Misplaced Pages

#136863

77-499: The bridge is 70 m (230 ft) long, with one main arch being the only one letting through a permanent flow of water. In addition it has six smaller arches, higher up in a second row, presumably to help the flow during flooding of the river. The bridge has voussoirs throughout its vault , differing from well known Mamluk bridges such as the Daughters of Jacob Bridge , Yibna Bridge and Jisr Jindas , which use small stones in

154-526: A Muslim from Bitlis who drowned at Jisr al Majami in October 1308 has been found under the Ottoman floor in the khan. A map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin showed the bridge, named as Pont de Magama , and the adjacent Khan, marked Caravanserail . James Finn wrote in 1868 that the bridge was "in tolerably good condition, with one large and several smaller arches in two rows, and

231-605: A 20 km dike was created for the next stage of construction. Due to the competition from the French railway in Beirut, the port of Haifa became less attractive to international traders and that, coupled with strife within the Syria Ottoman Railway Company, caused Pilling to go bankrupt and lose the permit for the railway. The construction permits were given to another British company, and another ceremony

308-522: A courtyard. It was built of basalt stones, with the gates done in the ablaq style; alternating white and black stones. The khan had only one entry. Not far from the khan Guérin noted the ancient bridge, with a central arch being much larger than the side-arches. In 1882 the Palestine Exploration Fund 's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described a "ruined Khan, or 'hostel', a large square building with vaults beneath, still in

385-616: A deal with the French that would allow a 45% discount in transporting equipment from Damascus to Muzeirib necessary to continue building the Ottoman Hejaz railway to the south. Despite this, the French constituted a monopoly on the railway lines of the area, and canceled the discount. Their trains were also not equipped to cross the sections of railway covered by snow in Lebanon . Several months later, Meissner reconsidered, and decided to construct his own railway line between Damascus and

462-464: A dilapidated khan at the western end... The khan has been a strong edifice, but the stones of the massive gateway, especially the great keystone, are split across, as if from the effects of gunpowder." Finn noted a story of "the wandering minstrels, even now among the Bedaween , sing the songs of the forty orphan youths who competed in poetic compositions under the influence of love for an Arab maiden at

539-711: A good state of preservation." A small settlement in the caravanserai existed until the early 20th century, in the 1922 census of Palestine , conducted by the British Mandate authorities , Jisr al Majami had a population of 121; 112 Muslims, 4 Jews and 5 Christians, where all the Christians were of the Orthodox faith. Following the building of the First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House , the population had totally changed in

616-619: A modern port in Haifa or Acre , and a shipping company. For that purpose, Oliphant purchased additional lands on Haifa's coast, and in the Megiddo area. Despite these efforts, the plans failed—the British government, the only one interested in the project, sent the Duke of Sutherland to inspect it, who refused to help sponsor the project. The Lebanese families headed by Sursock, who wished to build

693-544: A railway from Beirut to the Hauran via Damascus, eventually attaining it. The French began building their line quickly, and finished construction in 1895, while the British worked slowly. At the time of the Beirut–Damascus line 's inception, Pilling's company only managed to build a special port in Haifa to aid in the line's construction. Eight kilometers of standard gauge railroad were laid, between Haifa and Yagur , and

770-533: A train leaving Haifa crashed into a train travelling from Damascus due to an error on the telegraphist's part. The driver of the Haifa–Tiberias train was killed. Following the Haifa extension's crucial success and high demand, 12 stations were added to the line's 8 original in the first few years. In addition, Meissner began planning and construction additional extensions in Palestine and outside of it. The first

847-617: A voussoir forms an extrados , internal - an intrados . In Visigothic and Moorish architectural traditions, the voussoirs are often in alternating colours ( ablaq ), usually red and white. This is also found sometimes in Romanesque architecture . Jezreel Valley railway The Jezreel Valley railway , or the Valley Train ( Hebrew : רַכֶּבֶת הָעֵמֶק , Rakevet HaEmek  ; Arabic : خط سكة حديد حيفا – درعا , romanized :  khaṭṭ sikkat ḥadīd Ḥayfa–Dar‘a )

