Foreword
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Note: this text was edited by Jean-Patrick Charrey | ||
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These pictures were taken during four consecutive trips to Turkey from 1974 to 1977. Steam finished in Britain in 1968 and British photographers started to go abroad to chase the last remains of steam. First they moved to European soil, to Germany, Austria, France, Spain and Portugal. When steam had virtually died out also in those countries they looked further a field and found Turkey was reasonably accessible. The other option for steam was Eastern Europe, which was less appealing for various fairly obvious reasons. I knew of two people who had travelled in Turkey in 1969 and 1970. Pictures of the local steam service out of Izmir to the south with the backdrop of all the houses covering the hillside stuck in my mind. At the same time, tour operators started offering cheap package holiday to Istanbul. Our first trip to Turkey in early 1974 cost under £40 for a round trip by plane to Istanbul and including a week in a hotel, which we didn't use except for the last night. The hire car was expensive but it took us from Ankara right down to Adana by way of Samsun and Kayseri and back via Cankiri. Good value for us! I know of at least two people who drove overland from England all the way to eastern Turkey on a number of occasions. In all four trips we hired a car and covered most of the country except the extremities like the far end of the Kars line and the Diyarbakır line beyond Ergani. Istanbul and Ankara were also ignored because by that time steam was very patchy in those areas. I have never seen the railway in Ankara on each occasion we passed through heading for Irmak on the understanding there was no steam in the capital at that time. I have never seen a Turkish electric! On the same assumption, I never went to Bilecik, most probably never knew about the banking there or if it was still steam worked. Hindsight is a wonderful science! Seriously obtaining information back in 1974 was virtually impossible. Apart for the two people I knew, we had no information. In particular, we had no idea when lines would be dieselised. For example, when we went to the Taurus in 1975, we didn't know that that would be our last steam sighting on the line. The only maps we had were the standard all Turkey roadmap and a lot of guesswork and good fortune were needed. None of the accommodation was prebooked. The itineraries were very loosely organised and were based on finding a train and staying with it unless the scenery became boring or the weather worsened. In bad weather we tended to keep moving, hence the reason we never covered the line between Adana and Malatya and on to Elazıg, which had been planned for the 1976 trip. On most occasions out in the country, when we found a steam train we would stay with it for maybe all day or until we found something else at a passing loop when we might then chase that back. We always travelled as a party of four to reduce the costs and because it was not always the same four people a certain amount of repetition took place over the years. Sadly because of the shortness of the trips (due to business and family commitments) little time was spent exploring newer areas or seeking out the more unusual locomotives. These times in Turkey were very enjoyable with very friendly people who helped us out on numerous occasions when we had problems with our hire cars. One replacement car was driven to us in Sivas overnight from Izmir!!! To this day I don't know how the driver did it. Numerous punctures were repaired free of charge or in exchange for some English cigarettes. Whilst I have been back to Turkey on numerous occasions since, they have all been to the tourist spots in the south west and I have never set eyes on TCDD since 1977. I often wonder what the places are like nearly thirty years down the line but I suspect they will have changed out of all recognition and basically I prefer to remember them as they were. After Turkey many photographers moved on to South Africa, South America, India, Pakistan and Indonesia. Since China opened its doors in the mid 1980ies more and more people went and explored China. In the sugar beet season people go to Cuba for genuine American turn-of-the-century steam. One last word regarding the camera gear used in those days: Pentax Spotmatic SP500 and a Pentax S1a with lenses of 35, 50, 85 135 and 180mm lengths. The film used was Kodachrome 11 (called two, but always printed as 11 never 2) and the film that replaced it sometime in the mid 1970's Kodachrome25.
