This trip was based around the ADL 'Grand Belgian Depot Tour (east)', together with a rumoured local event involving a shuttle service on the sought-after Moha quarry branch. The opportunity was taken for me to grice some required lines in the Netherlands beforehand. Finding out about the Moha event proved quite complicated... My notes were recovered from a pile of papers in 2023, seemingly complete but missing any record of Moha. Fortunately my camera didn't lie.
Wednesday/Thursday 8-9.5.96
Set off from Telford by car, collecting passenger at Derby, and had a reasonable run via M1/A14/M11/M25/M2 to Dover, arriving sufficiently early to get rebooked on to the 22:30. A stiff breeze and moderate seas were promised, and so it proved to be (the jetfoils and other such craft were cancelled). The vessel proved to be Stena Cambria, presumably displaced from the Irish route by the new HSS. [Not so – all sorts of shenanigans on the Holyhead route at the time but Cambria did go back there in 1997]. Admirable in its way, Cambria does not seem to have the sea keeping qualities one is used to from Invicta and co. A few minutes out of Dover I became aware that several passengers seemed to be in deep discussion with paper bags, and several more were so overcome by the excitement that they had to lie down and groan. [Don't be fooled, I've every sympathy with people in this wretched predicament even though I've escaped it myself. So far.] Still, we arrived unscathed and set off by car to Leuven, arriving in good time for the 06:04 to Antwerpen via Aarschot. The party divided here and I continued to Antwerpen Centraal, which has to be one of Europe's absolute finest. Sort of like a cathedral but without the same sense of economy. [I wrote that before the high speed line and the intermediate level were added. I confess that my enthusiasm has waned a little...].
I just had time to discover that the B-Tourrail ticket no longer extends to the border, just to the last station (Essen in my case) so I was relieved of BFr 180 for a return from Essen to the border where my Netherlands Euro Domino became valid. A punctual 07:49 arrival at Roosendaal allowed a comfortable connection into 07:52 to Schiphol, just across the platform. En route I had noticed an EMU going down the branch to Antwerpen Noord. The journey to Schiphol was used for sleep recovery, pausing only to note that the track layout at Dordrecht is still being remodelled, and that a short train consisting of a postal electric unit and two vans was standing at the postal depot. No doubt Rotterdam, Den Haag, Leiden etc. are still there!
At Schiphol I changed to 09:27 to Groningen, a comfortable Koploper unit complete with buffet trolley, in order to do the line via Amsterdam Zuid and Diemen Zuid intead of going via Amsterdam CS. At Amersfoort a very hasty change was required to make a three minute connection to the bay platform 22 at the west end of the station. It's a long wa and steep stairs. I'm really getting too old for such things, Anyway the objective was to get back to Baarn and catch the local from there to Utrecht via the single track electrified branch to Den Dolder on the Utrecht - Amersfoort line. At Utrecht a welcome refreshment break was taken in the very posh modern station, before the 11:23 to Rhenen. This is a long double track electrified branch diverging from the Utrecht - Arnhem line at De Haar Jn, east of Maarn. There is a flying junction with the eastbound [right hand running in the Netherlands; I must have meant westbound] Rhenen line crossing over the Arnhem line.
On returning from Rhenen I baled out at Maarn, only to find I had made a completely wrong assumption that there was a half hourly stopping service Utrecht - Arnhem. I had tried to make a zero minute connection (12:23 arrive and depart) and missed it by a few seconds so there was no alternative but to redesign the day. The final option was the 12:39 Maarn - Utrecht stopper, then Utrecht to Weesp (noting the diveunder of the 'Up' - towards Amsterdam - Lelystad line just east of Weesp). The Utrecht - Weesp stopper was a 4-car double deck set pushed by 1705 and continued to Schiphol, so I baled out again at Weesp to do the direct route into Amsterdam CS.
The final Dutch track of the day was on 14:22 Amsterdam CS - Rotterdam CS via Gouda, which provided new track from Breukelen to Woerden. At Woerden there is a new flyover (Woerden - Breukelen goes over Woerden - Utrecht) so this line needs to be done northbound (Rotterdam to Amsterdam) as well. The new flyover at the junction of Gouda - Rotterdam and Gouda - Den Haag lines is odd : both Den Haag lines should probably be done again.Both Rotterdam lines are OK now.
At Rotterdam one of the Thalys TGV sets came through - very smart in claret and silver. A twenty minute sustenance stop here was invaluable. Curiously there are two 16:01s from Rotterdam to Roosendaal which leave from adjacent platforms. Easy to get them mixed up - one is a stopper and the other an IC to Vlissingen. [But presumably easy to correct mistakes, if they went from adjacent platforms!] The latter did the business and connected with the Belgian EMU to Gent with time to spare. This was slightly late leaving but arrived at Antwerpen Centraal in time for 17:33 to Lier, followed by 17:59 Lier - Mechelen to do the south curve at Lint in daylight.
