Beersheba station is the gate to the south of Israel. Heavy freight trains pass here from the Oron phosphates mines deep in the Negev desert, normally worked by a tandem of ISR’s largest diesels. ISR #163 (built 1961), however, is an aging lady. Exposed to the demanding ascents of the Beersheba–Oron line, it may breathe out its last. On the 05 April 1990, #163 has little to do but await the arrival of a long freight train from Lod or Ashdod, after which it took off in the opposite direction, to the north. This fine diesel is no longer active.

Photo and scan by Alon Siton <a_siton@hotmail.com>