Photo of the day

[pjgh]

Deserted Rooms? Ghost town formerly known as Halifax

Love the frontage ... so retro, it's back and yet gone again.

 

[Greybeard]

Not posted in this thread before but I thought I might try to hone my photographic chops a little during lockdown, This little chap appeared in my front garden yesterday. It was a miserable grey light so I was quite surprised that I got some brightness ( improved slightly in post-production). Once he sensed I was there he seemed to just go into shock and stood in this pose for ages.



Taken through a window with Nikon 1 J1, 30-100mm. Auto setting.

 

[Manstein]

Back home through the lanes....

 

[Digimonkey]

Off road in Saudi Arabia - following the route of the former Hejaz railway. Sorry for the crap quality - sent to me yesterday - over limited satellite bandwidth - by my very close friend.



Ooft - that is the middle of nowhere - if you didn't know what you were doing - you'd die. Proper navigational skills are essential - the supply of water - even more so - you can only carry so much in jerry cans - in the back of the truck. In this case - some sort of Toyota Land-cruiser - I would say from the tracks - with specialist sand tyres. The vehicle - has all sorts of equipment strapped on - sand plates - many shovels - sand anchors - whatever the fuck they may be. From what he tells me - never slow down - that is when your vehicle sinks.



The point of the exercise - finding one of the relics of T.E Lawrence on the Hejaz railway - a locomotive derailed - by a tulip - if you don't get the tulip reference - go read - 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' - I'm not going to make it easy for you - shit doesn't rust in the desert. Granted - he worked with other British officers - Stewart Newcombe - principally - and with allied Indian and Egyptian troops - and not forgetting - most importantly - the locals allied to Sharif Hussein bin Ali - who had been having a pop at the railway since its inception. Their most successful tactic - was to refuse the supply of camels to the Ottomans - job done - how the fuck else are you going to deliver raw materials in the desert? At that time and place - modern transport - was a means of dominance. The Turks had to stop laying wooden sleepers - and go onto iron - with all the hassle that implies - because they - the locals - dug them up and used them as firewood - why wouldn't you - in the desert? Generally deserts are short of firewood. We should all pay attention to history. Unless - you take the approach of Churchill - History will be kind to me for I intend to write it - yours - I.

@Missoni @Scotshave

 

[Missoni]

View attachment 61614

Off road in Saudi Arabia - following the route of the former Hejaz railway. Sorry for the crap quality - sent to me yesterday - over limited satellite bandwidth - by my very close friend.

View attachment 61615

Ooft - that is the middle of nowhere - if you didn't know what you were doing - you'd die. Proper navigational skills are essential - the supply of water - even more so - you can only carry so much in jerry cans - in the back of the truck. In this case - some sort of Toyota Land-cruiser - I would say from the tracks - with specialist sand tyres. The vehicle - has all sorts of equipment strapped on - sand plates - many shovels - sand anchors - whatever the fuck they may be. From what he tells me - never slow down - that is when your vehicle sinks.

View attachment 61617

The point of the exercise - finding one of the relics of T.E Lawrence on the Hejaz railway - a locomotive derailed - by a tulip - if you don't get the tulip reference - go read - 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' - I'm not going to make it easy for you - shit doesn't rust in the desert. Granted - he worked with other British officers - Stewart Newcombe - principally - and with allied Indian and Egyptian troops - and not forgetting - most importantly - the locals allied to Sharif Hussein bin Ali - who had been having a pop at the railway since its inception. Their most successful tactic - was to refuse the supply of camels to the Ottomans - job done - how the fuck else are you going to deliver raw materials in the desert? At that time and place - modern transport - was a means of dominance. The Turks had to stop laying wooden sleepers - and go onto iron - with all the hassle that implies - because they - the locals - dug them up and used them as firewood - why wouldn't you - in the desert? Generally deserts are short of firewood. We should all pay attention to history. Unless - you take the approach of Churchill - History will be kind to me for I intend to write it - yours - I.

@Missoni @Scotshave

...terrific picture, the engine somehow makes the history real and so near, almost within touching distance...it has somehow reminded me, as if I needed reminding how all too brief life is...Mono no aware...

 

[Manstein]

I visited the railway yards in Damascus 15 years ago. The yards were packed with rusting engines and rolling stock much of which had been used on the Hejaz line including a railcar the Kaiser had used prior to WW1. The Germans engineered a lot of the line and prior to the war it was possible to travel from Berlin to Medina by rail. At the time I tried to get the Taurus express back to Istanbul but the line was closed for repairs and under present circumstances wont be open for a long time. I'll see if I can find some of the pictures.

 

[Digimonkey]

I'll see if I can find some of the pictures.

Please do - I would be fascinated to see them. I had an opportunity to go to Syria about the same length of time ago - which I couldn't take up - something I bitterly regret - it has been bombed to rat shit recently - obviously. You'd be lucky if you could find two bricks standing on top of each other these days. The Ottoman - German thing is interesting - in a trivial sense - that is why you can drink damn good lager in Istanbul - in a less trivial sense - have you ever read 'Greenmantle' by John Buchan - fiction - but largely based on facts. The attempt to stir up jihad in the East - as a new front - it is great - the Kaiser hoped that the flames would spread to India. Yours - I.

@Missoni @Scotshave

 

[Manstein]

The greatest remnant of German influence in Istanbul is Haydarpasa station on the Asian bank of the Bosphorus I dont think its in use at the moment as I think theres a rail tunnel under the Bosphorus. I've been to Istanbul several times and on my earlier visits can remember a rail ferry in operation.

Sorry you missed the Syrian trip my visit was memorable visiting Damascus, Palmyra and Aleppo the high point was Crac de Chevalier a huge crusader castle near Homs. I saw the ruins at Palmyra since blown up by the rebels and suffered a mild stoning by locals in the town apparantly it was traditional to stone strangers in case they were demons! It was impossible to spend money if you queued for ice cream or a drink it was handed to you and either no charge or somebody in the line had paid as you were a guest of the country. When my bus broke down in the desert myself and two Danes were invited into a Sheiks tent and plied with Sherbets, roast lamb and heavy duty massage by the larger of his wives, reclining on huge cushions until the bus was fixed. Straight out of the Arabian Nights!!