The Western Oasis Lines or Western Oasis Railway (W.O.R.) built and operated a 125 miles (200 km) long
narrow gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
with a gauge of 2 feet 6 inch (762 mm) in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
History
The railway line was constructed under the supervision of
Major Burton, who had been the surveyor of the
Haifa-Baghdad railway. It was laid at a rate of 5½ miles per day (9 km per day), and was inaugurated in 1907. It went from
Oasis Junction to
Kharga Oasis
The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or ...
.
Initially, there were two trains per week in either direction. They had an observation car and a saloon car with leather covered seats and windows tinted in blue. One or several locomotives were supplied by
Nasmyth, Wilson & Co. in the time from 1922 to 1937.
From 1974 to 1989, a new 375 miles (680 km) long standard gauge railway line was built from
Safaga
Port Safaga, also known as Safaga ( ar, سفاجا ', ), is a town in Egypt, on the coast of the Red Sea, located south of Hurghada. This small port is also a tourist area that consists of several bungalows and rest houses, including the Safaga ...
at the
Red Sea
The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...
via
Qena
Qena ( ar, قنا ' , locally: ; cop, ⲕⲱⲛⲏ ''Konē'') is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; ...
to
Kharga Oasis
The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or ...
. In and around Kharga are the underground Tartour mines, in which phosphates were planned to be mined. However, the world-price for phosphates had dropped so much during the unusually long construction period that mining was not profitable anymore, after the line had been opened.
[Nagdy M. Fara]
U, Th and REEs in Egyptian phosphate rocks.
/ref>
Literature
* A.E. Durrant, A.A. Jorgensen und C.P. Lewis: ''Steam in Africa.'' Hamlyn, London 1981.
References
External links
* Iain Alexander
Bahariya Military Railway 1916.
18. Dezember 2015.
* Aline Kazandjian
2 ft 6 in gauge railways in Egypt
Railway lines in Egypt