Author: Andrew Grantham

Afghanistan buys two locomotives

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Afghanistan has bought two locomotives of its own, according to a recent report about the Hairatan – Mazar-i-Sharif railway. This is significant because these are probably Afghanistan’s very first mainline locomotives.

Afghanistan is expected to eventually take control of the railroad. It has already assumed responsibility for some tasks and purchased its first two locomotives.
Source: U.S. works to get Afghans on track with rail network, Drew Brooks, Fayetteville Observer, 2 May 2014.

Until now, rail operations in Afghanistan have (as far as I know) always been handled by Soviet and subsequently Uzbek/Turkmen railways locomotives from across the border.

But what are the two Afghan locos?

A recent BBC Pashto video about Hairatan showed a couple of diesel locomotives of a type I’ve not previously spotted in images of Afghanistan (at about 1:10 in the video):

Screenshot of BBC Pashto video showing railway locomotives at Hairtatan in Afghanistan

These are diesel locos ТГМ4Б-0180 (TGM4B) on the left and what looks to be a ТГМ4А (TGM4A) on the right. There are details of the TGM4 family (in Russian) at tgm4.ru

Russian enthusiast website Trainpix lists ТГМ4Б-0180 as having been built by the Lyudinovskiy Locomotive Works (now part of the Sinara Group) in 1990. As of 2013, it was owned by locomotive repair company Remzheldorteh at Yaroslavl in Russia, where it was for sale.

So I wonder if the video shows one (or both) of the two locos which Afghanistan has bought? It would make sense for the Afghan locos to be shunters, as all long-distance rail traffic on the Hairatan line has to go to or from Uzbekistan anyway, so may as well use Uzbek locos.

Unfortunately the number of the second loco in the video is not legible, and I don’t know what the presenter says about them, as I don’t speak the language.

If anyone has any more information about these two locomotives, I’d be very keen to hear from you!

Rail developments in northern Afghanistan

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

An interesting article about the Uzbekistan – Hayratan – Mazar-i-Sharif railway from the Fayetteville Observer: U.S. works to get Afghans on track with rail network, Drew Brooks, Fay Observer, 2 May 2014.

The article is well worth a read. Some highlights:

  • About 4 600 wagons a month use the line between the border and Mazar-e-Sharif.
  • More than 90% of the fuel used by coalition forces enters Afghanistan by rail through Hayratan.
  • The railway from Camp Marmal near Mazar-i-Sharif is a “secondary outlet” for military equipment leaving for ports in Latvia or Estonia.
  • The line is a “major thoroughfare” for coalition military equipment being shipped to Germany or France, but has only carried about 600 to 700 US containers
  • The line is operated by Uzbekistan as part of a bilateral agreement. The Uzbek government – not Afghanistan – collects money from the imports.
  • Afghanistan is expected to eventually take control of the line.
  • Afghanistan has already assumed responsibility for some tasks and purchased its first two locomotives [does anyone know what they are?].
  • The international co-operation that helped create the line is seen as integral to the development of a larger network.
  • “This is the safest place in all of Afghanistan.”

There are also a couple of photos, including a good aerial view of the area around the Friendship Bridge.

Finally: “The idea of a transportation network is a new idea for them,” Hakey said before motioning to a small wooden tabletop. “Back home, you have a lot of interest groups, there are rail fans. Here, you could probably lay out all the photos of Afghan rail on this table.”

Friendship Bridge opening photographs

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

A Russian-language photograph archive with images of the official opening ceremony for the Friendship bridge between the USSR and Afghanistan on 12 May 1982, and associated events including a tree-planting ceremony on the previous day.

The photos include a view of the bridge decorated with large photos of Soviet and Afghan bigwigs – I think they are Brezhnev on the left and Afghanistan’s President Karmal on the right(?).

RAF on the Afghan border

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

(no trains in this post!)

ON THE AFGHAN BORDER

“ON THE AFGHAN BORDER – Air-Marshal Sir John Steel inspects the Bomber Squadron R.A.F. at Risalpur.”

Air Marshal Sir John Steel inspects the line of planes at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base, Risalpur, India. Formation of planes flying over Khyber Pass – problem bordering area between India and Afghanistan. Several shots of the planes in the air.

HAWKER HEARTS – EARLY BIPLANES

Hawker Hearts – early biplanes.

Several shots of the aircraft in flight over snow covered mountains in Afghanistan. RAF (Royal Air Force) man handle plane at base on the North West frontier. Shots of aircraft coming into land at the base. More shots of planes in-flight.

(Hawker Heart should presumably be Hawker Hart.)

Trying to identfy places in Kabul

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Does anyone know the location of any areas in or near Kabul which a British visitor in around 1900 might have called Chardchi and something like Indeptai/Indeppe/Indebbe (the handwriting is hard to read)?

They were possibly near the Kabul River and/or Asmai Heights (TV Hill) and/or the former workshops and arsenal.

Edmund Rich railway and campaign archive for sale

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

If anyone has US$25,000 to spare, there is this for sale at The Wayfarer’s Bookshop in Canada:

Unique Extensive & Historically Important Photograph and Document Archive of Edmund Rich, Summarizing his Service as the Official Surveyor of the British Colonial Forces in the North-West Frontier in 1905-1909, and Containing Excellent First-Hand Accounts of the Bazar Valley and Mohmand Campaigns of 1908, as well as a Detailed Survey of the Khyber Pass for the Planned Kabul River Railway and of the District between Malakand, Swat River and Dir.

It includes “several interesting photos of the working survey team under Rich’s command” and of a “railway camp on the Kabul River, 3 miles from Warsak”.

Another similar – or is it the same? – archive collection was sold in December 2012.

Having recently spent a bit of time in various archive collections (sadly I don’t have US$25k to see this one!) I’m currently writing up some notes to update the webpage about the Kabul River Railway scheme. More information has come to light since the page was first written, and while this has answered a number of questions, it has also raised others. Watch this space!