Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE HEDJAZ RAILWAY. 345 nothing for it but to follow the old pilgrims’ track along the very face of the cliff. By an extremely clever piece, of engineering the line is carried down to the valley in a long looped curve, parallel to the cliffs. So well was the work Clever Engin- eering. To Tebuk. the face of done that the grade nowhere exceeds 1’8 per cent. The descent of the ravine is undoubt- edly one of the most prominent engineering features of the whole railway, and its execu- tion reflects the highest credit on those who were responsible. The valley gained, the railway twists in and out among rocky promontories, occasion- ally tunnelling through an obstacle, and at Wadi Rutm definitely enters the open depression, flanked to the east by the red and yellow sandstone bluffs 20 miles away, and on the west by the black, jagged rocks of the Red Sea watershed. In the valley have sprung up several small settlements since the coming of the railway, notably at Kalaat-i- Mudiverre, and at Zat-el-Haj. At the first of these is procurable, for the first time since leaving Ma’an, a supply of water, raised by a wind-pump from the station well ; at the second is seen once more some sign of vegeta- tion—a few palm trees. Four hundred and thirty miles from Ma’an the railway reaches Tebuk, a small oasis which had great im- portance as a halting-place for pilgrims. Its comparatively abundant wells have also made it an important railway depot—Ma’an on a smaller scale — equipped with engine-house, extensive sidings, and several stone buildings, of which one is a commodious hospital. e When the construction parties first reached Tebuk the inhabitants were very few, as the result of a raid which had driven most of the vil- lagers to take refuge at Ma’an and elsewhere. The name (Tebuk = “ treachery ”) commem- orates a treacherous attack made in 629 A.D. by Bedouins on a force being led north- wards by Mohammed himself to repel a rumoured Byzantine invasion of Arabia. Shortly after leaving Tebuk the line crosses a wide gully, down which rushes occasionally a turbulent torrent; for even in this arid region rain sometimes falls, and then in tor- rents. The bridge, or rather viaduct, of twelve arches here is remarkable as being the only one on the line built by the Turkish soldiers. The plain continues for some distance, and then the ranges of hills converge suddenly from either side, and close the basin. Plung- ing through, a short tunnel, the railway emerges into a narrow valley, up which it climbs easily on a gentle gradient, and passes through extremely fine scenery to Medain Salih, near which the highest point on the line—3,750 feet above sea-level—is attained. The section between Tebuk and Medain Salih was entrusted entirely to the military. El Ula, 609 miles from Damascus, is pos- sibly the most important station on the railway. Here we find a little town of four thousand souls buried in the heart of El the desert. It contains five ,,, Ula. hundred houses, and boasts copious springs, and a thousand acres planted with date palms and cereals. The station, somewhat imposing and extensive, is the last depot north of Medina, and close to it are repair shops, engine-sheds, and houses for the railway staff. Beyond El Ula the infidel may not go. Though Medina is still 210 miles away, Moslem prejudice forbids an unbeliever to approach nearer to the holy city. The journey has, indeed, been made by one or two ßarrier “ pagan ” Europeans, but not without great personal risk ; and many years must elapse before improvements in means of communication will break down the barrier set up by the devotees of this uncompromis- ing religion. Even Meissner Pasha himself fell under the ban, and was obliged to relegate