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Passover activity: Come and see the Egyptian jumbo at the Railway Museum
The huge green locomotive at the Haifa Railway Museum has a special story that begins somewhere in the 1960s, goes through the Six Day War and is now closed with a special display
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a train
Israel Railways
locomotive
a museum
Keenan Cohen
Thursday, 01 April 2021, 09:50 Updated: 09:59
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The restored locomotive at the Railway Museum (Photo: Israel Railways)
When we talk about a variety of enemy war vehicles, chances are you think about Jeeps, trucks, tanks, Ngms"im and other military vehicles, but Qatar ?! So yes, you'll be surprised to hear, but there were also those in six days.
Introducing "Egyptian Jumbo" or in its official name G16 made by EMD taken loot in the Six Day War. His birth was in the United States, where he was one of 111 locomotives of this model built for the Egyptian railway in the early 1960s. To Egypt at the end of 1961 and served throughout the Sinai Peninsula until June 1967.
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During the Six Day War and the Egyptians fleeing across the Suez Canal 3361 was abandoned along with seven more diesel locomotives and several dozen carriages.
At the end of the war, the locomotives and carriages were transferred to the use of the Israel Railways.
Of the eight locomotives, four were the G12 model, one the G8 model and three others the largest G16 model nicknamed the "Jumbo".
And the nickname suited him exactly, compared to the most powerful locomotives of the Israel Railways that produced a maximum of 1,400 hp, the G16 was the neighborhood bully with 2,000 hp.
The locomotive was painted in its original colors, including the Egyptian flag (Photo: Israel Railways)
The timing of the arrival of these locomotives was also excellent, as young Israel faced a significant increase in demand for minerals from the Negev that were one of the largest export industries to a country hungry for foreign currency.
Egyptian locomotives have served the Israel Railways for more than 30 years, while constantly improving them and replacing the original engines with more advanced ones.
In the cab of the 303 locomotive, the original captions remain next to the switches in Arabic and English (Photo: Israel Railways)
The last three locomotives of this model were renovated in the late 90s and the locomotive in the pictures in front of you, number 163 continued to carry loads until 2003 when he retired and a few years later his two brothers joined him.
After years of standing without treatment, the Israel Railways decided to restore the locomotive with a fascinating history and this process was recently completed, when it was returned to its original mechanical and external condition as it served in the Egyptian Railway Company.
During the restoration, rust damage to the locomotive's body was repaired and some of the external changes made to it in Israel were eliminated.
Particularly notable is the 'skirt' added to the fringe of the locomotive's body - this skirt consists of tin plates that covered the piping sliced along the locomotive's chassis, and was abolished around 1990 to facilitate its maintenance.
Other changes made are dismantling the air conditioner and plugging the hole in the roof of the cab as well as replacing the bumpers with a type more similar to the original.
The locomotive was painted in the colors of the Egyptian train, in which he worked during his first months in the country - green with a strip in the colors of the Egyptian flag along its entire length.
He will again receive his first number in the country - 303 - and as in 1968, he will also carry his Egyptian number in Arabic literature - ٣٣٦١.
The locomotive in question is the first trip from Al-Arish in Egypt to Lod in Israel after the end of the Six Day War.
1967 (Photo: Israel Railways)
The "Egyptian Jumbo", along with a variety of other exhibits from the railway history in the Land of Israel, will be displayed at the Israel Railway Museum open to visitors on Passover.
The museum is located next to the historic Haifa-East platform, the only platform in the world from which trains depart for three different continents: Asia (Damascus), Europe (Istanbul) and Africa (Cairo).
The museum includes a variety of exhibits depicting the historical stations in the story of the railway in Israel, from the beginning of the first railway line between Jaffa and Jerusalem in 1892 and throughout its more than 125 years of operation.
Among the many items are train signs, travel cards, railway lanterns and antique radios, a collection of train stamps from all over the world and historical photographs.
Not only tanks and trucks - eight train locomotives were also seized as loot in the war (Photo: Israel Railways)
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The museum displays original locomotives and train carriages, including the last steam locomotive left in Israel, a magnificent passenger car for high-ranking guests (which also housed the first prime minister - David Ben-Gurion) and a restored ambulance car used to transport wounded British Royal Army soldiers during World War I.
The museum's opening hours on weekdays are 08: 00-15: 30, last entry at 14:30.
And on the occasion of the Passover holiday, the museum will also open on Fridays, between the hours of 09: 00-13: 00, with the last entry at 13:00.
Visitors are required to be tested for body temperature, and sign a health declaration as well as wear a mask as required by law during their entire stay at the museum.
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