In March 2009 I visited Egypt to see some of the Nile temples. I'm afraid I didn't manage to travel by rail and only visited one station (Aswan) but I did snatch some photographs as I made my way around.
The main station in Cairo is Ramses. The elevated road into the city from the airport passes close to the station but I hadn't been able to see much on my arrival. I contemplated a trip to look at the station but I couldn't make enough time. There is a railway museum adjacent to this station, but I discovered it was closed for the holiday. Apparently, Ramses station has a well-regarded Art Deco frontage. There is currently a fuss because proposed redevelopment at the station threatens the views of the old frontage. I hope they're more successful than we generally have been in England.
Originally, quite a lot of railway equipment was supplied from the U.K. and I knew that the semaphore signalling was generally based on British Practice. But I was surprised to see how much semaphore signalling remains in use today. The heading picture shows the first signal I came across, where the line crosses the Cairo - Suez dual carriageway. It's a lower quadrant with a fabricated post and the balance weight mounted at high level. My photo shows the rear of the signal, a starting signal for thje signal box in the background which appears to control one end of a passing loop, judging by the arrangement of signals in the distance.
As we travelled around the Canal Zone by car, I took a few more pictures but I'm afraid they don't show a lot. My pictures of 'Signals in the Sand'.
Whilst I was in Aswan, I managed to make a quick trip to the station. Eight o'clock in the morning was clearly a good time to visit as, at one point, we had three simultaneous movements. Pictures of Aswan station.
