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Today offered five movements through Rotherham Masborough of note in a twenty minute period, the highlight probably being the nearly passing of 56081 with a triple headed light engine move of Colas 56s. In the end I think these probably crossed at Primrose Bridge. The heavy rain showers even stopped for the movement and the sun popped out. 56302 leads 56087 and 56113 northbound on the 0C52 Washwood Heath to Doncaster movement, presumably for weekend engineering works.
37405 leads 37716 with 2P20 1236 Norwich to Great Yarmouth through the sun drenched Norfolk Broads at Stokesby on Thursday 23rd May 2019.
Then in their final few weeks of sterling (and entertaining) service on the Wherry Lines, followers of the class would have a short window for further haulage in the Welsh Valleys as a new working started soon after on the Cardiff to Rhymney branch.
Note in the background the six Occupational level crossings for farmers access across the fields.
47848 leads a ROG-operated D.A.T.S. Ltd. (Data Acquisition and Testing Services - see www.datsltd.com/) Midland Main Line OHL test train past Irchester (south of Wellingborough). The working is 3Q18 17.11 Bedford - Corby North Run-Round Loop, and was running nearly an hour late. As it was required to run at no more than 30mph, there was an East Midlands Railway "Meridian" very close behind it!
The formation of the train was:
47848 (ROG), 11018, 12122 (both ex-Virgin "Pretendolino" mark 3 coaches), 91128 (ex-LNER), 90035 (DB), 11074 (ex-125 Group mark 3), 11090, 12032 (both ex-Greater Anglia mark 3s), 12092 (ex-125 Group mark 3), 82136 (ex-Greater Anglia mark 3 DVT), 47815 Lost Boys 68-88 (ROG)
The workings today were:
5Q61 15.39 Leicester LIP - Kettering (transit move; set off 46 late)
3Q60 16.23 Kettering - Bedford (set off 40 late)
3Q18 17.11 Bedford - Corby North Run-Round Loop (set off 56 late)
3Q62 19.43 Corby North RRL - Luton (set off rouhgly on time)
3Q61 21.34 Luton - Kettering (set off 18 early)
5Q59 23.19 Kettering - Leicester LIP (transit move; ran about an hour early)
To see my non-transport pictures, visit www.flickr.com/photos/137275498@N03/.
Leads the state in number of manufacturing establishments.
J. Boyd Ellis
Koppel Card
9941
C-1977
CAPA-010950
GRLW GP30u 4204 leads Z590 past Miliken Road on their way out of town during a fall downpour. 4204 is Ex ATSF 2751, a member of their early 80s GP30u rebuild program. The 30u program involved replacing the 567 prime mover with a 645, boosting the horsepower from 2,250 to 2,500. Other upgrades included replacing the traction motors, adding a rooftop A/C Unit, and others. Somewhere around 80 of these rebuilds were done by the ATSF at Cleburne, and two of them ended up with the GRLW from LTEX. The other unit, 4203, is still in an extremely worn down version of its ATSF freightbonnet scheme and almost never runs. Ironically, 4203 is actually the better pulling motor compared to 4204 but due to how horrid it looks, GRLWs owner hates using it (paint is expensive.)
20196 leads 20139 on a northbound mixed freight, probably heading for Tinsley yard along the Down Goods at Chesterfield, 28th July 1977.
Locomotive History
20196 was originally D8196 and was built by English Electric in 1967. It was allocated to Toton from new and spent virtually it whole career allocated to this Nottinghamshire depot. However it would spend over eighteen months stored unserviceable until given a classified repair at Glasgow works in October 1984. It was briefly renumbered 20308 in the late 1980’s when dedicated to Peak Forest aggregate duties but had reverted back to 20196 prior to withdrawal in January 1992. It was broken up by MC Metals in September 1993. 20139 was originally D8139 and was built by English Electric in 1966. Withdrawn in May 1991 it was one of four class 20’s sold for further use in France becoming 2003 in the Compagnie de Chemins de Fer Departementaux fleet. On withdrawal in France it was returned to the UK in September 2005 with a view to preservation, however it was sold for breaking up and was broken up in may 2010 at EMR, Kingsbury.
Praktica LTL, Kodachrome 64
GE unit 2603 departs the Townsville wharf area with another rake of ore hoppers heading towards the main yard on 20-10-11
When they put truck trailers on flatcars, they were called piggy-back or trailer-on-flat-car (TOFC) in many places. But Penn Central called them Trailvans or TV trains, a title carried over into Conrail. Photo taken at Rochester, NY, on May 15, 1977.
Pushkar 2007. A farmer leads the way in a bright turban followed by a snake charmer in striking purple dress which may be what Carolina Herera dreams of. The snake charmer of purple hues and the strawberry pink head gear is obviously suffering from a severe headache as he walks the encampment road in the animal fair at Pushkar.
Another snake charmer follows.
Dates
Taken on November 20, 2007 at 8.53am IST (edit)
Posted to Flickr April 19, 2011 at 8.04AM IST (edit)
Exif data
Camera Nikon D70
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/750)
Aperture f/4.8
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash
DSC_0374 from nef tfm sel br sh 125
31205 leads an unfitted freight through Walsall on 3/8/1977. The old platform 1 by then was used for parcels traffic but has since reopened for use by northbound services on the Chase Valley line.
The old South Staffordshire Railway buildings date back to 1849.
CSX's L&N Heritage Unit leads L303 off of the double-tracked Grand Rapids Terminal Subdivision and onto the Plymouth Subdivision. In Pere Marquette days, Seymour was the location of the railroad's suburban station stop. The location of the station was, I believe, located across the tracks from the cemetery.
DB 66077 leads 6L43 Mountsorrel- Barham east through Cattishall crossing in some very warm Sufflk sunshine thanks to the driver for the friendly toot
Return to the mainline for 70000 'Britannia' as it leads 37688 bringing up the rear away from a quick water stop in Bescot Down Up Goods while working 5Z39 Kidderminster SVR-Crewe H.S.
BNSF 2717 leads a trio of H1 Geeps and the Noyes Local east out of Grand Forks, ND and over the Red River of the North into East Grand Forks, MN.
This was a cold day with ambient temps down around -20F and wind chills as low as -47F...and the B&W conversion conveys that a bit better than the color version of this image.
I always liked the Noyes Local as it was more of a full-up manifest than a local but it usually ran with 2-3 Geeps up front to Winnipeg.
NS B23-7 4003 leads five cars down the former Nickel plate I-MC district towards Rochester on 9 April, 2001. After an electrical fire sidelined Fulton County RR's ex-Indiana Hi-Rail Alco, they borrowed whatever local power NS had in the yard at Argos. As was usually the case, I hopped aboard when the train got to Rochester and rode along as they set off cars at the elevator.
8211 leads 8241 on Pacific National’s 9827 loaded grain from Inner Harbour bound for Gilgandra, seen out of Bribbaree. 01/01/2025
M50680 leads a three car class 120 DMU set into Nottingham station, 19th May 1980. The western approach to Nottingham station has completely changed from this view with all of the railway infrastructure (goods depot, goods yard, shunting frame, 16ton mineral wagons) all gone being replaced by new Magistrates courts and Inland Revenue offices.
Unit History
M50680 was built at Swindon works in 1958 as part of an order for forty nine, three car sets for Western Region long distance “cross country” services. In the late 1960’s, twenty two sets were transferred from the Western Region to Derby Etches Park, to replace Cravens class 105 three car units which where transferred to Accrington where they were reduced to two car power twins with the trailer vehicles being withdrawn. I am old enough to remember our surprise on the arrival of these class 120 sets in the East Midlands (no internet in those days) and the improvement they brought to the East Midlands local services. Until the introduction of the class 150 “Sprinter” DMU’s in 1985 these class 120 units formed the backbone of the East Midlands local train fleet. By March 1986 the remaining class 120 vehicles had been transferred away from Derby and by October 1989 the last class 120 vehicles had been withdrawn.
Praktica LTL, Ektachrome 200
BR Class 108 DMBS 53942 leads the Ladore-based DMU set S947 while working the Table 125 10:25 Swansea to Cardiff Central recorded at Peterson-super-Ely.
All images on this site are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed written permission of the photographer. All rights reserved – Copyright Don Gatehouse
New Haven Railroad GE U25B locomotive # 2516 & another leads an eastbound TOFC train on the express track while passing the station platform in the early morning hours at Stamford, Connecticut, ca 1968, Bob Hughes Photo. There is a good number of passengers standing on the platform while waiting for the next eastbound passenger train. GE U25B locomotive # 2516 is from the later order of locomotives received by the railroad that include the new two piece front cab windows, rather than the earlier versions of the locomotive with the large single piece front cab window.
FEC 141-02 is the first southbound train to run on FEC with a full train of autoracks and intermodal interchanged from CSX and NS. Class unit #800 leads #815. They split "South Little River" at a crawl since Hialeah is busy building the outbound evening trains.
iPhone 6 Photo - CF4402 leads 42304 and 42305 at Goulburn waiting to depart as 2871N. This train would head to Port Pirie run by ESPEE Railroad Services. The wagons and 423 Class locomotives would be put on a boat to go overseas to Cambodia.
BNSF 695 leads the Pampa local as they begin their westbound return run on the Panhandle sub towards Amarillo.
Caledonian Sleeper 73968 leads 73966,92038 and 92010 though Newcastle working 0Z80 Polmadie to Doncaster
50050 leads a convoy of locos across the main lines at Washwood Heath West Junction, which included 56051, 56090, 50017 and 56087. It was the final working from the former Metro Cammell plant at Washwood Heath, which had been home to Colas and Bowdens for several years. 56087 had arrived from Carlisle on the 25th with a single cement tanker to be used as brake force for the movement of the 56's. The wagon was found to be defective, and removed by road, so the two 50's were pressed into service as they had to leave the site by 31st January. The new home for Colas is Nottingham Eastcroft depot, adjacent to the East Midlands depot.
BNSF 9647 leads CN train B711 north at Joliet. This unit was the first to wear any kind of BNSF livery, having been painted in a variant of BN's executive paint scheme. It was repainted a few years back and now sports H3 paint, but it still holds the distinction of having been the infamous "Vomit Bonnet" we all knew and loved.
Toledo Hauler crossing a bridge near "Nortons", between Eddyville and Nashville, Oregon MP 737. The PNWR 3001 is working its train through some thickly forested country, up and over the Coast Range Mountains of western Oregon. It is about twenty-nine miles into a 7+ hour, 74.7 mile long trek bound for Albany, Oregon pulling a 14 car train loaded with wood products from the Georgia Pacific Mill at Toledo, Oregon. The consist also includes sister #3002, GP39-2 #2310 and the two slug helper engines #101 & #102.
CSX 1776 leads coke train B157 across the Monongahela River as viewed from the Homestead, PA side on March 30, 2024. I'm not a big fan of the CSX specially painted GEVO fleet, but since I was in the area, and it was there, I made an effort to catch it. Later that day the CSX Conrail heritage unit came through leading a freight. Too bad they couldn't do more with the front of the cabs on them instead of the standard CSX scheme.
Incidentally this is the site of the famous Pinkerton Strike. On July 6, 1892, striking steel mill workers and their families engaged 300 Pinkerton guards in a fierce 12-hour gun battle at the mill pump house. After the chaos had settled, seven employees and three Pinkertons were killed, leaving the community stunned and devastated. There is a commemorative plaque at the pump house, which is just to the right of where I took this photo. This spot is now a nice little park with parking where you can sit in your car and then just walk a few feet to get a train photo. Too bad CSX traffic volume is way down from past levels.
