During September 1997 I went on an enthusiast trip to Syria and Jordan, the tour was operated by David Rodgers of Steam Loco Safari Tours (email at dcrslst@hotmail.com ) who runs a number of steam tours each year.

For many years the only tours to these two countries were operated by To Europe For Steam (TEFs), these tours were pioneered by Bill Allborough or Mr Al-Borough, as he is known by his Jordanian friends! It was due not only to David Rodgers but to the good efforts of Bill and his local contacts that this tour operated so well.

First it is necessary to dispel an oft quoted myth, that of the gauge of the railway, which is 1050mm (often referred to as 'super metre'), the old story goes that the designed gauge was 1 metre, but that the steel sleepers were wrongly drilled and hence the line was built to this rather odd gauge. NOT SO, the gauge was determined by that of an existing French line that already ran into Damascus, plus the original sleepers were wood, not steel (info from 'Middle East Railways' by Hugh Hughes)

The railways of the two countries are quite different; the Jordanian steam power is relatively modern and functional in looks, dating from the 1950s, whilst the Syrian locos date from a more elegant age and include such items as SLM rack tanks and Hartmann tender engines. The Hedjaz railway itself runs through harsh desert terrain with some spectacular backdrops, and of course where the line runs through a town or city there are views of urban Arab life, this is especially so leaving Amman.

The route is probably most famous among westerners for its role in World War 1 and for the activities of Lawrence of Arabia who seems to have spent a lot of effort trying to blow it up!

For those of us interested in things that don't run on steel rails a visit to the area is not complete without seeing the rose red city of Petra (see above photo), or one of the best-preserved Roman towns in the world, the city of Jerash. History is all around you in this part of the world and should not be by-passed or ignored.

Hotels are mostly very good and equipped with the highly necessary air conditioning; mid day temperatures at Petra were 114 degrees F! So remember, if visiting Petra, get up early, mount your horse, and enjoy the sights in the cool part of the day.

David is operating another trip to Syria and Jordan in September 2001, email him at dcrslst@hotmail.com for details.

If you have any comments or would like further information please email me at hotmetal@alancrotty.co.uk

Further reading on this fascinating line: -
Hedjaz Railway by R Tourret, ISBN 0-905878-05-1.
Middle East Railways by Hugh Hughes, ISBN 0-9503469-7-7.

Below is the usual table of links to 12 of my favourite images.

Nippon pacific 82. 9/97	Jung 51. 9/97	RSH 23 Amman. 9/97	HSP 71 Amman. 9/97
Jung 51 at sunset. 9/97	HSP 61 Amman. 9/97	Borsig 162. 9/97	Hartmann 2-8-2 Dera'a. 9/97
Jung 66, Dera'a. 9/97	SLM 130-754. 9/97	Mallet at Cadem Works. 9/97	SLM 013-805 Damascus. 9/97

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