SRO

In Fall 1981 I was contracted by U. S. DOT to be an advisor to the Saudi Railways Organization - SRO - Dammam, Saudi Arabia. SRO was in the middle of final design of a new locomotive shop and needed some assistance from a person with a railroad mechanical background. They also were looking for a person who had computerization and train operations experience. I was able to fill their requirements.

Before moving to Saudi we attended a 2 week training seminar at the State Department in DC in September. By October we were in Saudi. I was initially on a 2-year contract and extended when SRO requested that I stay another year.

SRO's locomotive fleet appeared very much American. Besides EMD's there were only 6 French built FrancoRail CSE26-21s in service while I was there. Other than the extra air filters on the top of the engine's hood, the EMDs looked like typical GPs & SDs.

The entire project and 3 years in Saudi was beyond expectation as far as interest, gained experience and great travel opportunities. If you are interested, you will find some the foreign railroad scenes I photographed on some of the trips through Europe in the Foreign Gallery when I get it "built."