SAFRAN IdeasPlansConstruct 2010

Ideas and Plans to Construct a Railroad in Northern Palestine in the Late Ottoman
Period
Author(s): YAIR SAFRAN and TAMIR GOREN
Source: Middle Eastern Studies , September 2010, Vol. 46, No. 5 (September 2010), pp.
753-770
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20775073
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Middle Eastern Studies,
Vol. 46, No. 5, 753-770, September 2010
iRoutledge
Taylor & Francis Group
Ideas and Plans to Construct a Railroad

in Northern Palestine in the Late Ottoman
Period
YAIR SAFRAN & TAMIR GOREN
During the second half of the nineteenth century, following the development of
railroad transportation throughout Europe, entrepreneurs living in Palestine began
to consider building a railway in the Galilee and its surroundings. The initiatives
which were developed testified to an extensive undertaking with far-reaching
consequences for the Galilee specifically and for Palestine in general. The plans well
suited the processes of modernization which were transforming Palestine during the
second half of the century. While the railway branch to Haifa, inaugurated in 1905,
has already received attention,1 Haifa Station, which was one of the largest and most
important stations, has not received recognition of its features. This article has two
objectives: 1) to present the plans of the entrepreneurs for various routes and their
implementation; 2) to examine the characteristics of Haifa Station. The originality of
the article and its contribution lies in the fact that it is based mainly on Hebrew
newspapers of the period which represent an important primary source for the study
of Israeli history. To the best of our knowledge, no study has as yet made use of
these newspapers for this purpose.
On 1 May 1900, 25 years after Abdul Hamid II had become the Sultan of
Turkey, he announced the construction of a railroad from Damascus to the holy
cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina in the Hejaz. The railroad was especially
intended to ease the way for pilgrims carrying out the religious duty of the hajj -
the pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is required to make. The Sultan hoped
that each pilgrim would glorify the Sultan's name as the 'Caliph of the Faithful',
with the highest spiritual and physical authority over all Muslims. Simultaneous to
the building of the railway, the need arose for a line which would connect the
Damascus-Hejaz line to the Mediterranean coast, for three main reasons: 1) to
provide a railway link for pilgrims who arrived by boat from the Mediterranean
area; 2) to transfer necessary supplies to the main line which were transported by
cargo ship from Europe; and 3) to provide a convenient and fast link to facilitate
exports from the Hauran (east of the Golan Heights), which was one of the grain
baskets of the empire, via Haifa. Until then, produce was carried by camel to the
port of Akko. The landowners, among them the Sultan himself, who owned an
estate in the Jordan Valley, and the residents of areas in which the railway was
ISSN 0026-3206 Print/1743-7881 Online/10/050753-18 ? 2010 Taylor & Francis

DOI: 10.1080/00263206.2010.504556

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754 Y. Safran & T. Goren
intended to be constructed, viewed it both as an important source of employment

and as a means of developing the area.
The railway line from Beirut to Damascus had begun to operate in 1895,2 but
the French, who controlled the port of Beirut and the Beirut-Damascus-Muzeirib
railway line, made it difficult for the Ottomans to use the line and the port. Haifa
was preferred over Akko as the latter had lost status by the end of the nineteenth
century. The economic advantages of Haifa and its geographic location as a
deep-water port for steamships also made it the preferred location. A 161 kilometre
railway extension from Der'a (Edru'i), east of the Jordan River, via the Jordan and
Jezreel Valleys to Haifa created the railway line known as the 'Valley Railroad'
during the British Mandate. Along the railway line from Semakh (Tzemakh of
today) to Haifa, nine stations were constructed, the largest and most impressive of
which was the one built in Haifa in the European style:3 a central structure with
two side wings, built of stone, with a gable and a watch tower. The monument
built at the entrance to the station, with a dedication to the Sultan, added to its
splendour.
The inauguration of the railway line between Haifa and Damascus marked the end
of an obstacle course which had begun at the end of the nineteenth century and
ended at the beginning of the twentieth. The story of the grant of the concession for
the building of the railroad is a fascinating chapter, as is reflected in the Hebrew
newspapers of the time. They mention Akko and at the same time Haifa as the point
of departure for the railroad in Palestine. In our opinion, the explanation for this lies
in the fact that the two cities were located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean
coast and the initial intention was to link them by railroad. It should also be
remembered that most of the writers in these newspapers were then living in Europe
and the distance between Akko and Haifa seemed too small to matter.
The first mention of the intention to build a railway line from Damascus to the
Haifa bay appeared in 1882, when a group of Arab entrepreneurs under the
leadership of the Sursock family, a wealthy family of Christian Arab bankers from
Beirut who had many assets in Palestine, received the concession to build a railway
from Akko to Damascus.
Gottlieb Schumacher, a German Templar living in the German colony in Haifa
was one of the pioneer engineers in Palestine.4 On 28 September 1889, Schumacher
wrote that the Sursock concession was due to expire at the end of May 1883.5 When
the concession owners received notification from the Vilayet of Damascus that their
concession would not be renewed, they hastily organized a delegation within two
weeks which left at the end of May 1883 to explore the planned route for the line.
The delegation included Schumacher, a guard of three soldiers and representatives of
the owners of the concession. In a footnote at the end of the aforementioned report,
Schumacher added,
Plans on a scale of 1: 5000 have been completed. The time required for the
comprehensive work was barely enough. The recurring questions from the
government kept us under pressure, and only with the excellent assistance of
my father (Yaakov Schumacher) was I able to provide the plans to
the concessionaires by 1.9.1883, so that they could be transmitted to
Constantinople.

