Following in the Footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia 🇬🇧 - Adventurising the Hejaz Railway 🇸🇦

In 1900 The Ottoman Empire began the construction of a 1,300 kilometre train network that would connect Damascus to Medina in Saudi Arabia. The original purpose was to transport pilgrims to the holy city of Mecca, and also to maintain political and economic influence over the region. The railway faced constant opposition from dissident tribes across the Hejaz, who frequently attacked the network. Those attacks remained unsuccessful until the outbreak of the First World War. The Hejaz line was repeatedly attacked and damaged, particularly during the Arab Revolt, when Ottoman trains were ambushed by the guerrilla force led by T. E. Lawrence. On 26 March 1917, T. E. Lawrence (known as Lawrence of Arabia) led an attack on the Abu Al Na'am Station, taking 30 prisoners and inflicting 70 casualties on the garrison. He went on to say, "Traffic was held up for three days of repair and investigation. So we did not wholly fail." In May 1917, British bombers dropped bombs on Al-'Ula Station. In July 1917, Stewart Newcombe, a British engineer and associate of Lawrence, conspired with forces from the Egyptian and Indian armies to sabotage the railway. The Al-Akhdhar station was attacked and 20 Turkish soldiers were captured. In October 1917, the Ottoman stronghold of Tabuk fell to Arab rebels. The Abu-Anna’em station was also captured. In November 1917, Sharif Abdullah and the tribe of Harb attacked Al-Buwayr station and destroyed two locomotives. In December 1917, a group of men led by Ibn Ghusiab derailed a train on the line south of Tabuk. The images at the end of the video shows some of the names of the original constructors. The Hajaz railway was engineered mainly by the Prussian (now Germany) steelworks. Some of the trains and carriages were built by Belgium companies at the time, along with he tracks and sleepers. Guttsmann Breslau was possibly a supplier from what is now Wroclaw in Poland. Angleur is a place in Belgium close to the city of Liege. During this period this area was full of industrial enterprises including the larger John Cockerill steelworks. It' possible that Angleur was a separate steelworks at the time, and a major supplier to the Ottomans. There is no information on Gammell other than the Gammel GMBH engineering firm that currently exists today. I've not managed to find any link between these two companies. One small correction. The Huraymil station that's mentioned in the video should actually be Hadiyah. Huraymil is a small settlement slightly further north to the station. 00:00 Teaser 01:05 Introduction 01:35 Leaving Medina, Saudi Arabia 03:00 Arriving at Al Buwayr Station 03:35 Inspecting the trains at Al Buwayr 06:36 Restored train at Al Buwayr 07:16 Drive towards Huraymil Station 08:04 Entering the derelict site of Huraymil 09:05 What did the Ottomans do for us 10:58 Inspecting the overturned train 12:26 Inspecting the derelict station house 14:14 Walking along the track 14:45 Inspecting the derelict carriages 16:45 Inspecting the second station house 17:20 Information on Huraymil, Al Buwayr and Abu Na'am stations 18:24 Leaving the Huraymil Station 19:36 Photos of Gammell, Guttsmann Breslau and Angleur names embossed on to the framework 20:05 Thanks for watching please subscribe for more adventurising All content belongs to Small Planet Pix Visit my website here: https://www.matthewstarling.co.uk/ Subscribe to my YouTube Channel here:    / @smallplanetpix   The gear i currently use: DJI Mini 3 Pro - https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Mini-Pro-L... DJI Osmo Hero - https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Super-Wide... Insta360 One RS - https://www.amazon.com/insta360-ONE-1...