The fulfilment of this enterprise will always rank as a magnificent achievement in the romance of railway engineering; the methods by which the numerous obstacles were broken down as they arose contribute fascinating incidents to a thrilling story. When it is remembered that approximately 1000 miles of metals had to be laid through some of the most sterile and difficult country on the globe; that some 4000 bridges, viaducts and tunnels had to be built to span rushing rivers, yawning chasms, and to penetrate precipitous bluffs; that sudden drops had to be made from highlands to valleys, and equally steep ascents from depressions to plateaus, then a faint idea of the formidable character of the undertaking may be gathered.
Photo, Helladjian]
A STRIKING PIECE OF RAILWAY BUILDING IN THE YARMUK GORGE
The railway track is hewn out of the cliff, swings round the head of the gorge and reappears on the opposite side.
For months the constructional engineers were buried in the midst of the biting, scorching and driving sand, quite isolated from the outside world, the clang of the tools being the only sound breaking a silence so intense that it could be felt. Occasionally the news filtered through that the implacable nomads roaming the sweltering plains had swooped down upon the camps and that a desperate hand-to-hand struggle had been waged. Minute details were not vouchsafed, for such incidents became so frequent as to become monotonous.
A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF A CHASM IN PALESTINE, THROUGH WHICH THE LINE FOLLOWS A WINDING PATH ON THE LEFT
Photos, Helladjian]