Trams and trains in Belgium

In September 2001 I went to Belgium (and Luxembourg) on holiday. Here are a few badly-scanned old photographs.

[Tram]
Tram 7066 near the center of Antwerpen. 2001-09-05.

[Tram]
A modern tram in Brussels.

[Tram]
Tram 7811 at the terminus near the Atomium in Brussels.


Another Brussels tram.

[Commonwealth military cemetery]
Ramparts military cemetery, on the city walls in Ieper. The town is called Ypres in French, but is perhaps better known in Britain as "Wipers".

[Tram]
De Lijn coastal tram at Oostende, 2001-09-03.

[Railcar at Dinant]
Railcar 4508 at Dinant in the Ardennes, forming the 12.47 departure to Beauraing on 6 September 2001. These noisy little things are probably as bad as British Pacer trains – though they do have bogies, and if the driver leaves the cab door open you can see out of the front. From Beauraing to Gedinne the train was replaced by a bus, owing to electrification work.

[Tram]
A tram in the streets of Gent, 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 6304 seen from the castle walls, Gent 2001-09-02

[Tram]
Tram 53 at the terminus Gent 2001-09-02. Note the "park and ride" facilities.

[Train]
Loco 6313 at Gent Sint-Pieters station.

[Train]

SNCB locomotive number 2131 in the rain.

[Belgian National Railways logo with nightcap]
The SNCB/NMBS logo, on an overnight train

Waterloo station nameboard

One of my ancestors fell at Waterloo…

[People in Napoleonic costume heading for a bar]

My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender. 2001-09-08.

Steam locomotives in Iceland

There might not be any snakes in Iceland, but it did once have a railway, and two locomotives. Both are preserved, and Minör was on display in Reykjavik in August 2000.

[Steam locomotive in Reykjavik]
Picture by Paul Grantham.

The two sections of narrow-gauge railway totalling 12 km were built to transport building materials for a quay and breakwater between the mainland and Örfirisey Island. One section ran from Öskjuhlið, the other to Skólavörðuholt.

There were two locomotives, Pionér and Minör, bought from Denmark. Both were built in Germany in 1892 by Arnold Jung. They are 4·9 m long, 3 m high, and weigh 13 tons.

The locos made an average of 25 trips each day for between 1913 and 1917, and saw limited use until 1928. Pionér is now at Árbaer open-air museum, Minör is at the harbour museum in Reykjavik.

Links

  • Some background information by Peter Bowyer.
  • A modern railway in Iceland, including Iceland’s first railway collision in July 2004. Used to transport workers, equipment and supplies for the three TBM machines involved in the project, the diesel-powered light railway system used in the Kárahnjúkar scheme has given Iceland its first working railway since 1913-15, when a narrow-gauge steam line was used to carry rock from a hillside quarry during the construction of Reykjavík’s first harbour.

The Surrey Iron Railway on a cash machine

Surrey Iron Railway on East Croydon cash machine

I recently spotted a cash machine outside East Croydon station with a message on the screen which says:

“Welcome to Croydon
Home of… The world’s first horse drawn
railway in 1803 (Croydon to Wandsworth)”.

A nice touch, however horse drawn railways were already long established by the time the Surrey Iron Railway opened in 1803. The first railway for which documentary evidence is currently known is apparently the Wollaton Wagonway, near Nottingham, which was referred to as a “passage now laide with railes” in a document dated 1 October 1604. This used horse power, as did many subsequent lines in mining areas of the northeast of England.

The claim to fame of the SIR is that it has long been widely described as the world’s first public railway; previous railways had been private lines for the use of the owners of a mine, quarry or similar. However there is now doubt as to the accuracy of this claim, as it appears that the SIR was in fact preceded by the Lake Lock Rail Road, near Wakefield, which opened in 1798 but doesn’t seem to have had as good PR.

In a moment of boredom I contacted the operators of the cash machine. Not only did I get a reply, it was longer and politer than I expected (or deserved?). Apparently they obtained the information from the Wikipedia article on the SIR, and “these screens are due to be changed and this information will then be removed”.

