandias (front right) and the baby Decauville mallet (back right) are scratchbuilt. The KBScale Ruston runs on 9mm gauge courtesy of my own 3D printed chassis (it was bought as a poorly running 0-14 model). Rollign stock is from FCALV, black dog, unit models, avalon, minimum gauge models and scratchbuilt, with a few kbscale skips regauged as well. Apologies for the quality of the photos (and some of the modelling!) - I normally end up doing little bits late at night so the light is rubbish when I take photos!

 

Hope this doesn't derail the thread too much - the palestinian railways stuff is very interesting, keep it coming.

[Chen Melling]

Brack, this is a very nice tratment of the (rarely modelled) African desert landscape.

 

I thank you for making me aware of the former existence of 18in gauge railways in the Sudan. While Sudan is just outside the sphere of my personal research sphere, it is still very much an interesting subject, and I especially like the white-liveried peacetime main-line (3ft 6in) trains run by the Sudan Government Railway.

 

If anyone is interested in that subject, I can send a scan of the relevant chapter in a (very thorough) 1932 book about the railways of Egypt.