Didn't have my camera with me so I made do with my phone. I dropped off David, my better half, at Alfreton station early this morning where the mist was still lifting. Sun across the tops of the rails, tracks disappearing into the distance and the suns rays bursting over the bridge.
Portfolio: www.jgw-photography.co.uk/
The United States leads the world in incarceration rate with over 1.6 million people in our jail system. More laws are passed every year and there are enough law books to fill several libraries. How many of these laws and regulations are designed to fill the pockets of our Federal, State & Local governments? How many are even enforceable? Persons committing corporate or “white collar” crimes who rob thousands of people for millions of dollars often get away with a slap on the wrist because the can afford good lawyers to keep them out of jail. The ones who commit petty or victimless crimes (i.e. parking tickets) and are too poor to pay fines literally “pay the price” which often compound their problems.
Rosa Parks broke the law by sitting in front of the bus. Maybe some laws need to be broken, changed or even dismissed.
Strobist Info:
One SB-800 on a Chimera beauty dish on TTL -.7 EV directly overhead subject.
One SB-600 bounced off a white reflector under camera for fill @ 1/16th power.
Triggered with Phottix Stratos II
4906 leads empty Lachlan Valley Railway cars out of Newcastle station after being on the rear of a long trip to Singleton/Camberwell Loop and return. 3237 lead the steam special throughout the day.
Queens Wharf Tower, Newcastle, NSW.
Sunday 16 November 2014.
Southern Pacific (SP) GP9 (GP9R) 3858 leads an SD9 eastbound near Milepost 99.5 at Walerga approaching Antelope on SP’s Martinez Subdivision on an unknown date in Feb. 1978.
Reportedly: SP 3858 was built in 1959 by EMD as a model GP9, builders number 25141, SP 5841, SP Class DF-612. In 1965 it was renumbered to SP 3704 EMD GP9 SP Class EF418-8.
This locomotive was upgraded in 1977 emerging as SP 3858 EMD GP9 (GP9R), SP Class EF418R-4.
The disposition of this locomotive is, retired in 1986, sold in 1988. Presumed Scrapped.
Traveling through the Multiverse Threshold often times leads to unique experiences.
One such experience was a trip that led me to the Orbis Estate and Gardens in a wondrous land somewhere beyond our know universe. It had recently snowed but the sun was out and the warm golden rays were swiftly chasing the cold away.
As I walked, admiring the twisting, maze-like walkways through tall shrubbery I came upon a clearing that held a large egg-shaped object. As I approached to have a closer look, the object began to rock back-and-forth. I was both intrigued and apprehensive as cracks appeared in the ovoid. Quite suddenly, the end shattered and an enormous hand and forearm burst through the opening, dripping with a green fetid smelling ichor.
As I backpedaled madly, the hand seemed to search about as though it was attempting to grab me. I felt certain that if I were to fall into it's grasp, I would certainly burst like a ripe grape. Needless to say, I turned tail and headed the other way at top speed hoping to be long gone before the rest of the creature could break free of that nasty egg.
Strobist:
1 Vivitar 285 HV mounted on a lightstand, camera left, fired at 1/2 power with no modifier. Triggered with Yougnuo RF trigger.
SD70M no. 5192 leads an eastbound work train past Dallas Union Station. The train will head to CJ Yard to tie up. Photo January 6, 2018.
A pair of ACes leads a southbound coal train toward the Academy siding for a meeting with a northbound ACe-led coal empty on the U.S. Air Force Academy, CO.
That big building in the background is the Great Wolf Lodge which has opened in the previous year. Prior to that, the company that was building it ran out of money and the building sat mostly completed but totally empty for years. Based on the parking lot, it appears the Great Wolf Lodge (and water park) is doing a good deal of business. If you haven't been to the north side of Colorado Springs in the past 5 years or so, you'll be a bit surprised with all the changes.
Damascus
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For other uses, see Damascus (disambiguation).
Damascus
دمشق Dimashq
View of Damascus from a bank of Barada river.
Nickname(s): (Al-Fayhaa) The Fragrant City
Damascus
Coordinates: 33°30′47″N 36°17′31″E / 33.51306°N 36.29194°E / 33.51306; 36.29194
Country Syria
Governorates Damascus Governorate, Capital City
Government
- Governor Bishr Al Sabban
Area
- City 573 km2 (221.2 sq mi)
- Metro 1,200 km2 (463.3 sq mi)
Elevation 600 m (1,969 ft)
Population (2007)[citation needed]
- City over 4 million
- Metro 6,500,000
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Area code(s) Country code: 963, City code: 11
Demonym Damascene
Damascus (Arabic: دمشق, transliteration: Dimashq, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. It is one of the the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and its current population is estimated at about 4,000,000[citation needed]. The city is a governorate by itself, and the capital of the governorate of Rif Dimashq ("Rural Damascus").
Etymology
In Arabic, the city is called دمشق الشام (Dimashq ash-Shām), although this is often shortened to either Dimashq or ash-Shām by the citizens of Damascus, of Syria and other Arab neighbors. Ash-Shām is an Arabic term for north and for Syria (Syria—particularly historical Greater Syria—is called Bilād ash-Shām—بلاد الشام, "land of the north"—in Arabic.) The etymology of the ancient name "Damascus" is uncertain, but it is suspected to be pre-Semitic. It is attested as Dimašqa in Akkadian, T-ms-ḳw in Egyptian, Dammaśq (דמשק) in Old Aramaic and Dammeśeq (דמשק) in Biblical Hebrew. The Akkadian spelling is the earliest attestation, found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BCE. Later Aramaic spellings of the name often include an intrusive resh (letter r), perhaps influenced by the root dr, meaning "dwelling". Thus, the Qumranic Darmeśeq (דרמשק), and Darmsûq (ܕܪܡܣܘܩ) in Syriac.[1][2]
History
Ancient City of Damascus*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
State Party Syria
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Reference 20
Region** Arab States
Inscription history
Inscription 1979 (3rd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.
Ancient history
Excavations at Tell Ramad on the outskirts of the city have demonstrated that Damascus has been inhabited as early as 8,000 to 10,000 BC. It is due to this that Damascus is considered to be among the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. However, Damascus is not documented as an important city until the coming of the Aramaeans, Semitic nomads who arrived from Mesopotamia. It is known that it was the Aramaeans who first established the water distribution system of Damascus by constructing canals and tunnels which maximized the efficiency of the Barada river. The same network was later improved by the Romans and the Umayyads, and still forms the basis of the water system of the old part of Damascus today. It was mentioned in Genesis 14 as existing at the time of the War of the Kings.
According to the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in his twenty-one volume Antiquities of the Jews, Damascus (along with Trachonitis), was founded by Uz, the son of Aram. Elsewhere, he stated:
Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth book of his History, says thus: "Abraham reigned at Damascus, being a foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon, called the land of the Chaldeans: but, after a long time, he got him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and went into the land then called the land of Canaan, but now the land of Judea, and this when his posterity were become a multitude; as to which posterity of his, we relate their history in another work. Now the name of Abraham is even still famous in the country of Damascus; and there is shown a village named from him, The Habitation of Abraham.
Damascus is designated as having been part of the ancient province of Amurru in the Hyksos Kingdom, from 1720 to 1570 BC. (MacMillan, pp. 30–31). Some of the earliest Egyptian records are from the 1350 BC Amarna letters, when Damascus-(called Dimasqu) was ruled by king Biryawaza. In 1100 BC, the city became the center of a powerful Aramaean state called Aram Damascus. The Kings of Aram Damascus were involved in many wars in the area against the Assyrians and the Israelites. One of the Kings, Ben-Hadad II, fought Shalmaneser III at the Battle of Qarqar. The ruins of the Aramean town most probably lie under the eastern part of the old walled city. After Tiglath-Pileser III captured and destroyed the city in 732 BC, it lost its independence for hundreds of years, and it fell to the Neo-Babylonian Empire of Nebuchadnezzar starting in 572 BC. The Babylonian rule of the city came to an end in 538 BC when the Persians under Cyrus captured the city and made it the capital of the Persian province of Syria.
Greco-Roman
Damascus first came under western control with the giant campaign of Alexander the Great that swept through the near east. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, Damascus became the site of a struggle between the Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires. The control of the city passed frequently from one empire to the other. Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander's generals, had made Antioch the capital of his vast empire, a decision that led Damascus' importance to decline compared with the newly founded Seleucid cities such as Latakia in the north.
In 64 BC, the Roman general Pompey annexed the western part of Syria. The Romans occupied Damascus and subsequently incorporated it into the league of ten cities known as the Decapolis because it was considered such an important center of Greco-Roman culture. According to the New Testament, St. Paul was on the road to Damascus when he received a vision, was struck blind and as a result converted to Christianity. In the year 37, Roman Emperor Caligula transferred Damascus into Nabataean control by decree.[citation needed] The Nabataean king Aretas IV Philopatris ruled Damascus from his capital Petra. However, around the year 106, Nabataea was conquered by the Romans, and Damascus returned to Roman control.
Damascus became a metropolis by the beginning of the second century and in 222 it was upgraded to a colonia by the Emperor Septimius Severus. During the Pax Romana, Damascus and the Roman province of Syria in general began to prosper. Damascus's importance as a caravan city was evident with the trade routes from southern Arabia, Palmyra, Petra, and the silk routes from China all converging on it. The city satisfied the Roman demands for eastern luxuries.
Little remains of the architecture of the Romans, but the town planning of the old city did have a lasting effect. The Roman architects brought together the Greek and Aramaean foundations of the city and fused them into a new layout measuring approximately 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) by 750 metres (2,500 ft), surrounded by a city wall. The city wall contained seven gates, but only the eastern gate (Bab Sharqi) remains from the Roman period. Roman Damascus lies mostly at depths of up to five meters (16.4 ft) below the modern city.
The old borough of Bab Tuma was developed at the end of the Roman/Byzantine era by the local Eastern Orthodox community. According to the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Paul and Saint Thomas both lived in that neighborhood. Roman Catholic historians also consider Bab Tuma to be the birthplace of several Popes such as John V and Gregory III.
Islamic Arab period
The Umayyad Mosque
Alsayyida Zaynab shrine domeDamascus was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the reign of Umar by forces under Khaled ibn al-Walid in 634 CE. Immediately thereafter, the city's power and prestige reached its peak when it became the capital of the Umayyad Empire, which extended from Spain to India from 661 to 750. In 744, the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II, moved the capital to Harran in the Jazira,[3] and Damascus was never to regain the political prominence it had held in that period.
After the fall of the Umayyads and the establishment of the Abbasid caliphate in 750, Damascus was ruled from Baghdad, although in 858 al-Mutawakkil briefly established his residence there with the intention of transferring his capital there from Samarra. However, he soon abandoned the idea. As the Abbasid caliphate declined, Damascus suffered from the prevailing instability, and came under the control of local dynasties.
In 970, the Fatimid Caliphs in Cairo gained control of Damascus. This was to usher in a turbulent period in the city's history, as the Berber troops who formed the backbone of the Fatimid forces became deeply unpopular among its citizens. The presence in Syria of the Qaramita and occasionally of Turkish military bands added to the constant pressure from the Bedouin. For a brief period from 978, Damascus was self-governing, under the leadership of a certain Qassam and protected by a citizen militia. However, the Ghouta was ravaged by the Bedouin and after a Turkish-led campaign the city once again surrendered to Fatimid rule. From 1029 to 1041 the Turkish military leader Anushtakin was governor of Damascus under the Fatimid caliph Al-Zahir, and did much to restore the city's prosperity.
