Kabul – Darulaman Tramway

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Kabul – Darulaman Tramway
Passenger train in front of the Darulaman Palace
Passenger train in front of the Darulaman Palace
Route of the Kabul – Darulaman Tramway
Route
Route length: 8 kilometers
Gauge : 762 mm ( narrow gauge )
The railroad on its first official journey (without any government representation)

The Kabul – Darulaman Tramway was a narrow-gauge railway with a gauge of 762 millimeters (2 feet 6 inches ) from Kabul to Darulaman in Afghanistan . It was built in 1923 under King Amanullah Khan .

Historical reports

The December 1922 issue of The Locomotive magazine mentions: "Afghanistan travelers report that a railroad is being laid six miles from Kabul to the area of ​​the new city of Darulaman, and that some of the rail vehicles are being manufactured in Kabul workshops." The August 1928 issue of the magazine states: "The only railroad in Afghanistan so far is five miles from Kabul to Darulaman."

In a more serious accident in June 1928, a locomotive overturned, killing one man and injuring two others. The engine driver, an Afghan from Peshawar , was unharmed.

Superstructure

The railroad track was already washed away during the first rainy days

Shortly after the railway went into operation, the first erosions occurred after heavy rainfall. It quickly became apparent that not enough attention had been paid to drainage when the track bed was being constructed.

Rail vehicles

Henschel locomotive with a retrofitted front lamp, 1930

There were three small 0-4-0 T steam locomotives delivered by Henschel from Kassel with the serial numbers 19680, 19681 and 19691 from 1923. The locomotives shipped to Bombay were towed by elephants over narrow mountain passes through the Hindu Kush.

By the spring of 1930 at the latest, the locomotives had been retrofitted with front lanterns that were either not part of the original scope of delivery or that had not yet been installed.

The car bodies of the passenger cars were probably built locally on frames imported from Germany.

Shutdown

After the tram was shut down , the tracks were dismantled in the 1940s, but the locomotives are still preserved in the Kabul National Museum. Until 2003, the three steam locomotives were set up outdoors in front of the National Museum opposite the Darulaman Palace and were badly rusted from the weather. After the war, the locomotives were in April 2006 by German troops of ISAF loaded onto trucks and shipped under a canopy to protect them from the weather.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Andrew Grantham: Kabul to Darulaman railway. Railways of Afghanistan. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. ↑ The Times, June 19, 1928, p. 15 (Issue 44923, Column G).
  3. ↑ Photo of displayed Kabul loco.
  4. ^ Andrew Grantham: Third loco identified.
  5. ↑ Olaf Ihlau: Hindu Kush: Potentates as supplicants. Der Spiegel, October 15, 2001. See also Spiegel Online .
  6. ↑ Il existe, en Afghanistan, quelques kilometers de voies ferrées. La photographie represente une station de chemin de fer In: Sciences et Voyages. No. 533 of April 3, 1930.
  7. ↑ Werner Müller: The Project: The Darulaman Palace. Retrieved November 1, 2017.

Coordinates: 34 ° 27 '54.8 "  N , 69 ° 7' 9.5"  E