Middle East - Not Astran!

Looking at the state of the 89, it was quite possibly driven by Sid Philpott who never bothered with how clean his lorry was

Nor did I. But I always kept my glasswork pristine: ie mirrors, side windows and light lenses. :wink:

Sid never bothered, the windows were discoloured from the inside by his permanently lit pipe, but he was one good bloke who would always help others on the side of the road

Hicks subby?

Türkiye, Syria and Jordan have pledged to restore and modernise the Hejaz Ralway, a project officials and experts say could carry not only trains, but also the promise of economic revival and regional reconciliation.

Still partially running in 1975, seen here from the Sammy Sirissi parking area in Damascus

I visited the Hejaz railway station in Damascus in 2008. It had been turned into a railway museum, complete with a loco or two. It was a good little museum but I don’t know how well it has survived the turmoil of the last 17 years.

I paid a visit when it was still running, saw the arrival of a train (I think from Amman) both the train and the station had seen better days many years before.
I remember the massive Arabian style brass lamp in the foyer, I was told it was one of the largest ever made.
Also saw the tracks on the line over the mountain to Beirut, it used a rack-and-pinion cog system to overcome the gradiants.

1 Like

I think this was driven by a chap that us

ed to post on here. Can’t remember his bloody user name :neutral_face:

Hi,

Not a specialist of the ME run, but maybe this cine archive might interest some of you:

1 Like

The Mercedes was supplied by Sparshatts of Kent Ltd. Looks to be parked on the Eurolink Industrial Estate in Sittingbourne.

1 Like

Thanks for posting this :+1: