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1733 hauls an NS Intercity service near Moerdijk. 07/07/2007
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Eurostar set 3013 at Waterloo ready to form my
train to Brussels 06/07/2007. |
Aside from a short foray to Ireland in 2006 to sample the 'Thumper' DEMU's, this really was my first 'proper' rail trip abroad- and again in search of some British design.
We all have regrets over trains that we have missed due to simply being too young or not not having the knowledge of them. One of these regrets for me was missing the class 58's, which worked their final train on 3rd September 2001. The class had gone on to work abroad in France, Spain and the Netherlands and with no prospect of further work in the UK it was clear that if I wanted to see the class in operation I would need to head further afield.
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| 2021 arrives into Brussels Midi with an international train from Luxembourg with Swiss coaching stock. 06/07/2007. |
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Shunter 8219 prepares to detach stock. 06/07/2007.
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My friend Jonathan from the model railway club had travelled on several railtours run by Mercier Charters and suggested that this would be a good opportunity to sample a class 58 now working with ACTS in the Netherlands. After the details were thrashed out everything was set and we were booked on Mercier's 'That Which Survives' tour for 7th July 2007.
The tour started in Rotterdam and we would make the journey in both directions by rail - the first serious travel I had done abroad and my first trip on Eurostar since a family holiday to Disneyland in 1996!
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High speed rescue locos fitted with Schaffenberg couplers, 5506 and 5501 arrive into Brussels Midi. 06/07/2007.
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2717 arrives into Brusselles Midi. 06/07/2007.
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| 1352 arrives into Brusselles Midi. 06/07/2007. |
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Plan V 854 is stabled next to Raillion 1602 at
Rotterdam Centraal. 06/07/2007
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2007 was the final year of Eurostar operations from Waterloo International before the move to St Pancras and it was good to get some slightly better photos of the operation than those I gook on my dad's camera in 1996!
The Eurostar was taken through to Brussels where we had a couple of hours before transfering on to Rotterdam by Thalys.
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Raillion 232 909 passes through Rotterdam
Centraal next to a 'Koplopper' 06/07/2007. |
This was my first time in Belgium and I can't pretend that I knew what the trains were at the time- before the influx of the current Vectron fleet there were plenty of older locomotives to see and looking back it is pleasing to see that I managed to capture one of the powerful class 20's before they were withdrawn. We were lucky to also catch a pair of high-speed line rescue class 55 locos which arrived and reversed in the station. Some shunting was also taking place- something quite unfamiliar now in the UK rail scene.
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1753 hauls a rake of ex-German ICK coaches (withdrawn in 2009) into Rotterdam Centraal. 06/07/2007.
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1713 hauls a DD-AR set at Rotterdam Centraal. 06/07.2007.
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Our transfer on to Rotterdam was by an Amsterdam bound Thalys- I had long had a fascination with the TGV and this was the closest I had come to having a ride on one. The ride was enjoyable, though very little of the journey was actually covered on high-speed lines at this point. I have not travelled by Thalys since this trip, partly due to the loco hauled options available on the route (and the usual expense of taking the Thalys!).
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An ICM 'Koploper' at Rotterdam Alexander 08/09/2007
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After arrival at Rotterdam there was some time to watch the trains of Nederland Spoorwegen in their distinctive yellow and blue. Particularly pleasing were smart NS 1700 locos working with loco-hauled stock at the time. These locos also worked push-pull double deck DD-AR sets, which confusingly sometimes had a 1700 and sometimes a driving motor coach.
Other distinctive units working for NS included the distinctive 'dog nose' 2-car Plan V 'mat 64 units that I really which I had showed some more attention! Quickly established as a favorite were also the ICMm 'Koplopers', translating as 'Head Walker' reference the gangways which could be connect units from their noses, the cab being positioned high up on the unit 'jumbo jet' style.
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A DD-AR set is pushed into Rotterdam Centraal by a 1700 loco. These sets have since been re-formed to Intercity format with motor coaches as NIZ units or scrapped. 06/07/2007.
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A pair of 'Plan V' units at Rotterdam Centraal 07/07/2007
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A trio of 6400 locomotives hauls a freight through Rotterdam
Alexander 08/07/2007. |
Freight traffic through Rotterdam Centraal was plentiful, levels not seeming to be affected severely by the opening of the freight only 'Betuweroute' just a few weeks earlier. Some of the most unusual locos on offer were the DB Railion 232's, which I now know well as 'Ludmillas' which worked many of the international trains from Germany. Infact, these 232's would have been my first introduction to German railways.
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| 'Ludmilla' 232 109 is seen near Moerdijk with an iron ore train. 07/07/2007. |
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A trio of 6400's with a coal train near Moerdijk. 07/07/2007.
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As well as the strange foreign locos there was of course some familiarity in the class 66's that were operating for various freight companies. The locos however which did not grab my attention were the Mak 6400 locos which operated in multiple on heavy freight trains- to my eye these were very boxy and looked a bit too much like shunters.
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In the striking livery of Vos Logistics, 5814 (58038) powers up before leading the empty stock away from Rotterdam Centraal after working the 'That Which Survives' charter for Mercier Tours. The station has been totally transformed since and is almost unrecognisable- however the footbridge, new at the time is retained within the new structure. 07/072007.
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6703 is at the head of the train which is part way through a
locomotive re-shuffle at Utrecht Centraal. 07/07/2007. |
The day of the railtour dawned and stock was brought into Rotterdam Centraal by 5814, ex BR 58038, one of the three class 58's used by ACTS along with 5811 (58039) and 5812 (58044)- 5813 was missed from the number sequence.
