The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle. — 1882-09-09 (Stourbridge, West Midlands, England)

EGYPTIAN RAILWAY TRANSPORT.  On the above subject, The Time has the following article :  Sir Garnet Wolseley was fortunate in seizing upon a small quantity of rolling stock at the opening of his campaign, but whether he will obtain a further supply will depend entirely upon the conduct of affairs by Arabi. The various published maps of Egypt, including that issued by the Intelligence Department, show the existing railways fairly enough, but fail to indicate the whole of the facilities which Arabi possesses for getting his rolling stock out of the way of the invaders. Thus it might not unreasonably be inferred from the maps that if the junctions at Zagazig and Benha were held by the British, the whole of the rolling stock on the lines between these points and Cairo and in the great central depot for engines and carriages at Boulak would be trapped, but this would be far from the case. The reason why they would not be so trapped is that within the last three years the powerful steam ferry constructed a long time ago to carry the trains across the Nile at Kafr-el-Zaiat has been thoroughly overhauled and put to work at Cairo to ferry railway carriages and trucks across the Nile from noulak to Embabeh on the Upper Egypt line. Arabi could thus very quickly place the broad stream of the Nile between the invaders and any rolling stock which may at the present moment be in the depot at Boulak or on the Cairo lines. The ferry above referred to is a huge tower-like structure 80ft.-long by 60ft. both in width and in height, with a rai.,tt.g and lowering plat'orm carrying 3 double line of railway. Engines of 15 horsepower on each side of the pontoon grip through the requsite gearing a pair of chains lying on the bed of the river from point to point and so propel the pontoon with its load of railway carriages across the stream. To meet the varying level of the Nile the railway platform is made capable of being raised and lowered by screws and racks worked by eight capstans from an upper deck constituting in effect a roof to the railway platform. When the ferry was in use at Kafr-el-Zaiat, the Indian overland traffic was conducted with facility and safety, the passengers remaining seated in the carriages and doing the transit in about six minutes. The Arabs performed the several operations of working the capstans and bringing the pontoon into position at the landing jetties with rapidity and skill, and altogether the great steam ferry proved itself to he no inefficient substitute for a bridge. The late Khedive propded to construct a railway bridge between Boulak and Embabeh, where the ferry now plies, and drawings were prepared for the same by Messrs. Fowler and Baker and tenders obtained by His Highness, but the works were postponed in favour of others of a more pressing character.  There is, however, a remarkably fine bridge across the Nile at Cairo, constructed by the Fives-Lilies Company, which could be readily utilised for railway purposes if desired. Thus a few days would suffice to lay a line of rail from the terminus at Cairo across the Kasr-el-Nil bridge of the Boulak-Dakrour station on the Upper Egypt railway, and the line of retreat up the valley of the Nile as far as Siout, 220 miles above Cairo, would so be in direot railway communication with the site of the recent engagements with Arabi's troops.  The Arab workmen are thoroughly familiar with all the details of making and maintaining a railway and its rolling stock. For Lome time past it has been the custom at the Boulak workshops to have Arabs for the second foremen in all departments. No difficulty whatever will result, therefore, from the exodus of European workmen, and in all probability the routine work of renewal and repair is proceeding as usual at the present moment. Just before the outbreak the proportion of engine drivers was but ten per cent European to 90 per cent. Arabs, and the stokers were all of the latter nationality. There will be no lack, therefore, of a trained railway staff, and if coal runs short a substitute may be found in sugar cane, cotton stalks, and other products of the country. In Egypt the railways are raised some feet above the level of the surrounding country to be out of the reach of floods, and they are used very generally for ordinary traffic. Donkeys and buffaloes wander about the lines, and shortly before the late Khedive left the country when going to the Tantah fair, a camel deliberately walked on to the line between the Khedive's train and the pilot engine preceding it, and lying down in front of the former was literally cut to pieces. Some sages considered it to be a case of intentional suicide, but a more probable explanation of the incident is that the camel wits a "permanent way" animal accustomed to lie down to be loaded with rails or other railway materials, and that he had simply miscalculated the convenient moment for doing so on that occasion.