Egypt's Abandoned Desert Railway | Qena to Safaga

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  • Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
  • Whilst on holiday in Egypt I discovered an abandoned railway and became a bit obsessed with it. Nobody in the area knew much about it, despite them seeing it almost every day, and even the information I did get was conflicting. It turns out this was the line from Qena to Safaga and it's got a bit of a history involving armed gangs and poor financial decisions.
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    0:00 A Railway in the Desert
    1:36 Research
    3:06 All Becomes Clear
    4:57 World War 2 Railway
    5:42 The Future

КОМЕНТАРІ • 50

  • @HandFromCoffin
    @HandFromCoffin 8 місяців тому +10

    This is literally the other guy on earth who would have noticed, looked this up, filmed it, and put it on youtube.

  • @retf8977
    @retf8977 Місяць тому +8

    Underappreciated and unique topic that I had only a bit of surface level knowledge about, Greetings from Egypt!

  • @AhmedAdly11
    @AhmedAdly11 Місяць тому +8

    Thanks for this video because I have been driving past it for 30 years and it is nice to finally know its story.

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  Місяць тому +3

      It would be incredible if they could re-open the line. Tourists would love it. Beautiful scenery.

  • @yyamaana2016
    @yyamaana2016 20 днів тому +1

    I am from Safaga, i never thought anyone would talk about this thank you for bringing this topic

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  13 днів тому

      Thanks for watching. Safaga has such a beautiful coast line and the Red Sea is incredible.

  • @amrbahram2171
    @amrbahram2171 25 днів тому +2

    Well you got yourself an Egyptian railway enthusiast on the hook

  • @zivadivathedog9392
    @zivadivathedog9392 8 місяців тому +7

    Very interesting even when we are on holiday we can’t stop thinking about railways. Hope you enjoyed your holiday.

  • @jonhill9548
    @jonhill9548 5 місяців тому +2

    I remember traveling from Safaga to Qena on a local bus in about 1982 and seeing the railway by the side of the road looking pristine and thinking that it would be great to travel on it.
    Disappointed to be planning a trip back to that part of the world and finding from your video that it had gone.

  • @BidoMaggot
    @BidoMaggot Місяць тому +5

    cool video

  • @pacificcoastminiatures
    @pacificcoastminiatures 8 місяців тому +4

    Interesting story, you did an amazing job of putting it together with all the research you did. Might even inspire someone to model this railway.

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  8 місяців тому +3

      Thanks 👍 Yeah, would make a great model if you could split the layout into sections for sea, desert and Nile.

  • @johnjmc
    @johnjmc 8 місяців тому +4

    nice bit of research and very interesting bud

  • @PaulinesPastimes
    @PaulinesPastimes 8 місяців тому +1

    There is always something sad about abandoned railways, when you see how much work went into building them and the sometimes short sighted reasons they were abandoned. Hope you had a good time in Egypt. 😊

  • @dinmorejunctionmodelrailway
    @dinmorejunctionmodelrailway 8 місяців тому +5

    I've been there for a day trip out on the red sea from Luxor.

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  8 місяців тому +5

      It's a long day, but worth it. Hope you enjoyed it.

    • @dinmorejunctionmodelrailway
      @dinmorejunctionmodelrailway 8 місяців тому +5

      @@LittleWicketRailway Luxor is my second home.

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  8 місяців тому +3

      @@dinmorejunctionmodelrailway it's an amazing place. I struggled to get my head round the temples being 3000+ years old.

  • @eugeniomarins2936
    @eugeniomarins2936 8 місяців тому +4

    Dear Sir,
    Very interesting video! Great research btw, congrats! I would love to visit Egypt, not to see railways, though... ;O)
    Cheers from Brazil!

