British enthusiast tour traverses ‘rare track’ in Israel

AFTER three postponements due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a long-planned series of railtours in Israel organized by UK tour company PTG Tours along with Israeli Railways and the Haifa based National Railway

Museum, finally ran in late March and early April.

The special trains, which ran over three days, covered many of the country’s freight lines and were the first enthusiast tour to operate for many years.

The special trains featured 1979-built EMD G26 diesel

No. 604, but due to overheating problems this was exchanged on the third day for more modern Spanish-built JT42CW No. 705. A major highlight for all on board was a day travelling on the freight lines that run through the Negev Desert – in particular the currently mothballed 50km branch towards the phosphate mine at Zin, which dispatched its last loaded train on March 25, 2021.

IAN HUTTON Israeli Railways Freight Sector GM JT42CW No. 705 plus Passenger sector JT42BW No. 764 with the PTG Tour Train among the sand dunes at the Mamshit loops in the Negev Desert on Tuesday, March 29.