It appears that during this period the slow transformation of Damascus from a Graeco-Roman city layout - characterised by blocks of insulae — to a more familiar Islamic pattern took place: the grid of straight streets changed to a pattern of narrow streets, with most residents living inside harat closed off at night by heavy wooden gates to protect against criminals and the exactions of the soldiery.
Seljuks and Crusader rule
The statue of Saladin in front of Damascus citadel.
Azem Palace.
Damascus WallsWith the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the late 11th century, Damascus again became the capital of independent states. It was ruled by a Seljuk dynasty from 1079 to 1104, and then by another Turkish dynasty - the Burid Emirs, who withstood a siege of the city during the Second Crusade in 1148 . In 1154 Damascus was conquered from the Burids by the famous Zengid Atabeg Nur ad-Din of Aleppo, the great foe of the Crusaders. He made it his capital, and following his death, it was acquired by Saladin, the ruler of Egypt, who also made it his capital. Saladin rebuilt the citadel, and it is reported that under his rule the suburbs were as extensive as the city itself. It is reported by Ibn Jubayr that during the time of Saladin, Damascus welcomed seekers of knowledge and industrious youth from around the world, who arrived for the sake of "undistracted study and seclusion" in Damascus' many colleges.
In the years following Saladin's death in 1193, there were frequent conflicts between different Ayyubid sultans ruling in Damascus and Cairo. Damascus was the capital of independent Ayyubid rulers between 1193 and 1201, from 1218 to 1238, from 1239 to 1245, and from 1250 to 1260. At other times it was ruled by the Ayyubid rulers of Egypt. Damascus steel gained a legendary reputation among the Crusaders, and patterned steel is still "damascened". The patterned Byzantine and Chinese silks available through Damascus, one of the Western termini of the Silk Road, gave the English language "damask".
Mamluk rule
Ayyubid rule (and independence) came to an end with the Mongol invasion of Syria in 1260, and following the Mongol defeat at Ain Jalut in the same year, Damascus became a provincial capital of the Mamluk Empire, ruled from Egypt, following the Mongol withdrawal.
Timurlane
In 1400 Timur, the Turco-Mongol conqueror, besieged Damascus. The Mamluk sultan dispatched a deputation from Cairo, including Ibn Khaldun, who negotiated with him, but after their withdrawal he put the city to sack. The Umayyad Mosque was burnt and men and women taken into slavery. A huge number of the city's artisans were taken to Timur's capital at Samarkand. These were the luckier citizens: many were slaughtered and their heads piled up in a field outside the north-east corner of the walls, where a city square still bears the name burj al-ru'us, originally "the tower of heads".
Rebuilt, Damascus continued to serve as a Mamluk provincial capital until 1516.
The Ottoman conquest
Khan As'ad Pasha was built in 1752In early 1516, the Ottoman Turks, wary of the danger of an alliance between the Mamluks and the Persian Safavids, started a campaign of conquest against the Mamluk sultanate. On 21 September, the Mamluk governor of Damascus fled the city, and on 2 October the khutba in the Umayyad mosque was pronounced in the name of Selim I. The day after, the victorious sultan entered the city, staying for three months. On 15 December, he left Damascus by Bab al-Jabiya, intent on the conquest of Egypt. Little appeared to have changed in the city: one army had simply replaced another. However, on his return in October 1517, the sultan ordered the construction of a mosque, taqiyya and mausoleum at the shrine of Shaikh Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi in al-Salihiyah. This was to be the first of Damascus' great Ottoman monuments.
The Ottomans remained for the next 400 years, except for a brief occupation by Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt from 1832 to 1840 . Because of its importance as the point of departure for one of the two great Hajj caravans to Mecca, Damascus was treated with more attention by the Porte than its size might have warranted — for most of this period, Aleppo was more populous and commercially more important. In 1560 the Taqiyya al-Sulaimaniyya, a mosque and khan for pilgrims on the road to Mecca, was completed to a design by the famous Ottoman architect Sinan, and soon afterwards a madrasa was built adjoining it.
The destroyed Christian quarter of Damascus, 1860.Perhaps the most notorious incident of these centuries was the massacre of Christians in 1860, when fighting between Druze (most probably supported by foreign countries to weaken the economical power) and Maronites in Mount Lebanon spilled over into the city. Several thousand Christians were killed, with many more being saved through the intervention of the Algerian exile Abd al-Qadir and his soldiers (three days after the massacre started), who brought them to safety in Abd al-Qadir's residence and the citadel. The Christian quarter of the old city (mostly inhabited by Catholics), including a number of churches, was burnt down. The Christian inhabitants of the notoriously poor and refractory Midan district outside the walls (mostly Orthodox) were, however, protected by their Muslim neighbours.
American Missionary E.C. Miller records that in 1867 the population of the city was 'about' 140,000, of whom 30,000 where Christians, 10,000 Jews and 100,000 'Mohammedans' with less than 100 Protestant Christians.[4]
Rise of Arab nationalism
In the early years of the twentieth century, nationalist sentiment in Damascus, initially cultural in its interest, began to take a political colouring, largely in reaction to the turkicisation programme of the Committee of Union and Progress government established in Istanbul in 1908. The hanging of a number of patriotic intellectuals by Jamal Pasha, governor of Damascus, in Beirut and Damascus in 1915 and 1916 further stoked nationalist feeling, and in 1918, as the forces of the Arab Revolt and the British army approached, residents fired on the retreating Turkish troops.
Modern
The Turkish Hospital in Damascus on 1 October 1918, shortly after the entry of the 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment.
