Lawrence of Arabia

Al Hadiyah station and junction in the Hejaz narrow gauge railway built by the Ottoman government primarily to transport pilgrims to Medina and Mecca. It was also used for government and military functions, such as moving troops and materiel. This is a site left as is as a kind of monument after attacks here by Lawrence of Arabia and local tribes to shut down the line during World War 1.

The 1st 2 pictures are some of the wreckage left from the charges set and exploded during the war. The 3rd picture looks along the 3 structures at the site. This was an important Ottoman strategic junction. One building is the old station in the 4th picture. The 5th picture is inside the station. The 6th picture is the old water tower. In a couple of the pictures you can still see the water filling stations for the steam engines.
While the tracks are gone, the old roadbed still can be seen. As I mentioned, this is a junction. You can see a guy walking on each part of the split in the tracks. The one to the left goes to Medina (see another post). The one to the right probably went to AlUla (see another post).Read more