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Plans to Construct a Railroad in Northern Palestine 155
However, the financial power of the entrepreneurs was ultimately insufficient, and in
actual fact nothing was done.6 Schumacher, however, viewed the idea as a challenge.
He planned a railroad from Haifa to Beit Shean and Tzemakh, which was to
continue up into the Golan Heights and to Damascus via the southern Golan.7 In the
Hebrew press of the time, there was no mention of the Sursock concession,
apparently because it never reached the stage of implementation.
We may learn about the second concession from the newspaper Havatzelet, which
publicized preliminary details about the publication of the concession:
Motran Efendi and his associates are requesting that the high government
grant them a license to build a railroad from Akko to Damascus. According
to a newspaper editor in the capital, the government is favourable to granting
their request, but as another company has demanded a licence as well, the two
requests have been transmitted to a special commission in the War
Department Office to give their opinion as to which of these companies has
precedence.8
A year and a half passed until the commission had made its decision. In May 1890, it
was decided to grant the concession to build a railway to Yusuf Elias, a Christian
Arab from Beirut, an engineer by profession. In order to ensure financing to carry
out the project, Elias joined with the English entrepreneur, J.R. Pilling, and together
they established the Syria Ottoman Railway Company (hereinafter: the Railway
Company).
The newspaper Havatzelet reported the following in 1890:
His Highness the Sultan (may his glory be exalted) has agreed to grant a
concession as a royal proclamation for building a railway from Akko to
Damascus, via Haifa, Banias and Hauran. The concessionaire is Mister Yosef
Elias Efendi from Beirut, and the financier for this project is Mr. Pilling, a
wealthy Briton, the head of a rich company in Great Britain which has
deposited ten thousand pounds sterling into the treasury to carry out the
project. During the six months from the day the concession was granted, they
must begin this project and must complete it within two years. The length of
the railway line from Akko to Damascus is 180 km and with side tracks which
will be built to the Banias and the other cities mentioned, the line will total
280 kilometres. The right to profit from the railway income will be granted to
the concessionaires for 99 years. According to a newspaper editor in the
capital, engineers have already set out from London to Akko in order to
measure the area and to make the necessary preparations for this
important work which will bring great benefit to Syria and to neighbouring
Palestine.9
In this news item, the name of the town Banias is mentioned and it is not clear
whether the main line was to pass through Banias or whether a side line was planned
to leave Banias and link up with the main line in an extension in the direction of the
Hauran. In most historical periods, the route from Sidon to Damascus passed
through the northern Hula Valley and Tel Dan, and then rose up to the Golan via

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the Sa'ar stream and met the road leading from Damascus to Palestine, crossing the
Jordan at the Bnot Yaacov bridge (near the town of Rosh Pina).
The Railway Company fulfilled the conditions of the concession. Three months
later, in the same year, Havatzelet reported: The British engineers arrived in Haifa
on the 28th of July (the 9th of Av) and began their studies for the railway which a
British company is to build from Haifa to Damascus.'10 In the newspaper Hamagid,
issued in 1890, an article was published which was taken from edition 220 of the
newspaper Hamelitz, expressing the great hopes the Jewish settlers had for the 'iron
carriage':
A new Jewish settlement has recently been established near Rosh Pina close to
the Jordan River, near the passages known to the Arabs as Bnot Yaacov bridge
[referring to the settlement Mishmar Hayarden]. ... And another great
advantage to that location is that it is the passage which links commerce in
Damascus to Palestine. A railroad station will soon be built there which will
bring further honour to the place ... And regarding the railroad which will
leave Haifa and pass through Akko, Tiberias and the Hauran to Damascus, a
concession has recently been granted from the Sultan for the work to be finished
in two and a half years. English engineers have already started to travel through
the country, marking the best route for the railroad. They have recently passed
through Yisud Hama'alah and spent the night there. They marked the place and
recommended building a large station near the Jordan passage. So the place will
become a central point for the iron carriages passing here and there between
Haifa and Damascus.11
The Railway Company began work with great momentum. The engineers planned
the route and workers managed to build 8 kilometres of embankment from Haifa up
to the environs of Kibbutz Yagur at the entrance to the Jezreel Valley. In the
Havatzelet newspaper published in 1892 an article was published taken from the
Hatzfira newspaper whose headline was 'The Akko-Damascus Railroad'. It dealt
with the economic aspect of the railroad whose expected contribution to the
development of the country was described as a lofty vision of anticipated
importance:
Recently, the English commercial company of J.R. Pilling has received the
right from the government of Togarma (Turkey) to build a railroad from the
Akko coast to Damascus, providing a great future for Haifa which eventually
will become a major location for export and import of the grain and other
produce of the land. The railroad will leave from south of the Akko bay, first
from Akko and then from Haifa. On the way, the railroad will merge with one
which leads to Mount Carmel and will change direction to the Jezreel Valley
and will travel north via the Jordan Valley to Lake Kinneret to the Bashan
(the area east of the Kinneret to Mount Druze) and on to Damascus. The
length of the railway will be about 120 English parasangs (a measurement of
distance) or 190 kilometres, of which 110 parasangs are in the plain. The
railroads hold the key to the future commerce of the entire country. The
Bashan valley now yields about 200,000 tons of grain each year and a large

