Archive for the ‘Photographs’ Category

Kabul railway coach photo

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Abandoned railway coach in Kabul

Google’s archive of photos from Life has this one (above) captioned “Deserted Afghan railway car after failure to begin rail system”.

Dated 1938 in the caption, the picture shows an overgrown bogie coach from the short-lived narrow gauge railway which ran for 7 km between Kabul and Darulaman.

The number painted at each end is “2″ - a vehicle number, or a class number? The coach is noticeably longer than one in labeled “1″ in this picture below, which was taken by Wilhelm Rieck in 1923 and is said to show the first train, so perhaps it is a class number, with the bigger coach being second class.

The Life photo shows another coach at the back, apparently a lighter colour, which is presumably the first class car. But is there a third vehicle as well, in front of that one?

This picture below appeared in the February 1930 issue of the German magazine UHU, and shows two coaches plus some wagons.

Train at Darulaman

Amazingly, the locomotives have survived, though only the underframes of the coaches remain.

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Visit of their Majesties the King and Queen of Afghanistan to Swindon Works

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Swindon Local Studies Collection has an image of the commemorative booklet containing an illustrated history of Swindon works in Persian which was produced when King Amanullah visited the Great Western Railway’s works on 21 March 1928.

The Queen did not attend as had been planned: “it was understood that the Royal lady was too fatigued to bear the journey” reported Railway Gazette on 23 March 1928.

The booklet included portraits of the GWR’s Chairman, Deputy Chairman, General Manager and Chief Mechanical Engineer.

British Pathe has some old film KING AMANULLAH IN SWINDON:

Royalty. Amir of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan visits England. The Amir and his entourage visit a railroad engine factory. Dark but interesting footage. The group watches a worker using a gun to spray paint or some sealant on a railroad freight car; the man wears a mask to protect himself from chemicals. The men walk by a locomotive rotating on a turntable outside factory. Interior: they walk through large space w/ many sets of train wheels lined up. Heavy machinery moving another set of wheels overhead. Next; they gather around a finished locomotive. Exterior again;the group walking along beside train. Entering train coach. This visit is probably from 1921 [sic]; when A.K. signed a treaty w/ Great Britain.

I suspect 1921 should say 1928, making it the same as the visit above and as listed by the British Film Institute.

There is also a photo The King of Afghanistan visits the Swindon railway works, Wiltshire, 1928 at the Science & Society Picture Library.

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Photos of the Bolan Pass line

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Some 1890 photographs of the Bolan Pass line in what is now Pakistan, at Railways of the Raj.

On his return to India, William secured employment with the North Western Railway as Engineer, and was engaged in reconstructing the railway on the Bolan Pass to Quetta. This line, seen in the picture alongside dating back to 1890, originally laid along valleys, was often washed away in flash floods, and the only way was to raise the track to a height. The credit of handling this onerous task goes to William, and a station called Edgenuga was named after him.
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The pictures you see here are all from William’s album, which David has shared with us. Thank you David for the superb pictures, you sure deserve a treat !!

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Some photos of Hayratan

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Some June 2008 photos of Hayratan by Mathias Schroeder.

And some March 2007 photos of the Friendship Bridge by Conrad Blything

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An old locomotive at the Kabul Museum

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

Found on Flickr.

Photo of the Day: 4 August 2009

Photo of the Day: 4 August 2009

An old locomotive at the Kabul Museum.

One of the first three locomotives in Afghanistan, imported by King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, is now on display at the Kabul Museum.

A US$ 120 million grant from the Asian Development Bank is due to be used for railway development in Afghanistan.

A feasibility study will be conducted for a rail route connecting the northern town of Hairatan, which borders Uzbekistan, to the western province of Herat. Another route under study will be between Shirkhan Bandar in Kunduz province, which borders Tajikistan, and Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country.

Afghanistan is a landlocked country with no railways.

Photo: Fardin Waezi (UNAMA).

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Photo of displayed Kabul loco

Sunday, May 17th, 2009

“Not something you would expect!” says wandering photographer Bob McIntosh, who took a nice photograph of the plinthed Henschel steam locomotive in Darulaman, near Kabul.

He also has a picture of a grain silo, which shows part of the defunct trolley bus route in Kabul.

A correpsondent called Ramon writes that The engine put on display must be engine no. 19680 or 19681. These two were reported to be kept in the shed for a long time. The 3rd engine has no. 19691, it is the last one in the row outside the museum.

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