SECTION 10

#1732793752137

924-538: Is a stonemason 's term borrowed in Middle English from French verbs connoting a "turn" ( OED ). Each wedge-shaped voussoir turns aside the thrust of the mass above, transferring it from stone to stone to the springer's bottom face ( impost ), which is horizontal and passes the thrust on to the supports. Voussoir arches distribute weight efficiently, and take maximum advantage of the compressive strength of stone, as in an arch bridge . The outer boundary of

1001-407: Is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault . Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer . The keystone is the centre stone or masonry unit at the apex of an arch. The springer is the lowest voussoir on each side, located where the curve of the arch springs from

1078-635: Is supported by a Roman milestone discovered nearby, which given the scarcity of other local structures makes it likely that a Roman river crossing existed at the point. Al-Muqaddasi (c. 945/946 - 991), described "beyond the lower end of the Lake of Tiberias is a great bridge, over which lies the road to Damascus ", however, Andrew Petersen believes that Al-Muqaddasi may have been referring to Jisr es-Sidd , further north (by Um al-Junah , near modern-day Degania Bet ). The bridge underwent at least two major repairs during medieval times, by Usama al-Halabi during

1155-422: The 1931 census to a total of 320; 3 Muslim, 316 Jewish and 3 Christian, in a total of in 43 houses. Some of these building were inside the khan itself. 13 August 1939, at the end of the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine , a Jewish " Tower and Stockade " settlement was established, known as Kibbutz Gesher . In the 1945 statistics Jisr al Majami had 250 inhabitants; 230 Jews, 10 Muslims and 10 Christians, and

1232-510: The Samakh / Tzemah station would denote the railway border between the British and French mandates, even though the more isolated al-Hamma station was physically also under British control. The rolling stock left by the Ottomans was divided between the British and French, who had no intention of producing new rolling stock fit for the Ottoman narrow gauge railways. The only trains produced by

1309-542: The Sea of Galilee area. The railway also connected the Hauran to the Mediterranean Sea, turning it into a major export hub. The British Mandatory authorities took a different approach to the railway system in their first years of rule. They were mainly interested in assets that helped strengthen their colonial hold on the region. Few funds were allocated for proper maintenance, and unlike other railroads in Palestine,

1386-465: The new valley railway on October 16, 2016. In the 1860s the deputy British consul in Haifa, Thomas B. Sandwit, proposed the construction of a railway from the city to Baghdad , through the Jezreel Valley , with a possible extension to Damascus . Sandwit sought to create a continuous railway link between British India and Palestine in order to increase British influence in the area, which

1463-700: The 20th century and connected the Port of Haifa with the main part of the Hejaz railway, the Damascus – Medina line. Like the entire Hejaz railway, it was a 1,050 mm ( 3 ft  5 + 11 ⁄ 32  in ) narrow gauge line. The last stop of the Haifa–Dera'a line within the Mandate Palestine borders was at al-Hamma , today Hamat Gader . Planning and construction took four years. The railway

1540-571: The 3 main Hejaz sections: Britain's forces besieged the Ottoman Empire's Mediterranean ports, which led to a lack of basic provisions and maintenance supplies needed to keep the railway working. The lack of coal rendered most steam locomotives inoperable. Attempts were made to mine coal in Lebanon, but the inferior coal there caused damage to the trains. Eventually it was decided to use charcoal , and extensive logging operations were set up by

1617-443: The 9 km already built by S.O.R. In 1903, track laying began between Haifa and Daraa . The biggest challenge was the construction east of Samakh (Samakh–Daraa). The length of this section was 73 km and the height difference was 529 m. Eight tunnels were dug for the section, totalling a length of 1,100 m and 329 bridges and aqueducts . These difficulties raised the price of the Haifa extension by tens of percents. A meter on

SECTION 20

#1732793752137

1694-717: The British High Commissioner in the mandate. The Hejaz railway's ownership was transferred by the Turks to the Waqf , out of fear of a French takeover (the French petitioned the International Court of Justice for this purpose). After the division of the Ottoman Empire into League of Nations mandates , causing the Hejaz railway to be split between British and French rule, it was agreed that