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Figure 1. Schumacher's map from 1898 with a comment in his handwriting. From Schumacher's
map collection in the Elyachar Library of the Technion. Scale: 1: 700,000 issued by Verlag der
Geogr Anstalt von Wagner & Debes, Leipzig (with no publication date). Handwritten on the
map is: 'Property of Construction Advisor, Dr. Schumacher.
part is carried by camel to Akko and to Haifa. The quantity of all of the grain
which is exported from these two ports is 125,000 tons. If we imagine that the
railroad will cut the transport time from 75 hours to seven hours and the
transportation charges will be reduced to a third of what they are at present,
and that the railroad will travel along the plain ... and the railroad is part of
the railroad lines which great planners have envisaged as connecting the land
of Syria with Persia, India, and 'Baludistan' (This is probably a reference to
Baluchistan, which is today part of Pakistan.) ... Then all their wishes will
have come true.12
In December 1892, two and a half years after the concession had been issued, a
ceremony took place in Haifa to mark the placing of the cornerstone of the railway
(See Figure 2 for a later photograph of the railway). The delay was primarily due to

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Figure 2. The inauguration of the railroad at the Haifa Station in the year 1905. Photo from
the collection of Dr Yirmiyahu Rimon.
Caifpa (Palestine) - Inauguration du Chemin de fer du Hedjaz
the harassment of the French concession holders of the Beirut-Damascus line. The
ceremony was described by Havatzelet in 1892:
On 13 December, the cornerstone for the railroad to Damascus was laid in this
city (Haifa) at the foot of Mount Carmel. Mrs. Pilling, the wife of the head of
the company which received the concession for building the railroad, had the
honour of laying the stone in the presence of the regional official. All of the
government functionaries were there as well as large crowds of people, about
15,000 in number, who had gathered. After the laying of the cornerstone, the
managers of the construction company gave a banquet for the government
officials and the notables of the city and its environs.13
The Railway Company fell into difficulties and the work progressed slowly. Until the
end of 1898, nothing new appeared about the railroad in the newspapers, but this
period was later described in the newspaper Havatzelet in 1899:
The railroad from Haifa to Damascus which was initiated a few years ago by an
English company, and whose work was suspended for lack of money, is now
being intensively continued by the same company and it will pass through Beit
She'an (Beisan) on the shores of the Jordan, and now is receiving private funds
from his majesty, the Sultan.14
Attempts by the company to raise additional funds to complete the building beyond
the 8 kilometres which has been built were unsuccessful.
The considerations which directed the private entrepreneurs, both the Sursock
family, and the Railway Company, in building the railroad were only commercial

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and economic, and were primarily based on the possibility of exporting the grain
crop from the Hauran to Europe by transferring it by train to a port on the
Mediterranean. The cost would have been far less than transferring it by camel.
Laurence Oliphant writes:
From what was told to me by Mr. Sursock himself a few weeks ago. He said that
the expenditure involved only in transferring the yearly crop from his lands to
Haifa and to Akko totals $50,000 per year. He said this while describing the
need for a railroad which would cross the valley in order to lower the price of
transport. This is something the Sultan is also interested in, as he, too, owns
much land in the area ... Just as I write these things, engineers are beginning
their measurements and checking the route of this railroad.15
In 1879, Laurence Oliphant arrived in Palestine for the first time. He had become
interested in the country and in the possibility of its settlement as a solution to the
Jewish problem in Eastern Europe. Oliphant, an English politician, journalist and a
mystic, a Christian Zionist who was living in Haifa at the time, viewed the concession
to build a railroad as an important stage in the realization of his dream of developing
Palestine and the Gilead. In the plan he formulated, which he called 'The Land of
Gilead', he included the construction of a railroad from the Mediterranean coast to
the Gilead. He recognized the important contribution that the railroad had made to
the economic development of the areas in which it had been built in England and the
rest of Europe.
The 'Land of Gilead' plan proposed a solution to four problems:
1. A solution to the problem of the Jews in the 'Pale of Settlement' (the area in
which Jews were allowed to live in Tsarist Russia) especially after the pogroms
which took place in Russia in 1881-82.
2. The strengthening of the eastern side of the Suez Canal which had been
purchased by British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, for convenient passage
to India, by settlers who had Ottoman citizenship and were loyal to the British.
3. The revitalization of a desolate area in which there was development potential
which would contribute to the economy of the Ottoman Empire and improve the
European attitude to it.
4. Restraining Tsarist Russia's attempts to expand across Asia, the Middle East
and specifically, Jerusalem.16
As far as it is known, the government of Great Britain supported Oliphant's plan,

but did not make this support public.
In 1882, Oliphant moved to the German Colony in Haifa.17 During those years,
Gottlieb Schumacher was also an active resident of Haifa. He had come to Palestine
as a youth with his parents who had been among the founders of the colony. In 1881,
after he had completed his studies at the High School in Stuttgart, where he studied
engineering and architecture, he returned to Palestine. One of his first jobs was the
planning of the railway route from Haifa to Damascus for the Beirut company.18 It
was Oliphant, living near Schumacher, who recommended the planned route to his
neighbour.

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The mention of 'Banias' which appeared in articles in Havatzelet/ Hamagid poses

two questions:
1. What was the route that Schumacher considered for the railroad in the direction
of the Hauran? This route would have had to pass north of the 'Jordan River
passages' through the area of the Banias, as written.
2. What was the reason that Meissner Pasha,19 who in 1900 was accorded the
management of laying the Hijaz railroad line and who constructed the Haifa
branch line in 1903, chose a different route and did not use the plans issued by
Schumacher?
Regarding Schumacher's plan to have the railroad pass through the Banias, no
information has been found except for two references.20 In the journal Harakevet
two locations were mentioned, Hasbeiyeh and Bosra, east of the city of Der'a. We
can only speculate about what the route envisioned by Schumacher was. But the
following conjectures are possible:
1. From the area of the Banias along the lower parts of the Saar River.
2. From the area of the Banias along the remains of the Roman road
going up to the present day Banias-Mas'ade road, on the southern side of
the road.
3. From the area of the Banias along the present day oil pipeline route and from
there west of the villages of Ayn Fit, Zoara and Khirbet Sakikh.
4. East of present day Kibbutz Shamir, north via Wadi Rakhum and from there
eastward in the direction of Kela and Khirbet Sakikh.
5. From Jelabina to Aynat Asmalia, Ayn Marzuk and eastward.
The possibilities presented are based upon the routes of ancient roads, as they have
appeared in the archaeological survey of the northern Golan.21
There is one other possibility which does not suit what was written in the
newspaper articles but that Oliphant mentioned, Wadi Semakh (east of the Kinneret)
and from there to Der'a. Oliphant wrote about this route in his book:
The railroad will pass this river, that is, the Yarmuk, and then make its way
through the fertile plain, rich in alluvium, five miles in length and four miles
wide, to the foothills which overlook the eastern bank of the Sea of Tiberias.
From there, the line will have to climb to three thousand feet along a fifteen mile
route. This is an engineering problem.22
His proposal, which apparently seemed to him the most suitable, was drawn on a
map by Schumacher. The date of the drawing is unknown.
We must assume that each of the suggested routes was possible for the following
reasons:
1. The Sursock concession did not go past the stage of preliminar

investigation.

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2. The concession of the Railway Company did not succeed in implementing more
than the first 8 kilometres from Haifa in the direction of Yagur.
3. More detailed maps of the possibilities have not been found.
What was the reason that Meissner Pasha determined that the Yarmuk was the
preferred solution when he began to plan the railroad in the direction of the
Golan, despite the engineering problems that would face him, such as excavating
tunnels and erecting bridges? Our assumption is that his motives for constructing
the railroad were different than those of the Sursock family, Oliphant and
Schumacher. The first entrepreneurs were thinking of a normal railroad to
transport passengers and cargo. It was to travel up the mountain primarily
carrying passengers and would descend to the ports carrying grain, so that its
principal exertion would be in braking. Thus, the planning would involve an
ascent with a moderate slope which suited railroads of the time and whose
construction would not involve expensive engineering which might make its
operation unprofitable.
In contrast, Meissner Pasha wanted a railroad which would carry heavy cargo -
plinths and iron bars - to construct the railroad from Damascus to the Hijaz. This
meant that he had to plan the rise using a route which had a constant supply of water
throughout the year for the steam engines. On the other routes which have been cited
above, water flow is seasonal which would make it necessary to fill up with water
only once, before beginning the ascent. Thus he chose the route which, although it
demanded a greater engineering effort with artificial structures, excavation, building
water conduits, tunnels and bridges to solve the problem of the slope, there was an
abundance of water from the Yarmuk along the ascent.
Following the 1 May 1900 proclamation by Abdul Hamid II on the building of a
railroad between Damascus and the Hijaz, and in light of the attempts to build the
line to Haifa by private entrepreneurs, which had not succeeded, the Sultan decided
that the Ottoman Empire would build the branch to Haifa. Heinrich August
Meissner, known as Meissner Pasha, a German railroad engineer who had great
experience in building railroads throughout the Ottoman Empire, was chosen to
implement the construction. Negotiations with the Railway Company were
conducted to return the concession to the Ottoman government and these lasted
until 1903. In 1903, a short time after the concession had been transferred from the
Railway Company to the Ottoman government, Havatzelet reported: 'From Haifa it
has been announced that the Yali, the Governor General of Beirut, and many other
government officials came to that city to visit the Haifa-Damascus railroad which is
now being built with expenses paid by the high government, and work has been
completed on 25 kilometres'.23
In 1903, Hamagid announced:
'Soon the new railroad from Haifa will be completed, running from the coast to
the Sea of Kinneret. The length of the railroad is 60 miles'.24
As the Ottoman Empire was experiencing financial difficulties during those years,
Muslim believers throughout the world were called upon to contribute money to the

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building of the railroad. The money flowed in. Most came from contributions and
compulsory loans. The Sultan issued a special medallion to honour the contributors,
with the inscription: 'This is a medallion intended for the patriot who contributed to
the Hijaz-Hamid railway'.25
In the draft prepared by Gottlieb Schumacher as a proposal for building the port
in Haifa and which was signed by him on 5 January 1899, there are two mentions of
a railroad.26 In the attached index, Schumacher wrote: '1 Beginning the construction
of the railroad'. On the right side of the draft, a comment in English states: 'A
deviation from the end of the railway line of eight kilometres'. Thus, it can be
understood that, at the time of the preparation of the draft, the track had already
been laid by the Railway Company.
A Baedeker tourist guide published in Germany in 1910 includes a map of Haifa
drawn by Schumacher in 1908, and the structures of Haifa Station are clearly shown.
North of Stanton St. (today Shivat Tzion St.) three structures can be seen at the side
of the road: In the first, on the west side, the general management of the Hijaz
Railroad in Haifa was located. East of it, the central structure of the station can be
seen, and east of that is a structure which served as storage space. Alongside the
track which leads to the Ottoman pier a row of structures can be discerned, the
largest of which served, and still serves today as a maintenance workshop.
To the right, there are another three structures.27 In a photograph from the air
taken by the British Army on 10 October 1918, a few days after Haifa had been
captured, the station is displayed in its full glory (see Figure 5). In 1919, after the
country had been captured by the British, a general survey was conducted. The
survey map of Haifa, on a scale of 1:10,000 supplies a clearer picture of the station
and its surroundings.
The monument was one of the earlier structures to be built in the station, if not
the first. This is because the monument, which glorified the Sultan, was more
important to the founders than the structures which could be completed later.
Figure 3. The medallion.

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Figure 4. Haifa Station. Photo from the collection of Dr Yirmiyahu Rimon.
On the monument there was an inscription in both Turkish and Arabic. It praised
the Sultan and his exalted undertaking for the believers, pilgrims to Mecca, and it
stated:
God strengthened him and supported his kingdom, and lengthened his life and
his days when he commanded the construction of a railroad from Damascus to
the Levant, may the prayers of God be upon him, for the pilgrimage to the
house of God [...] Then he publicized his excellent order, may God lengthen his
exalted reign, to build a railroad from the city of Haifa to the Hijaz-Hamid
railway.28
On a postcard, 'Haifa (Palestine) - Dedication of the Hijaz Railway', a railroad train

is pictured with freight cars which have been sealed and have been converted to
transport important guests. This indicates that, at the ceremony to dedicate the
station, passenger cars had not yet been installed. Behind the train, there is a row of
flags, and behind them, an imposing two-story building with a sloped roof. This
building still exists and its location enables us to calculate with a great degree of
likelihood, the point from which the picture was taken. Because the central structure
of the station does not appear in the photograph, it can be assumed that it had not
yet been built or that it was in the early stages of being built. More support for this
assumption can be found in another photograph in which the monument is seen
along with the railroad management structure and a large number of railroad cars
and locomotives alongside the place where the central building of the station was to
be constructed but in which there is still no sign of construction.