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  8 місяців тому +3

      Thanks 👍 It's a fascinating country to visit, loads to see and great weather ☀️

  • @TATICMOOR
    @TATICMOOR 7 місяців тому +1

    Ahh, what a guy, and well spotted Rob. You did superbly in researching and producing this little video gem. A little left of centre from the LWR channel, but I do love the ancient Egyptian culture and how old it is. Their buildings are amazing and how they achieved it with the basic tools they had then. Maybe they had a Pharaoh Light Railway thats waiting to be discovered under all that sand. Rob The Discover, what a title in Cartouche Hieroglyphs, lol.

  • @Ahreman_egy
    @Ahreman_egy Місяць тому +4

    on a side not,
    we pronounce Qena = Kenna

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  Місяць тому +2

      Thanks, sorry for the mispronunciation

    • @Ahreman_egy
      @Ahreman_egy Місяць тому +3

      @@LittleWicketRailway its all good just wanted to help if someone wanna look it up or something

  • @conongarage9084
    @conongarage9084 28 днів тому +2

    The new high speed EET project is in progress now with new alignment route and stations. I work on it…
    By the way Q is pronounced as K and there is no U in Qena so it’s “Kena”

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  28 днів тому +1

      That's awesome. Which part are you working on?

    • @conongarage9084
      @conongarage9084 26 днів тому +2

      The whole railway. We are the Employers Representative

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  26 днів тому +1

      @@conongarage9084 cool, I hope the project goes well and that one day I can ride the new rails.

  • @user-zh2se6tw1c
    @user-zh2se6tw1c Місяць тому +1

    I always enjoy these types of videos, thanks for putting it up, David, NSW, Aust..

  • @a.h.s.3006
    @a.h.s.3006 27 днів тому +2

    It’s Qena
    Qe-Na. Not Qwena
    Sorry, I had to say it.
    Anyway. Holy crap that was interesting. If you travel in some places in Egypt like on some old bridges, you will missing railings….. those were stolen as scrap metal. At some point, manhole covers were also stolen for scrap metal too, some still getting stolen. Metal theft is way too common than it should be.

  • @OOElectronics
    @OOElectronics 8 місяців тому +3

    Really great video. Production was superb.

  • @Ahreman_egy
    @Ahreman_egy Місяць тому +5

    im egyptian and i didt even know this exists lol

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  Місяць тому +2

      Cool, where in Egypt are you from?

    • @Ahreman_egy
      @Ahreman_egy Місяць тому +2

      @@LittleWicketRailway Alexandria, way up north :)

  • @tobyakirkby
    @tobyakirkby 8 місяців тому +1

    A very interesting video Rob, ☺️

  • @ahmedislam8490
    @ahmedislam8490 24 дні тому +2

    Such a comedic story people in Egypt are not interested in a lot of things especially railways😂

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  13 днів тому

      It's understandable I think, an industrial railway line probably isn't too interesting for 99.9% of people. It would make such a great railway trip though if they ever opened it back up.

  • @Redmenace96
    @Redmenace96 Місяць тому +2

    Classic Egypt- forget the investment in rail (cheaper, faster,less disruption to communities) = trucks can do it!

    • @LittleWicketRailway
      @LittleWicketRailway  13 днів тому

      It was similar in the UK. Cars came along, railways closed. Now we have too many cars and they're trying to re-open the railway lines that have been closed for 80 years.

  • @williamvanalen9414
    @williamvanalen9414 8 місяців тому +1

    They should have stuck with the monorail idea instead of building it in Lartigue lol

  • @Chris.Davies
    @Chris.Davies 21 годину тому

    25fps???

  • @AhmedAdly11
    @AhmedAdly11 Місяць тому +4

    Well anything that people have forgotten about was "built by the British long ago" 😂

  • @nickedmonds4635
    @nickedmonds4635 7 місяців тому +2

    Hi there I am trying to get some bits together for a display at the Ronald McDonald house hospital in Oxfordshire for the kids this Christmas do you have any old trains and track to donate for us please or do you know anyone we can ask?

    • @rileycoyote4924
      @rileycoyote4924 Місяць тому +1

      I'd say try asking someone at a heritage railway nearby. I'm sure that someone should know or may actually want to donate.