"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎٣‎٨‎٦] (٨٦٢/٧٧٥)

604 communications
daily each way by shortage of locomotives and rolling-stock, but orders
were placed in 1941 for modern locomotives and additional stock (p. 588);
and by the construction of new passing-loops it was hoped to raise the
capacity to 12 trains a day each way from Baghdad to Mosul, and 10 from
Mosul to Tel Kotchek.
Normal maximum gross load of trains, 900 tons.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Bridges. There are many bridges and culverts; only the more im
portant are given in the detailed description. They are generally of
deck-span type. Exceptions are the bridges over the Wadi Jirnaf at
mile 19-45 and over the Wadi Qasab at mile 215, which are 120-foot
single-span steel through-trusses. From Baghdad to Samarra, and
from Mosul to Tel Kotchek, spans are of metric standard types;
between Samarra and Mosul the deck bridges have standard spans of
10, 20, 30, 40, and 60 feet. Abutments south of Mosul are of mass
concrete; north of Mosul they are of stone.
Distances. There is considerable confusion over the distances.
From Baghdad to Samarra they were originally in kilometres. These
were converted to miles and the track to Baiji was ruled in miles. The
new track from Baiji to Mosul, and from Mosul to Tel Kotchek,
seems to have been first surveyed in miles, and official mileages are
given. Later a table of kilometric distances for the section from Baiji
to Tel Kotchek was issued, and in November 1940 the Railways
Directorate normally used miles to Baiji and kilometres thence to Tel
Kotchek. On this latter section the official distances in kilometres and
miles do not agree, nor is there a constant difference on conversion
from one set of figures to the other. In the detailed description given
below, the official kilometric distances and the mileages derived from
them are given in italics.
Names. There is also much inconsistency in the spelling of names,
though possibly this has been remedied since the completion of the
line. The various alternatives are given in the detailed account.
Route
The route taken by this line is best described in the four sections
which were completed at different times between 1915 and 1940.
(i) Baghdad to Samarra. In this section, built by German en
gineers, the railway uses the banks of the old Dujail canal, west of the
Abbasid course of the Tigris (p. 46). After skirting Kadhimain it
leaves the neighbourhood of the river and from mile 18 is never
within 5 miles of it until after passing Balad (m. 49). From Mushahida