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1974 |
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Friday |
29 March 1974 |
London to Istanbul and forward flight to Ankara. Night in Ankara. |
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Saturday |
30 March 1974 |
Cankiri, Irmak, Night in Samsun |
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Sunday |
31 March 1974 |
Samsum Ladik Amasya, Night in Sivas |
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Monday |
1 April 1974 |
Sivas, Hanli, Tuzla, Kayseri, Night in Mersin |
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Tuesday |
2 April 1974 |
Posanti, Yenice, Ulukisla, Mersin, Tarsus, Night in Mersin |
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Wednesday |
3 April 1974 |
Posanti, Yenice, Ulukisla, Night in Cankiri |
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Thursday |
4 April 1974 |
Korgan, Cankiri, Germece, Irmak, Ankara flight back to Istanbul, night in Istanbul |
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Friday |
5 April 1974 |
Flight back to London |
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1975 |
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Monday |
7 April 1975 |
London to Istanbul and forward flight to Ankara. Night in Ankara |
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Tuesday |
8 April 1975 |
Ankara, Cankiri, Tuney, Irmak, Night in Yozgat |
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Wednesday |
9 April 1975 |
Yildizeli Sivas, Night in Sivas (waiting for replacement car to arrive from Izmir overnight) |
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Thursday |
10 April 1975 |
Erzincan, , Night in Elazig |
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Friday |
11 April 1975 |
Yolcati, Elazig, Palu, Night in Elazig |
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Saturday |
12 April 1975 |
Ergani, Maden, Sivirice, Elazig, Yolcati, Night in Adana |
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Sunday |
13 April 1975 |
Posanti, Ankara, Should have been Ankara, but stuck with two punctures at dusk north of Ulukisla and couldn't get it sorted until after midnight. Then drove through the night to catch an early flight from Ankara on the |
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Monday |
14 April 1975 |
Flight Back to Istanbul & London |
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1976 |
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Friday |
19 March 1976 |
London to Istanbul. Night in Istanbul |
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Saturday |
20 March 1976 |
Flight Istanbul Izmir, Izmir, Selcuk, Camlik, Catal, Tire |
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Sunday |
21 March 1976 |
Izmir, Night in Usak |
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Monday |
22 March 1976 |
Eregli, Ulukisla, Karaman, Night in Mersin |
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Tuesday |
23 March 1976 |
Yenice, Fevzipasa, Kmaras, Malatya, Night in Elazig |
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Wednesday |
24 March 1976 |
Elazig, Palu, Erzincan, Night in Elazig |
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Thursday |
25 March 1976 |
Maden, Night in Elazig |
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Friday |
26 March 1976 |
Erzurum, Pasinler, Night in Erzincan |
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Saturday |
27 March 1976 |
Demirkapi, Tanyeri, , Night in Yozgat |
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Sunday |
28 March 1976 |
Irmak, Ankara, flight to Istanbul |
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Monday |
29 March 1976 |
Istanbul, flight back to London |
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1977 |
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Friday |
4 March 1977 |
Flight from London to Istanbul |
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Saturday |
5 March 1977 |
Yeniköy, Bandirma |
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Sunday |
6 March 1977 |
Izmir, Torbali, Camlik, Ortaklar |
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Monday |
7 March 1977 |
Izmir |
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Tuesday |
8 March 1977 |
Usak, Karakuyu, Dinar, Egirdir |
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Wednesday |
9 March 1977 |
Egirdir, Günüsgün, Dinar, Burdur |
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Thursday |
10 March 1977 |
Konya |
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Friday |
11 March 1977 |
Kayseri, Nigde, |
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Saturday |
12 March 1977 |
Maden, Sivirce (bad weather day) |
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Sunday |
13 March 1977 |
Demirkapi, Tanyeri, Elazig, Caglar |
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Monday |
14 March 1977 |
Demirkapi, Tanyeri, Erzincan |
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Tuesday |
15 March 1977 |
Sivas, Kalin, Yildizeli, Amasya |
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Wednesday |
16 March 1977 |
Cankiri / Karabuk (bad weather day) |
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Thursday |
17 March 1977 |
Karabuk, Eskipazar |
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Friday |
18 March 1977 |
Istanbul, Flight from Istanbul to London |
