Samsun–Çarşamba railway

The Samsun–Çarşamba Railway Line (Turkish:Samsun–Çarşamba Demiyol Hattı) was a 37 km-long narrow gauge railway line from Samsun to Çarşamba.

Samsun–Çarşamba Railway Line
Krauss or Henschel steam locomotive 34801
in the 1970s. Col. Mahmut Zeytinoglu
Map of the Samsun-Çarsamba line
Technical
Line length37 km
Track gauge750 mm (2 ft 5+1⁄2 in)
Route map
Alaçam - Never Completed
Bafra - Never Completed
Ondokuzmayis - Never Completed
Samsun Port Depot
Samsun
Port of Samsun
Sivas Route to Sivas
Samsun-Azot Railway Line to Azot
Çarşamba - Abandoned
Terme - Never Completed

History

First discussions about constructing a coastal railway connecting the Çarşamba and Bafra plains to the Samsun port commenced during the planning of the Samsun–Kalın railway. It was proposed to build the Samsun coastal railway in two phases; initially from Samsun to the Çarşamba plain and subsequently from Samsun to the Bafra plain. The first plans for the Samsun–Çarşamba railway were made in 1873 and the construction of the Samsun–Bafra railway was decided in 1890.[1]

However, the plans were not realized during the Ottoman period but put forward again in the Republican period. A contractual arrangement between the tobacco exporters Nemlizadeler and Nafia Nezareti had the objective, to connect the Çarşamba and Bafra ports to the port of Samsun with a scheduled start date of 6 December 1923. Nemlizadeler founded therefore the Samsun Coastal Railways Turkish Incorporated Company (Turkish: Samsun Sahil Demiryolları Türk Anonim Şirketi).[2]

In 1924 the Nemlizadeler family obtained a 75-year concession to build a 750mm gauge railway line from Alacam through Bafra, Samsun, Çarşamba to Terme. The line was planned to be 150 km long. The groundbreaking ceremony was performed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk with a silver pick and shovel on 16. September 1924 in Samsun.[3]

The Samsun–Çarşamba railway was completed and inaugurated on 1 September 1926. The company planned to start with the construction of the Samsun–Bafra railway in 1927,[1] but in 1928 the family went through heavy financial problems and the rest of the construction was canceled. TCDD took over the line in 1929. TCDD closed the line in 1971.[4]

Locomotives

A total of four coal-fired steam locomotives built from 1924 onwards by Krauss and Henschel in Germany were used on the railway line:[5]

Engine axle type1'C't (2-6-0T)
Weight empty22.2 t (49,000 lb)
Weight service28.4 t (63,000 lb)
Wheels (coupled)900 mm (35 in)
Wheels (uncoupled)680 mm (27 in)
Number of cylinder2
Cylinder dia350 mm (14 in)
Piston stroke450 mm (18 in)
Pressure12 kg/cm² (28,4 psi)
Heating surface firebox34.4 m2 (370 sq ft)
Heating surface superheater15.1 m2 (163 sq ft)
Grate areas1.0 m2 (11 sq ft)

See also

Narrow gauge railways in Turkey

References
  1. Abidin Temizer (Mehmet Akif Ersoy University): Black Sea Port-cities, 1780s–1910s. Version of 30. September 2016, retrieved on 6. November 2016 via Archived 2016-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Samsun Çarşamba: Terme ve Yine Samsun Bafra ve Alaçam’a Temdid Edilecek Demiryolu Mukavelenamesi, Şartnamesi ve Samsun Sahil Demiryolları Türk Anonim Şirketi Nizamname-i Dâhiliyesi, İstanbul 1340.
  3. Ipek Çalislar: Madam Atatürk: The First Lady of Modern Turkey. Saqi, 2013. Chapter 27, second page.
  4. Jean-Patrick Charrey: Samsun Çarşamba
  5. Jean-Patrick Charrey: 34801 to 34804.
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