Author: Andrew Grantham

Tülomsas delivers five locos to Iraqi Republic Railways

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Tulomsas DH7000B locomotive for Iraqi Republic Railways

Turkish locomotive and rolling stock manufacturer Tülomsas has built another five new locomotives for Iraqi Republic Railways. They were handed over to IRR in a ceremony at Ankara railway station in Turkey on 24 December 2008.

Turkish Minister of Transportation Binali Yildrim, General Director of Turkish state railway TCDD Süleyman Karaman and Iraq’s Minister of Transportation Amer Abdul Jabar Ismail were at the event.

The four-axle FP DH7000B diesel-hydraulic shunting locos are rated at 700 hp, weigh 67 tonnes and are flame-proof for use in refineries.

Tülomsas has now supplied to IRR with a total of 31 locos: previous orders covered 12 x DH12000 1200 hp diesel-hydraulic Bo-Bo locomotives, and 14 x DH10000 of 1050 hp.

See The export attack from Tülomsas, a press release dated 2008-12-24.

Newsweek looks at reviving Iraq’s railways

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Newsweek has a 19 December 2008 report A Railway’s Painful Rebirth by Jessica Ramirez.

There is another video of the Baghdad commuter service – including cab views, Chinese and Turkish built locos, sheep, and motorists with a cavalier attitude to level crossing safety.

… Iraq’s railways, which came to a halt during the war, have reopened two lines in the last two months. There is now a Friday train to Samarra and a commuter train, Baghdad’s first, which makes two round trips a day between the Central Baghdad Station and the District of Dora. Railway workers consider these the first signs of progress for an industry trying to recover from the looting, murders and bombings that ravaged it after the U.S-led invasion. In a larger sense, they also reflect the long-term impact of conflict and the struggle to get a country back on track.

Al Qa’im station returned to civil use

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The railway station at Al Qa’im near the Syrian border has been used as a US military base, but was handed back to Iraq in October.

The Daily Telegraph had an Iraq insurgency: Defending the railroads on October 12 2007, describing activities on the railway in the area.

Warlords Turn Over Camp Al Qaim; Railroad to Open After Five Years of Closure

By Lance Cpl. Joshua Murray
Regimental Combat Team 5

Major Gen. Martin Post, deputy commanding general, Multi National Force - West, tours Camp Al Qa'im, Iraq, Oct. 14, 2008, with Iraqi officials, railroad workers and Marines of Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regiment Combat Team 5. The camp, which had been used by coalition forces since 2003, was turned over to Iraqi officials and will once again be used as a train station. (Photo: DVIDS)

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq – The Warlords of the Jump Platoon, Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5 arrived, Oct. 13, 2008, to a barren camp.

The once bustling base, which Marines of the battalion called home for the first five months of their deployment, housed nothing more than a small guard force, stationary train cars rusting on the rails and empty buildings, which is just how the Marines wanted it.

Major Gen. Martin Post, deputy commanding general, Multi-National Force – West, visited the camp, previously known as Al Qa’im Railway Station 22, to return the base to Iraqi officials following more than five years of U.S. military presence.

“It’s good for me to be back at Al Qa’im,” said Post. “Not only are we turning over here, later this year we will also be turning [over] the Haditha Dam facility. We will also be turning over Camp Fallujah to the Iraqis.”

The railroad here was shut down in early 2003 and was used as a camp for coalition forces within the Al Qa’im region. Despite being a necessary base for coalition forces, shutting down the railway here delayed the use of a vital means of transportation for local citizens and slowed the shipment of minerals from nearby factories.

“The train station will help to transport materials from a phosphate plant, cement factory and transport passengers,” said Insaief Jaseem Mohammed, the Iraqi Railroad chief of region at the renamed Al Qa’im Railway Station 22. “This will help the factories and the passengers. The cost to transport passengers will go down.”

The factories, crippled temporarily by the loss of their reliable and most cost-effective means of shipment, have waited patiently for the return of their railway.

“The functioning of the railroad is really being anticipated in this area,” said Paul Schemel, liaison officer in Al Qa’im with the state department’s embedded Provisional Reconstruction Team. “The phosphate factory employs 4,000 people, and the cement factory employs 2,000 people. They both rely on the railroad to get their supplies and material out to the rest of the country and to get raw materials in.”

The turn over of the base signifies the accomplishment of one of 2nd Bn., 2nd Marines’ key goals during their deployment: ensuring the self reliance of the people in the Al Qa’im region. Work will continue regarding the improvement of the railway with the hopes of increasing resource trading and industrial prosperity in the region.

“Bringing this railroad back onto line is going to be a key factor in the economic development of this region,” Schemel said. “Ultimately it could be a key link between [Al Qa’im], Syria and the Mediterranean, which is something we hope for long term.”