1771-463: The British for this railway were two multiple units from Sentinel Waggon Works and Cammell Laird , imported in 1929. The frequency of trains increased again during British rule, to two daily trains from Haifa to Samakh (one of which continued to Damascus), three daily trains on the Acre extension (Balad al-Sheikh–Acre), and one weekly train from Haifa to Nablus , via Afula . During World War II ,

1848-657: The Damascus–Daraa section had an average cost of 2,070 Turkish liras , while a meter on the Daraa–Haifa line cost 3,480 liras. The line was finally opened with 5 stations in January 1904, between Haifa and Beysan . On October 15, 1905, the entire Haifa–Daraa section opened, with 8 stations within Ottoman Palestine. On the opening ceremony, when the first train left Haifa for Damascus, a monument for Abdul Hamid II

1925-543: The French government's extreme pressure on the Ottoman government to cancel the project, which would compete with the French-owned Jaffa–Jerusalem railway . By 1914, only 40 km were built from Afula, and the line terminated near the village Silat ad-Dhahr (Sileh). During World War I, the southward connection became essential for supplying the troops in the Sinai Peninsula , so from January 1915,

2002-484: The Haifa line through their own railways, the Ottomans wanted to have their own railway line to the Mediterranean. In 1902, the Ottoman authorities revoked S.O.R.'s permit for a compensation of 155,000 Turkish lira . While Sultan Abdul Hamid II 's original plans for the Hejaz railway did not include an extension to Haifa, the construction of such an extension was logical in order to assert Ottoman control over

2079-483: The Hauran, close to the French line. On September 1, 1902, the Damascus– Daraa line was completed, and turned the Hauran from a remote near-inaccessible location into a transportation center with two railway connections. Upon the initiation of the Damascus–Daraa line, Meissner realized that it was still very difficult to transport raw materials to Daraa for the construction of the rest of the Hejaz railway, as most of

2156-517: The Hejaz railway, and passenger traffic consequently increased as well. More trains were put into service on the line, and new technologies were utilized to shorten travel times. The railway was able to connect those locations to Haifa that were physically close, but had no road connection. The only usable roads at the time for horse-drawn carriages were Haifa– Nazareth , Haifa– Akka and Nazareth– Afula – Jenin , which left out places with high growth potential like Beisan and Tiberias . Tiberias . which

2233-765: The Holy Land utilizing the valley line. A notable package was a trip using the valley line from Haifa to Samakh, where the tourists would take a steam boat to Tiberias via the Sea of Galilee and explore the Christian holy sites around the lake. When the line became popular with tourists, the travel conditions were improved in order to make a good first impression to dignitaries and aristocrats from all over Europe. In 1912, first and second class cars were introduced. The increase in train frequency and lack of proper inspection led to numerous railway disasters. On July 7, 1909, for example,

2310-541: The Ottoman authorities initially underutilized its potential as a commercial venue. Over the years however, the potential was realized and the Jezreel valley line quickly became a major competitor to the French Beirut-Damascus line for transferring products from the Hauran to the Mediterranean. Prices dropped quickly both for passenger tickets and freight transfer. However, the Ottomans were able to lower

2387-477: The Ottoman government. The line was meant to go from Acre to Damascus with spurs to Haifa and Bosra . Elias did not have the ability to gather the funds necessary for such a project, and it was agreed that he would buy out Shukri's share and sell the rights to John Robert Pilling, a British entrepreneur. Pilling quickly founded an investment company, which was listed in the London Stock Exchange as

Jisr el-Majami - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-494: The Ottomans to keep up the demand. More extensions to the line were built as a result, for the efficient transport of wood—one from Tulkarm to the forest of Hadera , and another to the Menashe Heights on the slopes of Mount Carmel near Umm al-Fahm . As these operations went on, the number of natural forests in Palestine dwindled, and the authorities ordered the cutting down of every tenth fruit-bearing tree to support

