Re: Turkish Railways in 1914

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geminif4ucorsair
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Re: Turkish Railways in 1914

Post by geminif4ucorsair »

There is some need for minor changes in Turkish railways in 1914.....
below is a link to continental Turkey, as of 1914:

/Users/keithjacobs/Desktop/Turkey RR schetch_1914.png

For a larger view map, dated 1917, that shows Turkish RR in the whole Ottoman Empire, see:

http://www.trainsofturkey.com/uploads/M ... p_1917.jpg

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There are also a series of rail line maps, dating up to 1970, at the following URL:

http://www.trainsofturkey.com/pmwiki.php/Maps/Maps

* If you are playing Turkey in SR-36, the appropriate map would be the 1933 map.

This section of the pages includes the following maps:

Header: Old maps

The most interesting value about these maps is to look at all the intended lines at the time and compare with the actual situation. It also worth to note that some lines have been in planning stage throughout the century without being built yet.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1970 (330 Ko)
Trains Magazine, April 1970, page 27.
It shows lots of quite unusual projected lines such as a link Trabzon Erzurun. It is certainly an all-time winner: a dream were all large roads are converted to rails!

* * Turkey, Railways in 1968 (170Ko)
La Vie du Rail, 28 April 1968, page 14
This map has the usual lot of "projected" lines.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1956 (538Ko)
"Atlas Hachette, le tour du monde en 180 cartes", Hachette, 1956, p44
A beautifully colored map, with no projected lines. Sign of times: this maps includes Cyprus and its railway. Some branch lines such as Elazig or Kirklareli are missing.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1941 (270 Ko)
"La politique ferroviaire en Turquie", Direction Générale de la Presse; 1941
This map indicates four unusual projected lines: Bandirma to Canakkale, Karakuyu to Cumra via Beysehir, Sumucak to Erzurum via Amasya (sic) and finally Tercan to Mus.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1937 (430 Ko)
"Construction des lignes de Chemins De Fer Irmak - Filyos & Fevzipasa - Diyarbekir", Groupe Suedo - Danois; Goteborg & Copenhague: Nydquist & Holm.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1933 (315 Ko)
"Les chemins de Fer en Turquie et la politique ferroviaire turque", Orhan Conker, p87
This map indicates many projected lines, including one to Canakale and a Erzurum Mus connection.

* * Turkey, Railways in 1918 (260 Ko)

* * Turkey, Railways in 1917 (374 Ko)

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* * Some historical background to development might be of interest:

Overview of railways in Anatolia
Before World War 1: the private companies

The table below shows all the companies in Turkey during the Ottoman time. Original names are most of the time in French, which was commonly used as international language in the Ottoman Empire in the late 19s century.
This table includes the branch line to Kars. Although not in the Empire at the time of building, this branch of the Transcaucasus railway was taken over when Kars was conquered by the Imperial armies in 1917
Short Name Full Original Name Line Start date Taken over by

* CO Société Générale pour l'Exploitation des Chemins de Fer Orientaux Istanbul to Bulgaria and Greece 1874 TCDD 1 January 1937

* ORC Ottoman Railway from Smyrna to Aydin Izmir to Buca, Aydin, Sarayköy, Dinar, Egridir 1866 TCDD 1 June 1935

* SCP Smyrna Cassaba railway, renamed Chemins de fer Smyrne Cassaba et Prolongements Izmir to Turgutlu, Alasehir, Usak, Afyon and Izmir to Bandirma, 1869 TCDD 1 June 1934

* CFOA Société de Chemins de Fer Ottomans d'Anatolie Istanbul, Izmit, Adapazari, Eskisehir, Ankara, Konya 1873 C.F. Anatolie Bahgdad 1 June 1927

* CIOB - CFIO Baghdad Société Impériale Ottomane du Chemins de Fer de Baghdad or Chemins du Fer Impérial Ottomans de Bagdad Konya, Adana, Toprakkale, Iskenderun, Islahiye, Meydanekbez, Nusaybin Baghdad 1904

* C.F. Anatolie Bahgdad 1 June 1927
MTA Mersin - Adana Mersin, Tarsus, Yenice, Adana 1886 TCDD 1 January 1929

* CFMB Chemins de fer de Moudiana à Brousse Mudanya Bursa 1892 TCDD 1 June 1931
--- Transcaucasus Railways Sarikamis, Kars to border, plus 750 mm gauge line to Erzurum 1899 C.F. Anatolie Bahgdad 1 June 1927

* * First World War and Independence War

For various reasons not discussed here, the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War on the side of Germany and of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and against France, the United-Kingdom and Russia. During the 1914-1918 period, no fighting occurred on the Anatolian soil but the "enemy railways" (the SCP, and the ORC) were placed under special military control until 1919.