5814 was the third and final class 58 to be shipped to the Netherlands for ACTS and unlike its sisters was not outshopped in the companies blue and yellow livery but instead carried the striking black and orange scheme of Vos Logistics, a major customer.
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5814 attaches to the front of the train, with 1251
in position at the head to work forward. 07/07/2007. |
Also found on the train were examples of ACTS' other heritage traction, and ex-Belgian class 62 diesel, 6703 and an ancient ex-NS Baldwin 1200 class, 1251.
Full details of the railtour including the routings can be found at the excellent www.sixbellsjunction.co.uk.
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| With the other locomotives detached, 6703 performs a photographic run past on the Moerdijk branch. 07/07/2007. |
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Baldwin designed 1251 is shunted at Utrecht Centraal. 07/07/2007.
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Another first for me was a lineside photo stop- something very much consigned to the history books in the UK but still possible it the slightly less risk adverse countries abroad. The train pulled onto a branch line near Moerdijk and participants had the option to disembark before the train propelled back, ran past us and then set back again to pick up the passengers. This train having rather more British cranks than European the process was not well understood and became protracted as people scattered everywhere, thrilled with the liberty of being allowed off the train and onto the track! The view of the runpast itself was challenging for light, but a number of good pictures were achieved of the mainline which passed above the branch at this point, indeed we used its embankment as a vantage point- this definitely would not be allowed back home.
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1760 flies past the photo stop location at Moerdijk. 07/07/2007.
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1849 passes Moerdijk with an intercity service. 07/07/2007.
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6703 at the end of the line in the freight terminal at Moerdijk. 07/07/2007.
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Very obviously related to the familiar English Electric class 08,
661 is attached to the front of the train at Beekbergen. 07/07/2007. |
Another highlight of the trip was running over the preserved lines of Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij, including being powered by their class 661 shunter, the sisters of the familiar class 08 back home.
Unfortunately the tour ran into some timing issues and subsequent lineside photo stops had to be omitted. The train was also re-routed at the end of the day due to a combination of a power failure in the Utrecht area and the need to make up for lost time, unfortunately that meant missing a rehearsal and consequently we would not be hauled by the 58 again, arrival back into Rotterdam Centraal (still around an hour late) was behind 1251 and 6703.
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Very foreign looking steam locos are assembled on the depot at Beekbergen. 07/07/2007.
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1745 is seen from a passing train on the outskirts of Utrecht. 08/07/2007.
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With the railtour completed Sunday was at our leisure to explore the railways of the Netherlands. We took a train from Rotterdam to Utrecht where we would visit the Dutch national railway museum. To reach the museum itself a shuttle train runs from the main station directly into the museum site this is a regular NS train rather than any sort of heritage service.
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1202 restored and cared for by the Dutch Railway Museum makes an unexpected appearance at Utrecht Centraal. 08/07/2007.
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1767 is on the rear of the museum train. 08/07/2007.
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Back at Utrecht Centraal after visiting the museum we got lucky, while standing on one of the platforms with our cameras somebody started shouting at us in Dutch- initial thought was that there was some sort of problem, as unfortunately is so often the case, however gesturing that we didn't understand the man went away. A few moments later we realised what he was likely shouting at us about- preserved 1212 looking very smart its original blue livery arrived with an empty stock working. So the shouting man was a friend not foe!
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Probably my first sighting of an ICE train, 4601 at Utrecht Centraal. 08/07/2007.
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The familiar class 66 has become commonplace in the Netherlands,
6601 is seen at Utrecht Centraal for ERS Railways. 08/07/2007.
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Having picked up our things again in Rotterdam it was now time to head back home. We were once again booked on the Thalys to Brussels and then the Eurostar back to London Waterloo. There was some time to spare in Brussels so we elected to hop off the Thalys a stop early at Brussels Noord in order to pick up one of the many loco-hauled options into Brussels Midi. The train we happened upon was one of the 'Benelux' services which would itself have originated from Amsterdam before following the route of our own Thalys through to Brussels.
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1184 calls at Rotterdam Centraal with a 'Benelux' service. 08/07/2007.
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These trains were hauled by Belgian class 11 locos which were dedicated to the international Brussels - Amsterdam service. The class 11 itself was in the twilight of their career, being replaced on the Benelux service two years later in 2009 due to the high number of failures on the high profile service. They would remain in traffic on domestic duties until final withdrawal in 2012. The Benelux service was taken over by class 186 'Traxx' locos on an interim basis until the planned delivery of the ill-fated V250 'Fyra' EMU's from Ansaldo-Breda. As of 2020 the 'Traxx' locos are still working the international service.
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1191 is seen passing Lage Zwaluwe with an Amsterdam bound 'Benelux' service. The loco pulls a collection of ICR coaches carry the livery of NS (blue/yellow), the special 'Benelux' livery (red/yellow) and the new Fyra scheme.
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5814 runs around the train at Dieren on the preserved line. 07/07/2007.
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As often seems to be the case on my visits, the weather in Brussels was poor and before long we had been whisked back home by Eurostar.
A very enjoyable first trip to Europe. It would be several years before I would return properly, and the ACTS class 58's would be long gone.
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A pair of 'Plan V' units seen near Moerdijk- these units finally bowed out of service in 2016 after 55 years of service with NS.
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