Locomotives of Egypt

Thursday 10th June Andrew Shimmin presents "Locomotives of the Egyptian State Railway: from the earliest beginnings to the present day"

"Locomotives of the Egyptian State Railway: from the earliest beginnings to the present day". In connection with his forthcoming book "Egyptian Locomotives" (Mainline & Maritime) Andrew Shimmin will present a photographic history of the locomotives of the Egyptian state railway system. Beginning with the astonishing variety of locomotives used in the mid-19th century, the talk will explore the fascinating figure of Frederick Harvey Trevithick, and his unique approaches to locomotive design. In the first half of the twentieth century the ESR developed a fleet of fine and handsome locomotives of a particular character - the glory days of Egyptian steam will be shown with many interesting photographs, as will the locomotives arriving during the two World Wars. Post-war the ESR re-stocked with superb locomotives, which unfortunately were destined for a very short life in service. The story will be brought up to the present day with a brief overview of the diesel era and modern motive power."

The actual presentation will be between 19:15 – 21:45, although the meeting will start running at 18.45 for informal chat.

Please register in advance for this meeting:https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpcumtrj8tGN0KBCmfw4HvtTcdSQbhudGP

 

I hope this is the right place to post this - not quite international preservation but international steam!
I've not yet seen the book in hard copy, but it should be available any day. It can be purchased via the publisher, Mainline & Maritime:
https://mainline-maritime.myshopify.com/products/locomotives-of-egypt?_pos=1&_sid=789b548ae&_ss=r

 

My new book "Locomotives of Egypt" is now available.
This is an illustrated history of the development of motive power on the Egyptian State Railways from the earliest days to the present day.
80 pages, softback, over a hundred photos - most of them never published before.
https://mainline-maritime.myshopify.com/products/locomotives-of-egypt?_pos=1&_sid=789b548ae&_ss=r

 

Thanks for drawing attention to your new book on Locomotives of Egypt. I’ve just finished reading it – most interesting, as I knew almost nothing about Egyptian railways. There has perhaps been a reduction of interest from British enthusiasts in the railways of the British Empire and other British-influenced countries, but they remain an important part of the full history of British railway engineering. Apart from Canada, the “British Overseas” railways mostly stayed firmly within the British design school. The photos in your book show British style semaphore signalling as well as the British styling of most of the engines – from clean lines and avoidance of excess gadgetry, down to details such as lipped chimneys and low sandboxes.

It was startling to see that copies of Connor Caledonian 8-foot singles were among the earliest locomotives exported to Egypt. Among later types, Egypt’s major use of 4-4-2 types is notable – Atlantics were nearly always among the most elegant of locos. Curious that a Swindon-trained engineer took the domeless cult to Egypt in the 1930s, albeit on parallel rather than taper boilers. You don’t often see examples of domeless boilers anywhere overseas.

 

Thank you, very kind. Glad it was of interest.
I think the Egyptian locos are both handsome and fascinating.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

Congratulations on getting your book published Andrew. I also find some of the British designs built for export most attractive. I've never been to Egypt but my 'Old Man' snapped the photo below when he was there in 1942.

Unfortunately it was the only ESR photo that he took as his 'day job' kept him a bit busy!

Cheers,
Ray.