PODRÓŻE do POLSKI
by Roelof Hamoen
  Lebanon episode

 

 

Using my new slide-scanner I scanned some slides of Polish export to Lebanon from 1977... Three SP45-like locomotives were found in a shed near the freightyard in Beirout, during my tour to Middle-East in 1997. The locomotives had no duties anymore beacause of the suspension of all the traffic some time before, but the staff was still there and every day the motors of each engine was started to ride a few metres for loading the batteries! Everywhere in the roof of the shed you could see holes from bullets, used in the civil war here. Holes of bullets were in some waggons too. At the time of our visit there were plans to start freight traffic, but as far as I know it didn't happen. A lot of the tracks disappeared under asphalt and even houses... A lot of dust was on the windows of the locomotives as you can see on the pics. A pity we couldn't make photos in the open air. The slides were taken on July 10 1997.

SMTS

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