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Figure 5. Aerial photograph of Haifa on 10 October 1918 (three weeks after the British captured
the city). From the collection of Dr. Yirmiyahu Rimon.
Alex Carmel has written that the Haifa-Der'a line was completed on 15 October
1905. Until recently the meaning of the word 'completed' has not been clarified.29
Other texts have mentioned additional dates on which freight trains were already
moving on various parts of the line.30 A solution can be found in the newspaper
Thamarat al-Funun, issued in Beirut on Tuesday, 16 October 1905,31 describing the
dedication ceremony of the Haifa station and laying the cornerstone for its
structures: 'Today we received a telegram from our special correspondent in
Haifa stating the following: Yesterday, the Sultan's birthday, was chosen to
celebrate the dedication of the Haifa railway branch. Representatives of the Sultan
and other notables arrived in Haifa by boat from Beirut to participate in the
ceremony. Meissner Pasha arrived at the ceremony by train from Damascus via
Der'a'.32
The ruler of the Akko district, Ahmed Arif Bey Efendi, reported, as well:
At 2.30 (yesterday morning, after sunrise) representatives of the Sultan arrived

at the government house along with notables from Akko and Haifa, including
army officers who took part in the ceremony and in the greetings to the Sultan.
Afterwards, the guests approached the site of the Haifa station and celebrated

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Figure 6. The monument at Haifa Station.
Figure 7. Haifa Station in the 1910s. From the collection of Dr. Yirmiyahu Rimon. Photo by
Yair Safran.
Caiffa (Syrie) - Vue Generale de la Station du chemin de fer du Hedjaz

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Figure 8. Haifa Station in the 1930s. From the collection of photos of the Israeli Railway
Museum.
the laying of the cornerstone for its structures (that is, the structures of the
station) and they slaughtered animals. At this time, the Sheikh Abdullah Efendi,
the Mufti of Akko, made a speech which included praise of the Sultan and
greetings ... Other notables also made speeches in praise of the Sultan. After
that, the senior staff, together with many citizens and guests went up to a special
locomotive decorated with panels on which wishes for benevolence and other
greetings had been written ... while Ottoman flags flew above. The locomotive
took them towards Damascus as all present cheered and shouted acclamation in
praise of our lord the Supreme Caliph.33
In the issue dated 16 October, the same newspaper reported:
Today we received a telegram from our special correspondent in Haifa as

follows:
Haifa, 2 October. 'Haifa looked young today in its holiday clothing. The
governor of our district has hosted those bringing greetings for the Sultan's
birthday. The dedication of the Hijaz Railway has been completed and the
cornerstone of the station has been laid under the authority of Field Marshal
Kazim Pasha, together with the other notables, with wishes to the Sultan for a
long reign and for continued strength.'34
The newspaper cites two dates. The first is the date the newspaper was published, 1$
October 1905. The second is the date of the telegram from Haifa, 2 October 1905.
These two dates refer to the same event and the difference between them stems from

178.238.184.242 on Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:29:38 +00:00
the difference in dating according to the Hejira calendar (the telegram) and the Mali
calendar (the newspaper).
Pinchas Pick, in his article about Meissner, points out that he built the main
stations along the Hijaz Railway, and Haifa among them, in the European style.35 In
a photograph from 1930s (Figure 8), with a view from the southeast, a large and
imposing structure can be seen with a non-uniform fagade.36 The fagade of the
central structure is prominent and the eastern and western wings are slightly
recessed. Above the central structure, in the direction of the street, there is a watch
tower, and northward, there is a gable and the edge of a chimney. In the middle of
the central structure, there is an entry door to the central passenger hall in which
there were booking offices. The offices in the two wings and on the second floor were
used by the station managers.37 The area of the northern fa9ade was roofed,
supported on pillars made by the Wagner factory in Jaffa. At the bases of the pillars,
the words 'Gebruder Wagner' can still be seen today.38
About four months after the Haifa-Damascus line was dedicated, Havatzelet
published an article 'The Hijaz Railroad from Damascus to Mecca', summarizing
the history of the railroad construction and its cost:
To unite this large railway line (referring to the Damascus-Mecca railway) with
one of the coasts, the government bought the concession for the Haifa
Damascus line from its owners and began to build and completed the railway
itself. This line whose length is 156 kilometres has already been built and
includes six iron bridges of from 30 to 50 meters, a few stone bridges and eight
small tunnels which together are 1,100 meters in length. The Haifa coast line has
been built but many repairs are still necessary and the expense will be about four
or five million francs.39
When regular service from Haifa to Damascus began to operate, one train per day
went in each direction. The journey took 11.5 hours at the leisurely pace of 25 kph.
During the hajj\ additional journeys were scheduled at up to five trains per day. As
the years passed, the trains became faster and the journey was shortened to 9
hours, 58 minutes. At the end of Turkish rule in the country, due to the lack of
paved roads, the 'Valley Railway' became the main means of transportation in the
north and the most profitable line of the Hijaz Railway, despite the fact that it was
only 11 per cent of the entire length of the railway. Because of the location of
Haifa on the coast and thanks to its rapid development, it was decided to place the
management offices of the Hijaz Railroad in Haifa along with the large railroad
workshops.
This article has tried to present the preliminary attempts to construct a railroad in
the north of Palestine, to investigate them and to understand the stages of
construction of the Haifa station. The importance of the ideas and the plans which
have been surveyed is in the fact that they became a cornerstone in the first attempts
to realize a great vision in terms of the times - a railroad link between the heart of the
Ottoman Empire and the developing periphery of Palestine and its coasts. The
various attempts to bring the project to fruition over such a long period of time and
in such a complex situation testifies to the great importance which was attributed to
it and the large investment of resources to accomplish it.

