"The Air Propelled Railcart"

The Air Propelled Railcart was a German aeroplane engine (model AEG C.IV) mounted on a railway carriage that was used originally by the Bavarian Air Squadron stationed at Merhavia. This carriage travelled at high speed along the tracks of the Valley Railway, which was an offshoot of the Hedjaz Railway line. In early 1918, the Jewish engineer, Baruch Katinka was commissioned by the Hedjaz railway to design an Air Propelled Railcart to allow the squadron's pilots to reach Haifa quickly on their nights out. The success of the project led to the commissioning of more Air Propelled Railcarts that were active in the Jezreel Valley and Samaria from March to September 1918. With the advance of Allenby's forces northwards, the First Australian Air Squadron set up base in Haifa and found one of the abandoned Air Propelled Railcarts. They eventually managed to crash it somewhere in Samaria. Baruch Katinka (1887-1965), the designer and builder of the Air Propelled Railcart, moved to Palestine after concluding his engineering studies in Germany. He volunteered to the Turkish army and achieved the position of technical manager of the Hedjaz Railway and the "Valley Train" line. His technical abilities and original ideas led him to be known as an expert. His peak came with the development of the Air Propelled Railcart. He also designed important buildings in Jerusalem, including The Palace & YMCA Hotels. He was also active in the Hagana and a member of the Freemasons.

Listen to the explanation about The Air Propelled Railcart:

No. 1 Australian squadron

The propeller driven railcar was a local improvised mean of transportation specially tailored by the Jewish engineer Barich Katinka, upon a request from the commander of the Bavarian Fliegerabteilung (flying section) 304b stationed in El Afule. Katinka, who was the technical supervisor of the Hejaz Railway, installed an airframe of a damaged AEG C.IV two-seat reconnaissance biplane aircraft equipped with a Mercedes D.III engine. The first run from El Afule to Haifa took place on April 7 1918. The overpowered engine (160 hp) enabled the rickety railcar to run at about 100 km/h. The members of the Bavarian Fliegerabteilung used this unique railcar for a swim in Haifa beach in their off-duty time, hence they nicknamed it "Phönizischen Bäder Express" (Phoenician Bath Express). They were granted the right to use the narrow-gauge rails between El Afule and Haifa as train rides were banned in this section due to fear of offshore shelling by the Royal Navy. Soon a few more propeller driven railcars were constructed for the other German Fliegerabteilungs stationed in the Jezreel Valley. The reconstructed propeller driven railcar in the historical Samakh railway station site honors the German aviators who served in the neighboring WW1 aerodrome. The Samakh aerodrome was first discovered by two Australian reconnaissance aircraft from No. 1 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps on July 31, 1918. Soon after, another Australian aircraft was sent to strafe the German Aerodrome in which Fliegerabteilung 300 was stationed. When British and Australian troops advanced on El Afula on the morning of September 20, 1918, during the Battle of Megiddo, Fliegerabteilung 304B's railcar was loaded with aircraft spare parts, instruments and a machine gun. A non-commissioned officer and a crew of four were trying to flee to safety in Daraa . On the way, the railcar collided with a Turkish train on the single-track line and was badly damaged. After the capture of Haifa, No. 1 Australian squadron moved from Ramleh to Haifa. The members of the squadron discovered an abandoned propeller driven railcar in Haifa railway station. The famous Australian Pilot Ross Macpherson Smith together with his fellow observer Leslie William Sutherland rode that railcar from Haifa to the abandoned German aerodrome in Jenin. They nicknamed it "Agnes". After visiting Jenin, they were not able to turn back the railcar and decided to proceed to the next railway station in Nablus. However, the brakeless railcar gained excess speed on the downhill sharp curves towards Nablus and soon it derailed and crashed on the slopes of the Samarian hills. Its Australian occupants came out unscathed thus closing the chapter on the locally improvised propeller driven railcars.