Damascus in flames as the result of the French air raid on October 18, 1925.On 1 October 1918, the forces of the Arab revolt led by Nuri as-Said entered Damascus. The same day, Australian soldiers from the 4th and 10th Light Horse Regiments reinforced with detachments from the British Yeomanry Mounted Division entered the city and accepted its surrender from the Turkish appointed Governor Emir Said (installed as Governor the previous afternoon by the retreating Turkish Commander)[1][2]. A military government under Shukri Pasha was named. Other British forces including T. E. Lawrence followed later that day, and Faisal ibn Hussein was proclaimed king of Syria. Political tension rose in November 1917, when the new Bolshevik government in Russia revealed the Sykes-Picot Agreement whereby Britain and France had arranged to partition the Arab east between them. A new Franco-British proclamation on 17 November promised the "complete and definitive freeing of the peoples so long oppressed by the Turks." The Syrian Congress in March adopted a democratic constitution. However, the Versailles Conference had granted France a mandate over Syria, and in 1920 a French army commanded by the General Mariano Goybet crossed the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, defeated a small Syrian defensive expedition at the Battle of Maysalun and entered Damascus. The French made Damascus capital of their League of Nations Mandate of Syria.
When in 1925 the Druze revolt in the Hauran spread to Damascus, the French suppressed it brutally, bombing and shelling the city. The area of the old city between Al-Hamidiyah Souq and Medhat Pasha Souq was burned to the ground, with many deaths, and has since then been known as al-Hariqa ("the fire"). The old city was surrounded with barbed wire to prevent rebels infiltrating from the Ghouta, and a new road was built outside the northern ramparts to facilitate the movement of armored cars.
On 21 June 1941, Damascus was captured from the Vichy French forces by the Allies during the Syria-Lebanon campaign.
In 1945 the French once more bombed Damascus, but on this occasion British forces intervened and the French agreed to withdraw, thus leading to the full independence of Syria in 1946 . Damascus remained the capital. With the influx of Iraqi refugees beginning in 2003, and funds from the Persian Gulf, Damascus has been going through an economic boom ever since.
Geography
Damascus in spring seen from Spot satelliteDamascus lies about 80 km (50 mi) inland from the Mediterranean Sea, sheltered by the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. It lies on a plateau 680 metres (2,200 ft) above sea-level.
The old city of Damascus, enclosed by the city walls, lies on the south bank of the river Barada which is almost dry(3 cm left). To the south-east, north and north-east it is surrounded by suburban areas whose history stretches back to the Middle Ages: Midan in the south-west, Sarouja and Imara in the north and north-west. These districts originally arose on roads leading out of the city, near the tombs of religious figures. In the nineteenth century outlying villages developed on the slopes of Jabal Qasioun, overlooking the city, already the site of the al-Salihiyah district centred around the important shrine of Sheikh Muhi al-Din ibn Arabi. These new districts were initially settled by Kurdish soldiery and Muslim refugees from the European regions of the Ottoman Empire which had fallen under Christian rule. Thus they were known as al-Akrad (the Kurds) and al-Muhajirin (the migrants). They lay two to three kilometres (2 mi) north of the old city.
From the late nineteenth century on, a modern administrative and commercial centre began to spring up to the west of the old city, around the Barada, centred on the area known as al-Marjeh or the meadow. Al-Marjeh soon became the name of what was initially the central square of modern Damascus, with the city hall on it. The courts of justice, post office and railway station stood on higher ground slightly to the south. A Europeanised residential quarter soon began to be built on the road leading between al-Marjeh and al-Salihiyah. The commercial and administrative centre of the new city gradually shifted northwards slightly towards this area.
In the twentieth century, newer suburbs developed north of the Barada, and to some extent to the south, invading the Ghouta oasis. From 1955 the new district of Yarmouk became a second home to thousands of Palestinian refugees. City planners preferred to preserve the Ghouta as far as possible, and in the later twentieth century some of the main areas of development were to the north, in the western Mezzeh district and most recently along the Barada valley in Dummar in the northwest and on the slopes of the mountains at Berze in the north-east. Poorer areas, often built without official approval, have mostly developed south of the main city.
Damascus used to be surrounded by an oasis, the Ghouta region (الغوطة al-ġūṭä), watered by the Barada river. The Fijeh spring, west along the Barada valley, used to provides the city with drinking water. The Ghouta oasis has been decreasing in size with the rapid expansion of housing and industry in the city and it is almost dry. It has also become polluted due to the city's traffic, industry, and sewage.
Climate
Damascus' climate is semi arid, due to rain shadow effect of Anti-Lebanon mountain. Summers are hot with less humidity. Winters are cool and rainy or snowy. January Maximum & Minimum Temperatures are 11 °C (52 °F) and 0 °C (32 °F), lowest ever recorded are −13.5 °C (8 °F), The summer August Maximum & Minimum Temperature are 35 °C (95 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F), Highest ever recorded are 45.5 °C (113.9 °F), Annual rainfall around 20 cm (8 in), occur from November to March.[5]
Weather averages for Damascus
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 11
(53) 13
(57) 17
(64) 23
(74) 28
(84) 33
(92) 36
(96) 36
(96) 33
(91) 27
(81) 19
(67) 13
(56) 24
(76)
Average low °C (°F) 0
(33) 2
(36) 4
(40) 7
(46) 11
(52) 14
(58) 16
(62) 17
(63) 13
(57) 9
(49) 4
(40) 1
(35) 8
(48)
Precipitation cm (inches) 3
(1.5) 3
(1.3) 2
(0.9) 1
(0.5) 0
(0.2) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 0
(0) 1
(0.4) 2
(1) 4
(1.7) 19
(7.6)
Source: Weatherbase[5] 2008
Demographics
People
Three Damascene women; lady wearing qabqabs, a Druze, and a peasant, 1873.The majority of the population in Damascus came as a result of rural-urban migration. It is believed that the local people of Damascus, called Damascene, are about 1.5 million. Damascus is considered by most people to be a very safe city. Haggling is common, especially in the traditional souks. Corruption is widespread, but in the past few years there have been aims at combating it, by both the government and non-governmental organizations. Tea, Mate (popular caffeinated beverage made from Yerba mate), and Turkish Coffee are the most common beverages in Damascus.