2541-532: The S.O.R. Ltd.—Syria Ottoman Railway Limited. The S.O.R. based its plans on the original surveying work done in the area, and after a financial re-evaluation, the planned terminus was changed to Haifa, which had a modern deep-water seaport, compared to Acre's old shallow one. The planned length of the line, from Haifa to Damascus via the Golan Heights , with two extensions, was 230 km (140 mi). Twenty-seven stations were planned. On December 12, 1892,

2618-479: The Turks quickly destroyed any railway infrastructure and rolling stock they could, so that it would not fall into British hands. By the end of the war, the British controlled all of the Jezreel Valley railway. On October 1, 1920, the British company Palestine Railways (P.R.) was founded, which oversaw all the railways within the British Mandate of Palestine . It was a commercial company, but answered to

2695-519: The branch line got severed from both the Eastern Railway and the Jezreel Valley railway main line, so it could no longer be operated and was dismantled. After dismantling, two segments of the branch line were paved, and remain in use as rural roads: between Bizzariya and Ramin , and from Shavei Shomron passing north of Zawata to a junction with road 5715. The disused railway station in Jenin

2772-679: The bridge of Mejama'a." The PEF 's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) noted that the name was related to the "Bridge of the Gatherer", which became the As-Sirāt . The bridge played a strategic role in World War I ; it was captured by the 19th Lancers during the Capture of Afulah and Beisan . When the Rutenberg concession was given, it was defined as the area around Jisr Majami. The bridge

2849-674: The cheap transport of goods from the Hauran , also owned by the family, to the Mediterranean Sea for export. On May 16, 1883, Sir Laurence Oliphant wrote in the New York Sun that he had met with Mr. Sursock regarding the construction of a railway in the Jezreel Valley, and claimed that he could see surveying work as he wrote, from his home in Daliyat al-Karmel . Oliphant founded a company along with Gottlieb Schumacher , one of

2926-432: The construction continued, reaching Nablus in the spring of 1915. At this point, the original plan for a southward line to Jerusalem was no longer relevant, and instead, from a junction at Mas'udiya near Sebastia the construction continued westward to Tulkarm and from there southward, reaching Lydda in the summer of 1915, and Beersheba in October 1915. In the same year, the existing railway between Lydda and Jerusalem

3003-536: The construction of a railway from Haifa to the Fertile Crescent . His plans constituted the basis for the actual construction years later. Sir Laurence Oliphant of Britain, who hoped to facilitate Jewish settlement in the Gilead , proposed the creation of a railway from Haifa to that region, which would then branch out to Aqaba in the south, and Damascus in the north. From Aqaba, he hoped to further extend

3080-545: The contractor George Pauling started work on the line, after an inaugural ceremony. Work on the line was opposed by the Chémin de Fer Damas–Hama et Prolongements (DHP), a standard gauge railway that carried freight between Damascus and Hama . The DHP did everything in its power to prevent the construction of the line in order to avoid competition. At the same time, the DHP petitioned the Ottoman government for its own permit to build

3157-428: The crest of the hill, at the foot of which large masses of volcanic rock or tufa were lying about, as if shaken from the solid mass by the spasm of an earthquake. The khan had evidently been a solid structure and destroyed by some convulsion, so scattered were the thick and ponderous masses of masonry.” In 1875 Victor Guérin visited, and noted the remains of the deserted khan. The khan was two stories high, built around

Jisr el-Majami - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-529: The earlier British plans. Originally, the line was meant to climb the Golan Heights next to the Samakh Stream , although later it was decided that the Yarmouk River would make a better route. In 1902, the Ottomans revoked the construction permit of the British company S.O.R., compensated them, and immediately started construction. The first phase was to narrow the gauge to the Ottoman standard in

3311-561: The eve of the Israeli declaration of independence , May 14, 1948, when Jewish forces destroyed a bridge on the Jordan River , next to Gesher . The original plan was to destroy two road bridges but the soldiers spotted the railway bridge and decided to blow it up as well. The railroad was thus rendered inoperable, and what remained of it was transferred to Israel Railways upon the company's founding. The company made minor repairs along

