With a few days off work, and good weather I really wanted to capitalise on this for a few successful days by the rails. Having discounted a couple of other options for a quick trip or day our due to either less good weather, or a lack of the hoped for trains, I settled upon the idea of taking the car across the channel to have a look at the Belgian scene.
For me, and I'm sure many others, Belgium has been a country that I have passed through many times, but never really stopped to look at in its own right. I usually pick up a loco or two while changing trains in Brussels, but had never got around to making it the target of a trip.
With several busy docks, a good amount of freight traffic, interesting old EMU's and many lines which still see some form of loco-hauled traffic, all while being just a few hours drive from the French channel ports, it seemed a good bet to spend my couple of sunny days.
Once on the road it made sense to head to the nearest railway, that to Oostende, where I knew that there were two loco-hauled services each hour, one running top and tailed which would guarantee a loco on the front! Of course since the withdrawal of the final class 21 and 27 locos last year (which were in an abysmal state anyway), the only traction now available outside of the high speed lines are the class 18 and 19 Vectrons (with some class 13's working trains between Belgium and Luxembourg). Also supplementing the traffic on this route are the AM80 'Break' EMU's which look fairly smart, at least when you get a clean one.
I managed to find an 'average' spot to spend an hour waiting for trains from the docks, and despite my misgivings failing to find any locos, did at least photograph one train here in the right direction, all be it with Traxx traction. Now it was time to drive to Antwerp where I would be spending the night.
I headed straight for my next location, the branch line north of Antwerp Noordocken which heads into the port. This is a freight only section, and with Antwerp being the second busiest port in Europe, should be busy...
Certainly I saw some trains, but volumes were perhaps disappointing for a 3 hour stint, with plenty of light engines thrown into the mix as well. With the end of the light it was finally time to put the camera away and head for my accommodation. I had read that parking in Central Antwerp was either problematic or expensive, so with my accommodation a few minutes walk from the central station decided it would be easier to park out of town and get the train in. Originally I had planned to drive to Berchem where there are frequent trains into town, and I might pick up something with a loco, however in the end I settled to stay a bit more local and found a parking stop close to Noordocken. While the trains were now only hourly, they coincided with my arrival quite well and by the time I had purchased a ticket there were just a few minutes to spare until my train arrived, pleasingly one of the weird looking MS75 units. While refurbished, these trains retain DC control and opening windows and are rather a pleasure to travel in.
Once checked in it was time for a quick shower before heading out... by now it was pretty late and food ended up being a kebab washed down with a dark Leffe while I wandered the city. I am happy to say my preconceptions as Antwerp as a 'boring, industrial city' were very much proven wrong! Getting to bed was achieved just after 01:00... and the plan was to get up for the morning light... at least with some A/C I might sleep better than at home of late!?
I didn't quite make all of the morning light, but was back at the impressive Antwerp Centraal station in time for the 07:50 train back to my car, again another MS75. This mornings first target was the SNCB class 28 Traxx locos which work the hourly Brussels - Rotterdam EuroCity trains along the high speed line. While the premier IC Direct service has now fallen to units, many of the locos have been cascaded to this new EC service. I had identified a spot near to the motorway about 20 minutes out of the city, and despite the best efforts of a few rouge clouds, captured a couple of the trains here. Except for the few re-painted locos they definitely look a lot more shabby than in the days of the nice NS yellow and blue scheme.
I next headed back to the docks branch, feeling that it has potential to throw up a few different trains than the night before (and maybe a bit more frequently?!). The spot is also very close to the High Speed Line so I could nip around the corner in the car for the hourly hauled train here as well.
A few different trains were seen, and almost as soon as I arrived there was a flurry of traffic initiated by a light engine move with another Infrabel 62.
After a lull in traffic, with cloud building and the light coming around too far anyway it was time to move on to the docks themselves. Like in Zeebruge, I had a good drive around of the many public areas of the docks in the hope of tracking down a train. It is of course difficult to see what is lurking deep within the quays, but there wasn't a lot of trains to be seen except for one which I passed almost immediately- had I not been completely fresh to the area I should have chased this... you live and learn!
Having spent a bit of time driving around, I finally decided to spend some time waiting by the Oosterweel bridge across the docks. I had figured out that the train I didn't chase earlier would have come this way and made a lovely picture where the railway diverts onto the street to cross the lifting bridge.
The message seems to be that traffic is unpredictable and can turn up at any time on either this bridge or its northern counterpart. With the other bridge stuck open, that meant that one risk was illuminated, so it was simply a case of waiting and hoping. Of course when sirens for the railway crossing began, it was a train heading in the opposite direction to what I really wanted for the light- that said, it was a train and I was pleased to catch a class 77 traversing the bridge in a shot that I really don't think came out too badly.
The light angle was getting very tight now, and I had a couple more locations I wanted to explore, so it was time to bit Antwerp goodbye and start heading back west. The first afternoon spot was at Lokeren between Antwerp and Ghent. I had hopes for some freight traffic here, and the SNCB app, which usefully shows train types had confirmed that some loco-hauled passenger also uses the route. Unfortunately I had timed my visit for a part of the day with no locos in the right direction, and only one pushing a set the other way at which point my camera battery died! Eventually the sound of a freight engine could be heard, but this turned out to be just another light engine class 66. Time to move on. 
Heading south I reached Shellebelle on the route 53 about 20 minutes later. I knew there were no locos here, but hopefully the 'Break' EMU's would entertain me while waiting for some freight. Fortunately this all worked well, and shortly after the EMU the level crossing sounded again for DB's 193349 to pass on a steel train- the (slightly faded) red loco still making a bold statement in the afternoon sun. With a shot in the bag it was time to move again- this time with a clear aim of getting some decent light on one of the passenger class 18/19 Vectrons.
This pursuit took me to the town of Westrem on line 50A between Brussels and Ghent- what I had not realised was that the line had clearly recently been modernised with shiny new catenary, which wasn't the scene I was really hoping for. Either way, a short stay here netted a decent picture on an evening peak train with a clean Vectron, after a couple of very shabby ones had passed.
Finally there was time for one more stop further up this line- having rejected another location north of Ghent where 4-tracking had ruined the view, I ended up at Oostkamp, outside Brugge. Here the line had already hosted four tracks, and therefore the view had not been hindered to such a large extent- only with additional catenary masts which appeared to have been placed to supplement the originals, leaving some quite small gaps. Soon after arriving I finally saw a class 66 actually hauling a train- DE6302 belonging to BLS Cargo which was hauling a long train of cars, presumably for export via Zeebrugge which has long been associated with automotive traffic. After a final pair of passenger Vectron's it was time to commence the drive back to Calais and home.
Quite hungry, it was disappointing to find the café and duty free shop closed almost at the same time as my arrival - food instead would be a very disappointing curry (papadum's should never be floppy!) on board the 'Côte des Dunes' sailing back to the UK.
All in all a very enjoyable way to spend a couple of days, all be it with a lot of driving and not an awful lot of sleep! Belgium has a great rail network and I had taken some pictures that were very different from what I would have achieved back home. Exploring a new place is always interesting, and the benefits of having my own car at my disposal were great- I could bring whatever I wanted including my pole (which never left the car) and small steps (which were used extensively!).
