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A passenger train of the Israel Railways passes a semaphore signal at Bet Shemsh. Photo by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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Class G12 Diesel-electric locomotive (G12-107), built by GM in the US in 1954. Railway Museum (Haifa-East). 29 May 2012. P.L. Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr)

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Class G12 Diesel-electric locomotive (G12-107), built by GM in the US in 1954. Railway Museum (Haifa-East). 29 May 2012. P.L. Guillemin (plguillemin@yahoo.fr)

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Old (left) and new Israeli diesel locomotive. The new one is of the type JT42BW of Alstom in France. Photo by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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Jerusalem station was opened in 1892, and daily trains from Jaffa and later from Tel Aviv stopped here until only recently, when the line was closed due to little demand and poor maintenance. In this 1996 photo, the train from Tel Aviv is seen parked next to the single platform. Locomotives are GM class GP-12. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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The Haifa–Tel Aviv main line is ISR’s most important passenger route, carrying thousands of passengers between the two cities, although rarely behind two GM diesels up front. For a country so small as Israel, this is a considerable achievement. Newer GEC locomotives and coaches are now replacing ISR’s ageing fleet of GM GP-12 diesels. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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To meet the growing public demand for more passenger trains, ISR added an entire lot of ex-SNCF Inox coaches to its Haifa–Tel Aviv route a few years ago. The leading coach houses a generator to power the train’s a/c. the driver of locomotive #117 has his own a/c unit right above him – an absolute necessity in the sizzling summer months! Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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Of the former British line (built in 1942) from Haifa in Palestine to Beirut and Tripoli in Lebanon, all that is left is a short section from Haifa to Akko (or Acre) and Naharia. ISR #125 is about to pull out of Akko with the usual midday train to Naharia, another several miles due north of Haifa and Akko. The leading coach is an ex-British Rail stock, one of several such coaches now replaced by new IC3 trainsets. 26 September 1996. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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The afternoon sun reflects against the bright colors of ISR locomotive #122, here seen accelerating out of Akko station on the 02 January 1997. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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For decades, Lod station (east of Tel Aviv) was a large railway junction, where the lines from Egypt and Sinai to Haifa connected with the line to Jerusalem. Today, there are no more any trains to Egypt or even to Jerusalem. In this 08 April 1992 photo, the four p.m. train to Jerusalem is a laughably short make of just two coaches. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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South of Haifa, the ISR line runs in parallel to the coastal highway. In 1994, an express train, pulled by a GP-12 diesel, is speeding across the Carmel mountain range, minutes from its destination. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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A train ride to Jerusalem is no longer possible, now that the line is closed to all traffic. But in 1993, there was still a daily train from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is a typical view of the line as it climbs up the Judean hills. The considerably long train (five coaches) is in the charge of an old GM GP-12 diesel. Modern roads and poor maintenance resulted in the closure of this magnificent line. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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This photo shows the remails of a GP-12 diesel at Haifa-East. It is (was) ISR #130, ex-Egyptian Railways captured in June 1967. I can’t tell now what happened to it, but it’s clearly beyond salvation in this 1992 photo at Haifa-East station. This diesel even lacks its bogies, standing on an old Palestine Railways flatcar. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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ISR’s Haifa-Kishon workshops are located on the former British line from Haifa to Beirut in Lebanon. The workshops are easily seventy years old now, and the roar of GM diesel locomotives has meanwhile replaced the many steamers that had once filled the servicing facilities throughout this large depot. On a hot summer morning in 1999, ISR class GP-12 diesel #104 is standing idle outside the diesel shop. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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Between about 1922 and 1948, Hadera-East station was on the old Palestine Railways main line from Haifa to Lod and Egypt. ISR trains continued to pass there until the opening of the then-new coastal line from Haifa to Tel Aviv via Hadera-West station, in the early 1960s, after which Hadera-East became a ghost station. In this May 1993 photo, ISR class GP-12 #113 is about to reverse into the closed station with just two empty wagons from the adjacent Hadera Grain Mill. A sad end to a great line. Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>

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A typical ISR train in the 1970s would have looked exactly as this photo shows – a GM GP-12 pulling a set of German coaches, in this case a motorless MFE trainset. #120’s livery has changed several times since then. Photo collection Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>