Religion
The majority of the inhabitants of Damascus—about 75%—are Sunni Muslims. It is believed that there are more than 2,000 mosques in Damascus, the most well-known being the Umayyad Mosque. Christians represent the remaining 15% and there a number of Christian districts, such as Bab Tuma, Kassaa, and Ghassani, with many churches, most notably the ancient Chapel of Saint Paul.
Historical sites
House of Saint AnaniasDamascus has a wealth of historical sites dating back to many different periods of the city's history. Since the city has been built up with every passing occupation, it has become almost impossible to excavate all the ruins of Damascus that lie up to 8 feet (2.4 m) below the modern level. The Citadel of Damascus is located in the northwest corner of the Old City. The Street Called Straight (referred to in the conversion of St. Paul in Acts 9:11), also known as the Via Recta, was the decumanus (East-West main street) of Roman Damascus, and extended for over 1,500 metres (4,900 ft). Today, it consists of the street of Bab Sharqi and the Souk Medhat Pasha, a covered market. The Bab Sharqi street is filled with small shops and leads to the old Christian quarter of Bab Tuma (St. Thomas's Gate). Souk Medhat Pasha is also a main market in Damascus and was named after Medhat Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Syria who renovated the Souk. At the end of the Bab Sharqi street, one reaches the House of Ananias, an underground chapel that was the cellar of Ananias's house. The Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque of Damascus, is one of the largest mosques in the world, and one of the oldest sites of continuous prayer since the rise of Islam. A shrine in the mosque is said to contain the head of Husayn ibn Ali and the body of St. John the Baptist. The mausoleum where Saladin was buried is located in the gardens just outside the mosque. Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque, the shrine of the yongest daughter of Husayn ibn Ali, can also be found near the Umayyad Mosque. Another heavily visited site is Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, which is the tomb of Zaynab bint Ali.
The walls and gates of Damascus
v • d • eOld City of Damascus
Azm PalaceDamascus
CitadelUmayyad Mosque
Gates
al-Jabiya · al-Saghir · Kisan · Sharqi · Tuma · al-Salam · Faradis
The Old City of Damascus is surrounded by ramparts on the northern and eastern sides and part of the southern side. There are seven extant city gates, the oldest of which dates back to the Roman period. These are, clockwise from the north of the citadel:
Bab al-Saghir (The Small Gate)
Bab al-Faradis ("the gate of the orchards", or "of the paradise")
Bab al-Salam ("the gate of peace"), all on the north boundary of the Old City
Bab Tuma ("Touma" or "Thomas's Gate") in the north-east corner, leading into the Christian quarter of the same name,
Bab Sharqi ("eastern gate") in the east wall, the only one to retain its Roman plan
Bab Kisan in the south-east, from which tradition holds that Saint Paul made his escape from Damascus, lowered from the ramparts in a basket; this gate is now closed and a chapel marking the event has been built into the structure,
Bab al-Jabiya at the entrance to Souk Midhat Pasha, in the south-west.
Other areas outside the walled city also bear the name "gate": Bab al-Faraj, Bab Mousalla and Bab Sreija, both to the south-west of the walled city.
Churches in the old city
The Minaret of the Bride, Umayyad Mosque in old Damascus.
Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque
Sayyidah Ruqayya MosqueCathedral of Damascus.
Virgin Mary's Cathedral.
House of Saint Ananias.
Chapel of Saint Paul.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral in Zaitoon (Olive) Alley.
The Damascene Saint Johan church.
Saint Paul's Laura.
Saint Georgeus's sanctuary.
Islamic sites in the old city
Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque
Sayyidah Ruqayya Mosque
Bab Saghir cemetery
Umayyad Mosque
Saladin Shrine.
Madrasas
Al-Adiliyah Madrasa.
Az-Zahiriyah Library.
Nur al-Din Madrasa.
Old Damascene houses
Azm Palace
Bayt al-Aqqad (Danish Institute in Damascus)
Maktab Anbar
Beit al-Mamlouka (Boutique Hotel)
Khans
Khan Jaqmaq
Khan As'ad Pasha
Khan Sulayman Pasha
Threats to the future of the old City
Due to the rapid decline of the population of Old Damascus (between 1995-2005 more than 20,000 people moved out of the old city for more modern accommodation), a growing number of buildings are being abandoned or are falling into disrepair. In March 2007, the local government announced that it would be demolishing Old City buildings along a 1,400-metre (4,600 ft) stretch of rampart walls as part of a redevelopment scheme. These factors resulted in the Old City being placed by the World Monuments Fund on its 2008 Watch List of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world. It is hoped that its inclusion on the list will draw more public awareness to these significant threats to the future of the historic Old City of Damascus.
Current state of old Damascus
In spite of the recommendations of the UNESCO World Heritage Center:[3]
Souk El Atik, a protected buffer zone, was destroyed in three days in November 2006;
King Faysal Street, a traditional hand-craft region in a protected buffer zone near the walls of Old Damascus between the Citadel and Bab Touma, is threatened by a proposed motorway.
In 2007, the Old City of Damascus and notably the district of Bab Tuma have been recognized by The World Monument Fund as one of the most endangered sites in the world.[4]
Subdivisions
The ancient city of Damascus around the Omayyad Mosque
Azmeh Square in downtown DamascusDamascus is divided into many districts. Among them there are:
Abbasiyyin
Abou Rummaneh
Amara
Bahsa
Baramkah
Barzeh
Dummar
Jobar
Kafar Souseh
Malki
Mazraa
Mezzeh
Midan
Muhajreen
Qanawat
Rukn Eddeen
Al-Salihiyah
Sarouja
Sha'alan
Shaghoor
Tijara
ducation
Damascus is the main center of education in Syria. It is home to Damascus University, which is the oldest and by far the largest university in Syria. After the enactment of legislation allowing private secondary institutions, several new universities were established in the city and in the surrounding area.