3388-516: The former railway station, the activists were eventually allowed to settle 8 km to the south of it, establishing Kedumim . The Jezreel Valley railway was highly profitable and became the most worthwhile project of the Hejaz railway . Previously isolated localities such as Afula , Tiberias and Beit She'an began to develop and tourism increased in Tiberias, the Jordan River , and the rest of

3465-630: The founders of the German Colony of Haifa, and Georg Agger of Jaffa , which would find investors for attaining a construction permit from the Sursock family, and the construction itself. On June 13, 1883, early surveying work was completed and Oliphant began to look for investors, both in Britain and Germany. In a letter he wrote to the Duke of Sutherland , Oliphant claimed that the construction of

3542-425: The frequency reached its peak, at 6 daily trains from Haifa to Samakh and back. The tourist packages were also improved, now also including flights on Imperial Airways aircraft, which could land in the Sea of Galilee . After the perceived British betrayal of Jewish interests after World War II , leaders of various Jewish underground organizations in Mandate Palestine founded The Jewish Resistance Movement . One of

3619-425: The line was extremely important both politically and economically, that it would eventually serve as the connection between Asia Minor , the Fertile Crescent , and Egypt , and expressed fear that the line would be under sole German ownership. Oliphant and his peers advertised the line as extremely profitable for investors, estimating the gain at 34%, and promising additional permits to construct additional extensions,

3696-544: The line, which allowed trains to travel between Haifa and Afula. Service on the new shortened line was terminated in 1949. Two main reasons were the lack of financial feasibility, and the non-standard narrow gauge of the railway. In 1950-51, the line was used occasionally for tourism. Its last use was registered in September 1951, for training exercises by the Israel Defense Forces . In 1954, the rolling stock

3773-411: The materials came with ships via the Mediterranean. Meissner decided in 1902 that there was no choice but to build an extension connecting the new railway to a Mediterranean port nearby. Haifa was chosen for its already developed port, and because surveying, planning and some construction work for a railroad had already been done on the proposed route. Construction plans for the valley train were based on

3850-455: The other main user of the railway, which allowed it to build new villages in relatively remote areas in the Jezreel Valley . The Jewish Tower and stockade organization extensively used the line to quickly bring vast amounts of construction materials to various sites to quickly establish new homes. This prompted the quick growth of the Jewish population in the area, which also used the railway as

3927-425: The prices more because they did not have to pay dividends and did not require as high a profit. This caused the valley line to become favorite among exporters in the Hauran, to the point that many of them preferred to send their goods through the valley line to Haifa and ship them to Beirut, rather than send them directly to Beirut over the French railway. The valley line quickly became the most profitable section of

SECTION 50

#1732793752137

4004-589: The railway for their personal needs, also failed to raise the necessary funds. At the end of 1884, the Sursocks' permit expired, and the 50,000 francs deposited by Oliphant's company to the Sultan Abdul Hamid II were also lost. On May 13, 1890, the Ottoman authorities gave a permit to build a railway line from Haifa to Damascus to the public servant Shukri Bey and a Christian Lebanese engineer and effendi named Yusuf Elias, both of whom worked for

4081-459: The railway to the Suez Canal . In his visit to Palestine in 1883, Oliphant changed his plans to what later became the valley railway. In 1882, a group headed by the aristocratic Sursock family attained a permit for the construction of a railway in the Jezreel Valley . The family sought to build a railway there to raise land value around the line, which was mostly family-owned, and to enable

4158-465: The reign of Saladin (1174–93), and one by a "Jamal ad-Din" in 1266–67. Shihab al-Umari , writing in the mid 1300s, wrote of a renovated stop en route from Beisan to Irbid called Jisr al Mujami, also knows as Jisr Usama, after Saladin's emir who repaired it. A manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France states that it was built by Mamluk sultan Barquq (r. 1380s–90s). An epitaph of

4235-688: The resistance's first operations was the Night of the Trains (November 1, 1945), in which 153 points along various railways were damaged. The main damage to the valley line at a railway switch near the Afula station. Rehavam Ze'evi participated in this bombing. In June 1946, as part of the Night of the Bridges , the Palmach blew up one of the main bridges on the valley line, between Samakh and al-Hamma, which