In the aftermath of defeat, Anatolia was occupied by the Great Powers which in turn placed the "German railways" under special military control. However, fightings in Anatolia did start in 1920 when Greece proceeded with an attack and an occupation of Western Anatolia. The Turkish Nationalist, led by Atatürk, fought back and expelled the Greeks in 1922. These combats brought about heavy damage to the railways, especially in Eskisehir area.
During all this time, actual control and operation of the railway lines in Anatolia is quite obscure. It is likely that traffic was minimal and most of the equipment was not serviceable. Only parts of lines were operated by whoever had military control of the area.

*After the War: railway nationalized through TCDD

After the War, a Turkish State company was formed to take over the railways that were under German ownership and lying in Anatolia under Turkish control. This company took the name of Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad and formed the nucleus of TCDD. All the railways belonging to the French or the British were returned to their former owners.
Short Name Full Original Name Line Start date Taken over by
---
* Chemins de fer d'Anatolie Baghdad Istanbul Izmit Adapazari, Eskisehir, Ankara, Konya, Pozanti, Adana, Mersin 22 April 1924 TCDD 1 June 1927
In addition, a company was created by the French, after WWI, to take over the part of the Baghdad railways that was in the area controlled by the French (Cilicia and Syria). This company was reorganized when the French withdrew from Cilicia, and again when the assets in Turkey were transferred to TCDD.
Short Name Full Original Name Line Start date Taken over by

* CNS Chemins de fer de Cilicie Nord Syrie Adana, Toprakkale, Iskenderun, Islahiye, Meydanekbez, Nusaybin, Baghdad, 1918 BANP 1927

* BANP Société d'exploitation des Chemins de Fer Bozanti Alep Nissibine et Prolongements Adana, Toprakkale, Iskenderun, Islahiye, Meydanekbez, Nusaybin, Baghdad, 1927 TCDD (partly) 1 July 1933
CD Société Turque des Chemins de Fer du Sud de la Turquie (Cenup Demiryolari) Fevzipasa, Islahiye to Meydanekbez; Çobanbey to Nusaybin and Payas to Iskenderun 1 July 1933 TCDD January 1948
Second wave of line building

In addition to gradually taking over all the private railways, TCDD had a mandate for extensive line building to the point that it became the main expenditure of the government. This second wave of expansion occurred mostly in the 1930's and 1940's with the opening of important lines to places like Malatya, Ezurum, Samsun or Zonguldak
From the Second World War to present days

Turkey remained neutral during the Second World War. But after the war, with American aid through the Marshal plan, Turkey shifted its priorities from rail to road transportation. Over the years, bus and truck became the transportation of choice over the newly build roads.

The rail network expansion came slowly to a halt without being finished. In addition, under investment meant that line modernization was very slow. Steam engines were kept in service until very late in the 1980's. TCDD modernization program relies on modern automatic block signaling system and 25KV electrification of its main lines. Some double tracking and realignments have been done as well along the same main roads

Rail investment rebirth came through urban mass transportation. In the 1990's, urban networks, from light rail to heavy metro were inaugurated in most of the large Turkish cities. Transportation needs in large cities and road congestion brought about the latest shift in TCDD strategy. In the late 1990's, TCDD forgo its network expansion strategy and focused instead on the upgrade of the Istanbul Ankara mainline.

[Map within original text would not paste to above....unfortunately.]
Source: http://www.trainsofturkey.com
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Balthagor
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Re: Re: Turkish Railways in 1914

Post by Balthagor »

Noted
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Chris Latour
BattleGoat Studios
chris@battlegoat.com
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