Universities
Damascus National Museum.Damascus University
Syrian Virtual University
International University for Science and Technology
Higher Institute of Business Administration (HIBA)
Higher Institute for Applied Science and Technology (HIAST)
University of Kalamoon
Arab European University
National Institute of Administration
Transportation
Al-Hijaz StationThe main airport is Damascus International Airport, approximately 20 km (12 mi) away from the city center, with connections to many Asian, Europe, African, and recently, South American cities. Streets in Damascus are often narrow, mostly in the older parts of the city, and speed bumps are widely used to limit the speed.
Public transport in Damascus depends extensively on minibuses. There are about one hundred lines that operate inside the city and some of them extend from the city center to nearby suburbs. There is no schedule for the lines, and due to the limited number of official bus stops, buses will usually stop wherever a passenger needs to get on or off. The number of buses serving the same line is relatively high, which minimizes the waiting time. Lines are not numbered, rather they are given captions mostly indicating the two end points and possibly an important station along the line.
Al-Hijaz railway station, lies in the city center. Currently this station is closed, and railway connections with other cities take place in a suburb.
In 2008, the government announced a plan to construct an underground system in Damascus with opening time for the green line scheduled for 2015 Damascus Metro
Culture
Damascus was the 2008 Arab Capital of Culture.
Museums
National Museum of Damascus
Azem Palace
Military Museum
Museum of Arabic Calligraphy
Leisure activities
Damascus by night, pictured from Jabal Qasioun; the green spots are minarets
Parks and gardens
Tishreen Park is by far the largest park in Damascus. It is home to the yearly held Damascus Flower Show. Other parks include Aljahiz, Al sibbki, Altijara and Alwahda. Damascus' Ghouta (Oasis) is also a popular destination for recreation.
Cafe culture
Cafes are popular meeting spots for Damascene, where Arghilehs (water pipes) and popular beverages are served. Card games, Tables (backgammon variants), and chess are common in these cafes.
Sports
Popular sports include football, basketball, swimming and table tennis. Damascus is home to many sports clubs, such as:
Al Jaish
Al Wahda
Al Majd
Barada
Nearby attractions
Madaya
Bloudan
Zabadani
Maaloula
Saidnaya
Born in Damascus
Hadadezer King of Aram Damascus and leader of the coalition the 12 kings coalition that fought against Shalmaneser III
Nicolaus of Damascus (historian and philosopher)
John of Damascus (676-749) Christian saint
Ananias (Christian disciple involved in healing and preaching to Paul the Apostle)
Sophronius (Patriarch of Jerusalem)
Abd ar-Rahman I, Founder of Omayyad dynasty in Cordoba.
Izzat Husrieh, A renowned journalist and founder of the Syrian labor unions.
Khalid al-Azm, Former prime minister of Syria.
Shukri al-Quwatli, Former Syrian president and co-founder of the United Arab Republic.
Muna Wassef ( A Movie Star, and a United Nations Goodwill ambassador.)
Damascius (Byzantine philosopher)
Yasser Seirawan (chess player)
Ahmed Kuftaro (former grand mufti of Syria)
Ikram Antaki (Mexican writer)
Ghada al-Samman (novelist)
Nizar Qabbani (poet)
Michel Aflaq (political thinker and co-founder of the Baath Party)
Salah al-Din al-Bitar (political thinker and co-founder of the Baath Party)
Constantin Zureiq (academic and Arab nationalist intellectual)
Zakaria Tamer (writer)
Professor Aziz Al-Azmeh (academic, PhD in Oriental Studies)
Nazir Ismail (Artist)
Sheik Bashir Al Bani (Grand Sheik in Syria)
Mehdi Mourtada (Famous journalist and founder of WAS News Agency.
ARR 4003 leads a beefy Anchorage-to-Fairbanks freight north on Elmendorf AFB as the Chugach Mountains blur in the exhaust.
Well, they all can't be sunny, right? After a week of low clouds, rain, and drizzle, the sun was playing peek-a-boo with the clouds on this particular evening, but by the time this freight started to roll, the clouds were winning.
One of these days I'll get a sunny shot here to knock it off my list. I have 5 chances a week with an almost-constant departure time of 8:06PM to work with!
She Leads Me On.
Here is the story...amidst covid
Venturing out to an outskirt place, came upon a group of kite flyers in the open field. It was separated by a deep drain and was wondering how to cross over. There comes this lady, apparently familiar with the place, she choose a spot to cross over, I follow suite behind, and saw the V shape path against a backdrop of backlighted greenery, and a nice rim light cast upon her profile... seize that opportunity with Fuji XE3 and XF35mm F1.4.... "She leads me on" to the kite flyers just round the corner.
BNSF 676 (ATSF Warbonnet) leads the Q CHIROB on the BNSF Topeka Subdivision. Here it is rounding the curve before Gardner Road near De Soto, KS. You can’t ever turn down an ex-unit when it’s on it’s former territory.
UP 4564 leads an AC44CW and two more SD70Ms on the point of a southbound manifest heading toward the Cascade Mountains. The siding at this location is called Dougren, and when heading south it is the first siding on the route’s newer 1952 realignment that was built for the creation of Lookout Point Lake. That realignment moved the railroad from the North Bank of the Middle Fork Willamette River to its South Bank. The end of the train is likely near a location once called Fall Creek Jct. that no longer exists. It is on the other side of a bridge that crosses the river and is where the line once split between old and new alignments. The old alignment follows the bottom of the hills in the distance in a more easterly direction on the other side of the river, while the new one jets off in a more southerly direction toward the camera, as demonstrated by UP 4564. The two grades come back together 22 miles railroad south of Fall Creek Jct. on the new alignment, after another bridge back to the north side of the river, passed the siding of Hampton. (Union Pacific’s Brooklyn Subdivision. Taken January 22, 2023.)