4312-506: The section between the Hauran and the Mediterranean Sea , and to compete against the French-owned Beirut–Damascus railway. German engineer Heinrich August Meissner who oversaw the construction of the Hejaz railway, considered the planned section immediately south of Damascus (Damascus– Muzeirib ) to be useless, because of the French railway using the same route. After failing to acquire the French railway lines, Meissner signed

4389-485: The severe lack of modern infrastructure in the Middle East during the war, the few railways in the region were of vital strategic importance to the Ottomans. The valley train, as well as the entire Hejaz line, was quickly taken over by the army and civilian use was reduced to a bare minimum. The Hejaz railway's headquarters were moved to Haifa, closer to the front, and military engineers were placed in command of each of

4466-431: The total land area was 458 dunams. A total of 15 dunams were used for citrus and bananas , 274 dunums were used for cereals, while 169 dunams were classified as uncultivable land. The damaged kibbutz was evacuated after the fighting during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and rebuilt approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) to the west, at its present location. Voussoirs A voussoir ( / v u ˈ s w ɑːr / )

4543-447: The valley railway was not converted to standard gauge. It therefore slowly became underserviced and obsolete. Nevertheless, due to the use of coal, which was imported from Britain, certain British companies supported the line's continued operation. In the 1920s, the railway's main purpose became the transport of raw materials for construction. The first power station in Palestine, a hydroplant built in Naharayim by Pinhas Rutenberg ,

4620-420: The vault of their arches. The bridge shows at least two major phases of construction; a possibly Roman-origin lower level and the upper pointed arches likely from the medieval period. Some sources state that the bridge was built in Roman times, and others that it was built in the Middle Ages. A 1925 letter written by the Palestine Department of Antiquities wrote that the bridge was first built in Roman times. This

4697-415: The vertical support or abutment of the wall or pier . The keystone is often decorated or enlarged. An enlarged and sometimes slightly dropped keystone is often found in Mannerist arches of the 16th century, beginning with the works of Giulio Romano , who also began the fashion for using voussoirs above rectangular openings, rather than a lintel (Palazzo Stati Maccarani, Rome, circa 1522). The word

SECTION 60

#1732793752137

4774-424: The war effort. In the late Ottoman period a railway station was established near Iraq al-Manshiyya , however, this station was destroyed in World War I . In spring 1918, the tide was turned against the Ottomans when British forces were able to take control of some key points on the railway along the Yarmouk River , and cut off the Haifa extension from the rest of the Hejaz railway. When defeated in September 1918,

4851-445: Was 130 meters in length. As a result, the Jezreel Valley railway was cut off from the rest of the Hejaz line. On March 2, 1948, Haganah forces carried out bombing raids on railways in Mandate Palestine to disable them and prevent the quick transport of supplies and personnel by the Arab armies about to invade the Yishuv . The raid on a bridge near Geva , on the 44th km of the line, shut it down completely. The next major hit came on

4928-413: Was a railroad that existed in Ottoman and British Palestine , reconstituted as a modern railway in Israel in the 21st century. It runs from the Mediterranean coast inland along the length of the Jezreel Valley . The historical line was a segment of the longer Haifa–Dera'a Line , which was itself a branch of the larger Hejaz railway . The historical Haifa–Dera'a line was built at the beginning of

5005-427: Was built parallel to it in the early 20th century to carry to Jezreel Valley railway , opened in May 1904, and a road bridge was built in the early 1920s. At 246 m (807 ft) below sea-level, it was the lowest point ever reached by railway anywhere in the world. Around 1365 a khan ( caravanserai ) was built at Jisr al Majami. In 1849, William F. Lynch described the ruins of the khan as “A ruined khan crowned

5082-478: Was completed in 1912 and travelled from Daraa to Bosra in Syria, on a new 33 km route. In the end of 1912, an extension to Acre was completed from the Balad al-Sheikh station, totalling 17.8 km. The most important extension was a connection between Afula and Jerusalem . Its construction started in 1912, and the first 17 km section was completed at the beginning of 1913, connecting Afula with Jenin. Meissner's full plan never bore fruit however, because of