178.238.184.242 on Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:29:38 +00:00
Figure 9. The Yarmuk Valley Railroad.
lima Toorv iwz
The intentions of the entrepreneurs to construct the railroad for economic

considerations did not ultimately succeed due to the obstacles which stood in its way.
These included, for example, the difficulties mounted by the owners of the French
concession, and especially, the absence of the financial base necessary to carry out a
project of such magnitude.
Despite the fact that the first attempt did not succeed and only a tiny part of the
railroad was built by the Syrian-Ottoman Railroad Company, it was an expression
of determination and desire to carry out the project and to prove that it was possible.
The obstacles which stood in the way of realizing the project were no longer relevant
at the end of the period, when the Ottoman Empire itself undertook to establish the
railroad in Palestine. The 'Valley Railroad' line was considered an impressive
operation in that period, and Haifa station was an imposing symbol of an
accomplishment on an imperial scale. The monuments which were built at the
station, as described in this article, testify to the unique status of Haifa at the close of
the period of Turkish rule in Palestine.
The newspapers of the times provided readers with information about the progress
of the concession or its delay, news about various aspects of the projects and
economic analyses of its costs and its benefits. The findings which have been
presented, and primarily the facts which were presented in the Hebrew newspapers as
well as in the Beirut newspaper Thamarat al-Funun complete an important chapter in
the history of railway transportation in Palestine.

