The Daunting Challenge of Saving Lebanon’s Storied Rail Network
The Daunting Challenge of Saving Lebanon’s Storied Rail Network - Can rusting locomotives and crumbling stations become a vibrant transportation network again?
53EDD189-80D4-4C8A-9E48-73270D09AA7A.jpeg
The course of Elias Maalouf’s life changed in 2005, when he saw Syrian soldiers burning the archives of Lebanon’s railway system in an abandoned train wagon. He dashed to the wagon and thrust his hands into the fire to save whatever he could. It was the beginning of a life’s work.
Maalouf had gone to the train station in his hometown of Riyaq to film for a documentary the Syrian military’s withdrawal from its 29-year occupation of Lebanon. Maalouf’s family had fled Riyaq for Ecuador during Lebanon’s civil war, which had broken out in the 1970s and lasted for 20 years. The Syrian military entered the country around the same time, leading to a long and bitter occupation.
In 2005, Maalouf, as a young journalist, was expecting to film the departure of the Syrian soldiers, but instead he saw them destroying the records of a heritage he’d dreamed about. He could not resist acting.
61468411-CAB8-4C6B-A814-013AB13891D8.jpeg
5B454F3D-0F60-4BC4-A085-B8B6E9F3ED40.jpeg
310CFACA-6DB5-4C03-89E9-C14C9945B522.jpeg
2EA446FC-36C1-48F0-9355-CB2BB5D4D8E6.jpeg
https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...n-train-system
Reply With Quote