5159-485: Was converted from metre gauge to 1,050 mm gauge, to enable interoperation with the new Afula–Beersheba railway. Its section between Tulkarm and Lydda became known as the Eastern Railway and remained in active use until 1969, even though the rest of the Afula–Nablus–Tulkarm branch line ceased operation in the 1930s. Many more minor extensions were built, both under Ottoman and British rule, mostly close to Haifa, and served mainly industrial and military needs. Due to

5236-410: Was demolished during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. The remains of the railway station at Mas'udiya, originally the three-way junction on the Afula–Nablus–Tulkarm branch line, was the location chosen by Gush Emunim for the first Israeli settlement in Samaria . Evicted from Mas'udiya by the Israel Defense Forces several times between July 1974 and December 1975, and each time reassembling at

5313-417: Was dismantled and sold. An old steam locomotive and a single train car were the only remains, and are displayed at the Israel Railway Museum . A short section of the railway from the Haifa East rail yard to Nesher continued operating past 1951, having been converted by the British in the 1920s to dual gauge in order to allow standard gauge equipment to reach the Nesher cement factory, although this section too

5390-402: Was eventually abandoned in the 1990s. Freight service on the branch line between Tulkarm and Nablus, stopped during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine , recommenced in November 1944, the principal traffic being cereals from the ports to the mills at Nablus; the service was ultimately cancelled in July 1946 due to lack of demand. Following the Jordanian annexation of the West Bank in 1948,

5467-490: Was held announcing the resumption of works in March 1895. The new British contractor, Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company , restored the Jezreel dike and construction resumed. However, in 1900, the Ottomans began building the Hejaz railway , and saw the opportunity to convert the future Haifa–Damascus line to an extension thereof. In addition, because of financial disputes between the Ottoman authorities and DHP, and DHP's delaying of transporting construction materials for

5544-460: Was inaugurated on October 15, 1905, and regular services operated on it until 1948. Despite several renewal attempts, the line lay dismantled for decades until 2011 when construction started on a large-scale project to build a new 1,435 mm ( 4 ft  8 + 1 ⁄ 2  in ) standard gauge railway from Haifa to Beit She'an along roughly the same route as the historic valley railway. Israel Railways began passenger service on

5621-458: Was mainly built from materials transported by trains using the valley railway. For that purpose, a minor extension was constructed from the main route to the construction site. In 1932, the railway was used to transport the concrete needed to build the Mosul-Haifa oil pipeline —38,000 tons of concrete were transported and laid on a 200 km route. The Jewish sector in Mandate Palestine was

5698-520: Was previously completely isolated in terms of transportation, being several days' travel from Haifa, was now served by the Samakh station, which employed an ad hoc ferry that travelled a short distance in the Sea of Galilee . After World War I , a road connection was also made between Samakh and Tiberias, cutting travel time from Haifa to a few hours. The railway also had tourist potential. In 1906, Thomas Cook & Son travel agency advertised trips to

5775-618: Was spared during the 1946 Night of the Bridges , but was damaged during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War , primarily caused by the explosion of mines placed on the parallel 1920s road bridge. The bridge was renovated in 2014 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities together with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities and the Israel Antiquities Authority . A railway bridge

5852-563: Was under Ottoman rule. In 1865, Dr. Charles Franz Zimfel , a German-American doctor, engineer, follower of John Wroe and Zionist, proposed the creation of a railway from Jaffa to Jerusalem , which would continue to Jericho and end in Damascus, with an extension to Haifa through the Jezreel Valley (see Jezreel Valley railway). Zimfel surveyed the territory and became one of the first railway planners in Palestine. Claude R. Conder , in his extensive Survey of Western Palestine , proposed

5929-487: Was unveiled in Haifa, which stands to this day. The monument was built in Turkey at least two years before this ceremony, and was brought to Palestine by sea. With the construction of the valley train, it served mainly for delivering construction materials from the Haifa port for the continuing work on the main Hejaz railway line. The Hejaz railway was built for ideological, religious, and to a lesser extent military needs, and

#136863