Historical Pictures: The 'new' old railway station

With a farmers’ market, restaurants, and crafts stores the First Station promises to be a busy hub for Jerusalem activity, just like it was when it first opened in 1892.

By LENNY BEN DAVID
First Jerusalem Railroad station370 (photo credit: US Library of Congress )
First Jerusalem Railroad station370
(photo credit: US Library of Congress )
With a farmers’ market, restaurants, crafts stores and a children’s play center, the First Station promises to be a busy hub for Jerusalem activity, just like it was when it first opened in 1892, more than 120 years ago, when the first train from Jaffa pulled into Jerusalem’s new railway station.
The mystery picture above of a dignitary’s arrival is dated by the Library of Congress as between 1898 and 1946, the years the American Colony photographers were active in Palestine. But numerous clues help to pin down the dates.
The railroad to Jerusalem was halted during World War I and not reopened until October 1920, so the arrival ceremony with a British honor guard could not have taken place before that date.
Posters on the station wall advertise the White Star Cruise Line that ceased operation in 1936 when it was taken over by the Cunard Line. We can date the picture between 1920 and 1936.
There’s also one more curious feature seen when the photo is enlarged. Among the rifles and bayonets on the right of the photo appear two animal horns sticking up. The decorated horns belong to “Bobby,” an antelope, the regimental mascot of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.
According to the Fusiliers Association of Great Britain, “The mascot was looked after by two handlers chosen from the battalion, they would make sure that he was fed and watered and exercised. When on parade they kept him under control by means of two white ropes attached to his collar which was also white, and was emblazoned with a large silver badge.
On his back he wore a coat of royal blue, embroidered with the regimental crest, and his horns were tipped with silver cones.”
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