Ottoman railways

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 43. Chapters: Adana-Mersin railway, Baghdad Railway, Chemins de fer Orientaux, Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie, Chemin de Fer Moudania Brousse, Haydarpasa Terminal, Hejaz Railway, History of rail transport in Turkey, Istanbul Sirkeci Terminal, Jaffa-Jerusalem railway, Jezreel Valley railway, List of Turkish Railways, Oriental Railway Company, Orient Express, Smyrne Cassaba & Prolongements, Société du Chemin de fer Ottoman d'Anatolie, Turkish State Railways. Excerpt: The Jaffa-Jerusalem railway (also J & J) is a railroad that connected Jaffa and Jerusalem. The line was built in Ottoman Palestine by the French company Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements and inaugurated in 1892, after previous attempts by the Jewish philanthropist Moses Montifiore failed. While the first rail track in the Middle East was laid elsewhere, the line is considered to be the first Middle Eastern railway. The line was originally built at 1 m narrow gauge, later rebuilt to 1.05 m and then to 1.435 m standard gauge. The line was operated by the French, the Ottomans and after World War I, the British. After its closure in 1948, it was re-opened as the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem railway by Israel Railways. Moshe Montefiore spoke of establishing a railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem in 1838. He met with Culling Eardley, who was also interested in the project, but stated that he would not be part of it if religious institutions would be involved. In 1856, he contacted the British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, and discussed the construction of a railway. Temple supported the plan, commenting that it would benefit both Britain and Turkey. A meeting was organized with the Ottoman Grand Vizier Aali Pasha upon his visit to London on May 20, 1856, where an agreement on the principles was signed. As a result, Laurence Oliphant, an author and businessman who became a Member of Parliament in 1865, also put his force behind the project. On December 8, 1856, Count Pawel Strzelecki, also involved in the project, sent a message from Istanbul that the Ottoman government was not willing to provide land for the construction, and the project withered. In 1856, General Francis Rawdon Chesney traveled to Palestine to survey the land for a railway in the company of Sir John McNeil, a railway expert. After examining two possible routes, he deemed a rail line to Jerusalem too expensive, estimating construction costs at 4,000-4,500 pounds per kilomete