I promise to get out more.

Trains in Ontario

In January 2001 I went to London, Ontario (where the Class 66 locomotives are built), and also had chance to take a train ride to Windsor and visit a freight yard in Toronto. These pictures some pretty grotty old scans, first uploaded back when downloading an image over dial-up could involve a long wait.

I went back to Canada in June 2004, this time touring the country by train.


Looking across from Windsor in Canada to Detroit in rebel-controlled North America.

[Preserved steam locomotive]
CN class K-3-b steam locomotive number 5588, formerly Grand Trunk Railway class P6 number 213. This pacific was built in 1911, and is now ‘stuffed and mounted’ in Riverside Drive, Windsor. It carries the name Spirit of Windsor. If you ever visit Windsor, it may be useful to know that the station is a long way from the city centre – I didn’t! It was about -7°C when I took this – maybe nothing special to the locals, but jolly cold for me.

[7260 in Windsor]
GY-418e number 7260 alongside the river in Windsor, with Detroit in the background. Originally build by General Motors in 1956 this locomotive was remanufactured at Pointe St-Charles main shops in Montreal in 1990. It is approved for operation in the USA, and is equipped for remote control operation.

Behind the locomotive is GP9 slug 253. This was converted from a cut-down General Motors GP9 in 1990. It has no engine, instead taking power for its traction motors from the locomotive.

[6424 at Windsor]
I caught the 09:55 departure from London to Windsor on 9 January. This set off from London about half an hour late, and was about an hour late into Windsor. A freight train in front of us was apparently having problems.

There is quite a difference in height between the loco and the three carriages.

[6424 at Windsor]
Another view of the locomotive about to run round. 6424 is a 3000 hp B-B built by General Motors in 1987, and is one of ten examples of the GPA-30b class. There were three orders for these GPA-30 passenger locos between 1986 and 1989, totalling 59 locos

[6426 at London]
Compared to the UK, Canadian trains are big. 6426 departs London for Toronto at 15:48 on 8 January 2001

[Amtrack train]
An Amtrak train bound for Chicago leaves London, 10am Tuesday 9 January 2001. The picture doesn’t really capture the size of the thing. The station doesn’t have raised platforms like the UK, just a tarmaced area next to the line, so the train really towers above passengers. There is a second platform, but that was under deep snow. The loco, number 519, is a GE B32-8WH of 1991.

[Disused station in London]
A disused passenger station on the CP line in London. Freight still comes through here. 8 January 2001

[Switcher 12]
This GP9 is one of three switchers (shunters) belonging to a private contractor that are used at the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Vaughan Intermodal Terminal near Toronto. Vaughan is the largest container freight yard in Canada, and sees trains up to 10 000 feet long! Seen here on 10 January 2001

[Switcher 1254]
GMD type SW1200RS B-B switcher of 1956. Formerly a CN loco, it now belongs to a contractor, and is also used at Vaughan. 10 January 2001.

[Switcher 7703]
GMD type SW9 of 1952, formerly belonging to Century Locomotive Parts, and previously a CN loco, but now belonging to a contractor and working at Vaughan yard. 10 January 2001.

[Loco 6046]
EMD SD40 or SD40-2(?) 6046 of 1952 at MacMillan Locomotive Reliability Centre, near Toronto.

[Loco 7276]
EM GY-418f 7276 at MacMillan Locomotive Reliability Centre, near Toronto. Originally build by General Motors this B-B locomotive was remanufactured by AMF Technotransport in 1993. 258

GP9 slug 258 was converted from a cut-down General Motors GP9 no 4411 (ex-1735) in 1990. It has no engine, and takes the power for its traction motors from the locomotive. It is equipped for remote control operation, and approved for use in the USA.

I found the details of the vehicles in the book Canadian Trackside Guide 1996, published by Bytown Railway Society Inc of Ottawa.