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Notes
The authors wish to thank Dr. Yirmiyahu Rimon, and the Israel Railroad Museum which granted
permission to use the illustrations and photographs in their possession.
1. A. Carmel, The History of Haifa under Turkish Rule (Jerusalem: Yad Itzhak Ben-Zvi, 1977), pp. 149
59; R. Tourret, Hedjaz Railway (Abington: Tourret Publishing, 1989), pp.29-41.
2. D. Kushnir, 'The Haifa-Damascus Railway: The British Stage (1890-1902)', Cathedra, Vol.55 (1990),
pp.89-109 (Hebrew).
3. P. Pick, 'Meissner Pasha: Railroad Pioneer in Palestine and its Neighbors, The Man, His Railroad and
Their History', Cathedra, Vol.10 (1979), pp.108-28. (Hebrew)
4. For information on Gottlieb Schumacher, see: Y. Ben-Artzi,' Gottlieb Schumacher - Maps and Plans
for the Development of Haifa at the Close of the Nineteenth Century', Cathedra, Vol.73 (1994),
pp.82-6 (Hebrew).
5. A. Carmel, Palastina-chronik 1883 bis 1914 Deutsche Zeitungsberichte von der ersten Judischen
Einwanderungswelle bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg (Langenau-Ulm: Herst elung: Armin vass verlang 7907,
1983), pp. 14-22.
6. Ibid., p. 150. Also, Kushnir, 'Haifa-Damascus Railroad', p.89.
7. L. Oliphant, Haifa or Life in Modern Palestine (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben Zvi, 1976 [1885]), p.35.
8. Havatzelet, 22 Feb. 1889.
9. Havatzelet, 9 May 1890. Also, H. Hughes, 'The Haifa-Damascus Railway', Harakevet, Vol.5 (1989)
p. 11 (Hebrew).
10. Havatzelet, 5 Sept. 1890.
11. Hamagid, 6 Nov. 1890.
12. Havatzelet, 19 Aug. 1892. On ideas to extend the railroad to India see: E. Elath, Britain and its Routes
to India - British Plans to Connect the Persian Gulf by Steamship on the Euphrates during 1834-1872
(Jerusalem: Hebrew University, Magnes Press, 1971), p.114.
13. U. Ben Rehav, 'Further Notes on the Syria Ottoman Railway', Harakevet, Vol.6 (1989), p. 19 (Hebrew).
14. Havatzelet, 23 Jan. 1899.
15. Oliphant, Haifa.
16. Y. Nedava (ed.), Haifa, Oliphant and the Zionist Vision (Haifa: Haifa University Press, 1944) pp.21-2
(Hebrew).
17. Ibid., p.36.
18. N. Marchinkovsky, Rain from Clear Skies (Haifa: Society for the Protection of Nature, 1994), pp.37-8
(Hebrew); W. Rothschild, 'Meissner Pasha: German Railway Construction in the Ottoman Empire',
in H. Goren (ed.) Germany and the Middle East: Past, Present and Future, (Jerusalem: Hebrew
University, Magnes Press, 2003), pp. 225^2.
19. The engineer chosen by Abdul Hamid II to construct the Hijaz railroad.
20. S. Avitsur, '70 Years of Railroads in the Land of Israel', The Development of the Railroad in Israel,
Background material for the conference, The Israeli Studies Department of the Kibbutz Movement,
1987, p.66. Also Hughes, 'Haifa-Damascus Railway', p.11.
21. M. Hartal, The Northern Golan - The Archeological Survey as a Source for the History of the Area
(Katzrin: Israel Antiquities Authority, 1989).
22. Oliphant, Haifa, pp.39, 174. His description refers to Wadi Semakh.
23. Havatzelet, 1 May 1903.
24. Hamagid, 30 Oct. 1903.
25. Translated into Hebrew by Yitzchak Abadi (Ini).
26. Ben-Artzi, 'Gottlieb Schumacher', p.76.
27. K. Baedeker, Palastina und Syrien: Die Hauptrouten Mesopotamien und Babylonies und die Insel
Cypern Handbuch fur Reisende (Leopzig: Karl Baedeker, 1910), p.24.
28. Translation into Hebrew, by Yitzchak Abadi. Inscribed in 1319. Translator's note: If this is a Hegira year,
the year began on 20 May 1901, but if the year refers to the Mali calendar, the year began on 14 March 1903.
29. Carmel, History of Haifa, p. 152.
30. H. Poenicke, Die Hedschas uud Bagdadbahn (Berlin: VDI (The Organization of German Engineers) 1958,
p. 11); M. Hecker, Die Eisenbahen der Asiatischen Turkei, Archiv fur Eisenbahnen, Berlin, 1958, p. 1063.
31. The newspaper, Thamarat al-Funun (Art Treasures) was published in Beirut from 1875-1908 by the
Qabbani family.

178.238.184.242 on Mon, 30 Oct 2023 09:29:38 +00:00
32. Thamarat al-Funum, 16 Oct. 1905.

33. Ibid.
34. Ibid.
35. Pick, 'Meissner Pasha', p. 108.
36. From the collection of photos of the Israeli Railway Museum.
37. The imposing structure with three branches, a watch tower and a gable remained as they were until 20
Sept. 1946, when they were blown up by the Irgun Tzvai-Leumi (Etzel).
38. The Wagner brothers, Templers from the German colony of Jaffa established an ironwork factory in
Jaffa in 1890. Also see: R. Kook, Jaffa - 1799-1917 (Jerusalem: Yad Itzhak Ben-Zvi, 1984), pp.204,
230.
39. Havatzelet, 4 Feb. 1907.

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Ideas and Plans to Construct a Railroad in Northern Palestine in the Late Ottoman

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Ideas and Plans to Construct a Railroad

ISSN 0026-3206 Print/1743-7881 Online/10/050753-18 ? 2010 Taylor & Francis

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intended to be constructed, viewed it both as an important source of employment

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Caifpa (Palestine) - Inauguration du Chemin de fer du Hedjaz

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As far as it is known, the government of Great Britain supported Oliphant's plan,

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The mention of 'Banias' which appeared in articles in Havatzelet/ Hamagid poses

1. The Sursock concession did not go past the stage of preliminar

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Figure 3. The medallion.

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Figure 4. Haifa Station. Photo from the collection of Dr Yirmiyahu Rimon.

On a postcard, 'Haifa (Palestine) - Dedication of the Hijaz Railway', a railroad train

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At 2.30 (yesterday morning, after sunrise) representatives of the Sultan arrived

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Figure 6. The monument at Haifa Station.

Caiffa (Syrie) - Vue Generale de la Station du chemin de fer du Hedjaz

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In the issue dated 16 October, the same newspaper reported:

Today we received a telegram from our special correspondent in Haifa as

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Figure 9. The Yarmuk Valley Railroad.

lima Toorv iwz

The intentions of the entrepreneurs to construct the railroad for economic

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32. Thamarat al-Funum, 16 Oct. 1905.

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