The Kfar Yehoshua train station

This was the Valley Train’s first stop after leaving Haifa. It was originally called the Tel El-Shamam Station. Shamam means melon in Arabic, and the station was named for the fruit grown nearby the Arab peasants. After Moshav Kfar Yehoshua was established in 1927, the residents asked that the station be renamed. For many years, the train was the only means of transportation to and from the moshav.

The train complex included seven original buildings that were used for the train-related business, the passengers, and even as homes for the workers. At the height of the train’s operation, dozens of workers, including railroad workers, linemen, signalmen, the station manager, and others, worked there.  The buildings were built in a row, adjacent to the tracks on the route of the site’s current paved access road.    

The station buildings were built by the Beilharz family, Templars who received the permit to build the train stations and some of the small bridges along the length of the railway. These stations were built in a rustic style that was common in nineteenth-century Germany.

After the train stopped operating, the station’s buildings were abandoned and over time, fell into disrepair.  Towards the end of the 20^th century, a conservation process began, and the buildings were slowly rehabilitated. Finally, in 2008, the visitor center was opened, telling the story of the Valley Train.