International Railroad Discussion > A Few from Iraq

An article in yesterday's London Times reported on the first train in eleven years having arrived in Mosul, Iraq.  It made me reminisce about my time in charge of the railway there and the fact that when I was there in 2003-4 the entire line from the Syrian border to Basrah was open and Mosul was a key operating point.  Here are three photos from back then.

1.  IRR 2747, Mosul 11-22-03.  This was a Chinese-built locomotive only a couple years old at the time, one of a large order placed under the Oil-for-Food Program that at the time represented the majority of operational units.  The train was the inaugural through overnight service from Aleppo (Syria) to Mosul.  Unfortunately the service which was intended to be extended to Baghdad lasted only a short time before security became an issue. 

2.  IRR 2559, Bayji 4-3-04.  An EMD locomotive built under license by Henschel in Germany.  These units were the clear favorites of the crews though a lack of spare parts had most of the series sidelined.  This particular unit had been one of three assigned exclusively to Saddam's personal train and thus well-maintained.

3.  IRR 2342, Mosul 11-23-03.  One of a small handful of still-operational 2,000hp Montreal-built Alco units.  I was surprised to find this one switching Mosul yard.

The Iraqis were (and I'm sure still are) good railroaders.

Gordon
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/21 07:32 by gbmott.

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Sweet! I bet you have more shots you could share? Thanks
Roger

Thanks for the Iraqi trains.
When I was in college back in the 1960's I had a friend in the dorm room next to me from Iraq.
We were friends with the Shah back then and he was supposed to be related to the Shah way down the totem pole.
Ali Muhammed Faqharzadeh. Nice guy and I think I got him a little interested in trains before the end of that school year.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/21 11:25 by Bob3985.

Very interesting.  

I'd like to hear more about operations...  How many operators in a locomotive?  Passenger service?  Freight mostly bulk goods, single carloads, something else?    

Are these the photo locations? 
Mosul
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=36.32699382248085&lon=-676.8718600273132&zoom=16
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=43.1196618&y=36.3322891&z=17
https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/36.33473/43.12396

Bajyi
https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=34.92663327157144&lon=-676.5320348739623&zoom=15
https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=43.4655648&y=34.9345685&z=14
https://opentopomap.org/#map=14/34.93552/43.48041

Ted in OR

 

gobbl3gook Wrote:
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> Are these the photo locations? 

> Ted in OR

Generally speaking, yes.  Crew in cab normally two.  I'm not up-to-date on their current operations.

Gordon
  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/21 04:10 by gbmott.

Bob3985 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the Iraqi trains.
> When I was in college back in the 1960's I had a
> friend in the dorm room next to me from Iraq.
> We were friends with the Shah back then and he was
> supposed to be related to the Shah way down the
> totem pole.
> Ali Muhammed Faqharzadeh. Nice guy and I think I
> got him a little interested in trains before the
> end of that school year.

You sure he was from Iraq? Because the Shah ruled Iran and that name looks like it's from Persia which is the old name for Iran.

gbmott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> An article in yesterday's London Times reported on
> the first train in eleven years having arrived in
> Mosul, Iraq.  It made me reminisce about my time
> in charge of the railway there and the fact that
> when I was there in 2003-4 the entire line from
> the Syrian border to Basrah was open and Mosul was
> a key operating point.  Here are three photos
> from back then.
>
> 1.  IRR 2747, Mosul 11-22-03.  This was a
> Chinese-built locomotive only a couple years old
> at the time, one of a large order placed under the
> Oil-for-Food Program that at the time represented
> the majority of operational units.  The train was
> the inaugural through overnight service from
> Aleppo (Syria) to Mosul.  Unfortunately the
> service which was intended to be extended to
> Baghdad lasted only a short time before security
> became an issue. 
>
> 2.  IRR 2559, Bayji 4-3-04.  An EMD locomotive
> built under license by Henschel in Germany. 
> These units were the clear favorites of the crews
> though a lack of spare parts had most of the
> series sidelined.  This particular unit had been
> one of three assigned exclusively to Saddam's
> personal train and thus well-maintained.
>
> 3.  IRR 2342, Mosul 11-23-03.  One of a small
> handful of still-operational 2,000hp
> Montreal-built Alco units.  I was surprised to
> find this one switching Mosul yard.
>
> The Iraqis were (and I'm sure still are) good
> railroaders.
>
> Gordon

Great shots, my grandfather finished his career as Chief Draughtsman of the Iraqi State Railways at the time of the Qasim revolution in 1958. Along with the other expatriots he was expelled shortly after. He had worked in Iraq for almost 30 years.