Source: DVIDS News, 2008-10-20

Railfanning in Iraq photos on Trainboard

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

The October 20 2008 thread “Railfanning in Iraq” on Trainboard has some photos taken by ConrailDan in Al Diwaniyah, about sixty miles south of Baghdad, in 2003.

The photos (you might need to register to see them) include a DES3100 loco. These were built in Czechoslovakia by CKD Praha as a tropicalised variant of their T669.

There are also pictures of yellow machines, and a T-55 tank on a flat wagon.

From what I remember the Iraqis had pretty good track with concrete ties. I even got to see one train travel over the rails. It was one engine and about twenty covered hoppers
Source: Railfanning in Iraq on Trainboard

Video shows Baghdad commuter trains

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

All aboard… Baghdad’s train is a December 10 2008 NBC news video about the re-launch of commuter rail services in Baghdad.

With traffic in downtown Baghdad typically a snarled mess, the old commuter train has been re-introduced to combat commuter nightmares. Ride the train with NBC News’ Kianne Sadeq as it dodges goats, cars and weaves through Baghdad.

There are shots of Chinese and Turkish locos in action on the service, which was introduced at the end of October.

I found the video via Commuter trains return to Baghdad at the National Association of Railroad Passengers, who say

Hopefully the system will be successful in the long term and symbolize normalcy and stability for weary residents, as well as deliver benefits to commuters tired of facing the hazards and inconveniences of road travel in the region.

Armoured car on rails in Mesopotamia

Posted on by Andrew Grantham



Indian Pattern Fiat

Originally uploaded by philthydirtyanimal

Philthydirtyanimal has an impressive Flickr collection of “Photos of stuff from The Great War. Photos of stuff from revolutions. Photos of stuff I find interesting”.

This beast certainly falls into two categories. The photo was apparently taken in Mesopotamia during World War I.

According to a discussion on the Landships forum, it is an Indian Pattern Fiat called HMAC Malaya. “There was certainly an Indian Pattern Fiat, adapted to run on rails, in the area! Along with at least two Austin 3rd Series, also adapted for rail work, it formed part of the Railway Armoured Motor Battery. Operated on the line between Basra and Baghdad.”

The Landships forum also has a picture of some motorised rail ambulances.


Oil by rail in Iraq

Posted on by Andrew Grantham

Press release about transporting oil by rail from Bayji to Haqlaniyah in Iraq. The goal is to have two trains of 20 cars each per day.

Trains Deliver Crude Oil to Al-Anbar Refinery

Thursday, 16 October 2008
By Cpl. Sean Coolman, Regimental Combat Team 5

HAQLANIYAH – Trains delivering precious crude oil continue to arrive here despite harsh conditions and obstacles.

Marines and Sailors with Civil Affairs Team 6, Detachment 1, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5 are here to make sure the trains are running at full capacity and arriving at the train station without encountering any obstructions.

“We’re renovating the train station to have it operable so that trains can pass through and deliver crude oil to the offload station,” said Sgt. Nelson L. Neely Jr., 22, a machine gunner with CA Team 6, from Houston. “We go there and check on the project and see how the trains and tracks are doing.”

“We help manage the trains as they come in,” said Staff Sgt. Graham H. Webb, 26, team chief with CA Team 6, from Ripley, Tenn. “We work with the Iraqi Railroad to coordinate the movement of crude oil from Bayji to Haqlaniyah.”

The CA team has spent approximately $450,000 of Commanders Emergency Response Program (CERP) funds thus far on improvements on the railroad itself and railroad station, which supplies the refinery here with crude oil to be processed. The goal is to have two trains of 20 cars each per day, which should support the refinery here and produce 16,000 barrels a day.

“When they bring the trains in, the crude oil gets sent to the refinery and then distributed all around al-Anbar province,” said Webb. “Access to fuel by the people lowers fuel prices and helps the economy in al-Anbar province.”

An issue the railroad has encountered is frequent sand drifts, which can cover portions of the railroad and affect the number and regularity of incoming trains.

“The refinery here depends on the train station to get the oil,” said Webb. “We paid a contractor who uses a bulldozer to manually clear the tracks, and we also gave money to the train station to build a blower to mount on the front of the trains.”

Plans are also in the works for future improvements on an existing oil pipeline to bring in additional oil.

“There are plans to repair (an existing) pipeline (that would) bring in additional crude oil to the area,” said Webb.

On a recent visit to the train station by CA Team 6, Kahlid Kamil Hussni, an Iraqi contractor in charge of clearing the railroad tracks at the Haqlaniyah train station spoke warmly of the Coalition force members here.

“If it wasn’t for (CA Team 6) and the Americans, this project would never have happened,” said Hussni.
Source: Multi-National Force Iraq