At Mechelen beer deprivation became intolerable and the pub across the road (the Orient) was visited. This looked scruffy but wasn't, and dispensed Westmalle Dubbel with cheese for BFr 80; dish of the day on Thursday is pepper steak for Bfr 295. A minor but useful discovery as the GBG entry keeps somewhat restricted hours. Back at Leuven the evening the evening was completed by visits to Domus for the house 'ordinaire' which was a bit, a chippie, and 'Universum'.
Set off from Telford by car, collecting passenger at Derby, and had a reasonable run via M1/A14/M11/M25/M2 to Dover, arriving sufficiently early to get rebooked on to the 22:30. A stiff breeze and moderate seas were promised, and so it proved to be (the jetfoils and other such craft were cancelled). The vessel proved to be Stena Cambria, presumably displaced from the Irish route by the new HSS. [Not so – all sorts of shenanigans on the Holyhead route at the time but Cambria did go back there in 1997]. Admirable in its way, Cambria does not seem to have the sea keeping qualities one is used to from Invicta and co. A few minutes out of Dover I became aware that several passengers seemed to be in deep discussion with paper bags, and several more were so overcome by the excitement that they had to lie down and groan. [Don't be fooled, I've every sympathy with people in this wretched predicament even though I've escaped it myself. So far.] Still, we arrived unscathed and set off by car to Leuven, arriving in good time for the 06:04 to Antwerpen via Aarschot. The party divided here and I continued to Antwerpen Centraal, which has to be one of Europe's absolute finest. Sort of like a cathedral but without the same sense of economy. [I wrote that before the high speed line and the intermediate level were added. I confess that my enthusiasm has waned a little...].
I just had time to discover that the B-Tourrail ticket no longer extends to the border, just to the last station (Essen in my case) so I was relieved of BFr 180 for a return from Essen to the border where my Netherlands Euro Domino became valid. A punctual 07:49 arrival at Roosendaal allowed a comfortable connection into 07:52 to Schiphol, just across the platform. En route I had noticed an EMU going down the branch to Antwerpen Noord. The journey to Schiphol was used for sleep recovery, pausing only to note that the track layout at Dordrecht is still being remodelled, and that a short train consisting of a postal electric unit and two vans was standing at the postal depot. No doubt Rotterdam, Den Haag, Leiden etc. are still there!
At Schiphol I changed to 09:27 to Groningen, a comfortable Koploper unit complete with buffet trolley, in order to do the line via Amsterdam Zuid and Diemen Zuid intead of going via Amsterdam CS. At Amersfoort a very hasty change was required to make a three minute connection to the bay platform 22 at the west end of the station. It's a long wa and steep stairs. I'm really getting too old for such things, Anyway the objective was to get back to Baarn and catch the local from there to Utrecht via the single track electrified branch to Den Dolder on the Utrecht - Amersfoort line. At Utrecht a welcome refreshment break was taken in the very posh modern station, before the 11:23 to Rhenen. This is a long double track electrified branch diverging from the Utrecht - Arnhem line at De Haar Jn, east of Maarn. There is a flying junction with the eastbound [right hand running in the Netherlands; I must have meant westbound] Rhenen line crossing over the Arnhem line.
On returning from Rhenen I baled out at Maarn, only to find I had made a completely wrong assumption that there was a half hourly stopping service Utrecht - Arnhem. I had tried to make a zero minute connection (12:23 arrive and depart) and missed it by a few seconds so there was no alternative but to redesign the day. The final option was the 12:39 Maarn - Utrecht stopper, then Utrecht to Weesp (noting the diveunder of the 'Up' - towards Amsterdam - Lelystad line just east of Weesp). The Utrecht - Weesp stopper was a 4-car double deck set pushed by 1705 and continued to Schiphol, so I baled out again at Weesp to do the direct route into Amsterdam CS.
The final Dutch track of the day was on 14:22 Amsterdam CS - Rotterdam CS via Gouda, which provided new track from Breukelen to Woerden. At Woerden there is a new flyover (Woerden - Breukelen goes over Woerden - Utrecht) so this line needs to be done northbound (Rotterdam to Amsterdam) as well. The new flyover at the junction of Gouda - Rotterdam and Gouda - Den Haag lines is odd : both Den Haag lines should probably be done again.Both Rotterdam lines are OK now.
At Rotterdam one of the Thalys TGV sets came through - very smart in claret and silver. A twenty minute sustenance stop here was invaluable. Curiously there are two 16:01s from Rotterdam to Roosendaal which leave from adjacent platforms. Easy to get them mixed up - one is a stopper and the other an IC to Vlissingen. [But presumably easy to correct mistakes, if they went from adjacent platforms!] The latter did the business and connected with the Belgian EMU to Gent with time to spare. This was slightly late leaving but arrived at Antwerpen Centraal in time for 17:33 to Lier, followed by 17:59 Lier - Mechelen to do the south curve at Lint in daylight.
At Mechelen beer deprivation became intolerable and the pub across the road (the Orient) was visited. This looked scruffy but wasn't, and dispensed Westmalle Dubbel with cheese for BFr 80; dish of the day on Thursday is pepper steak for Bfr 295. A minor but useful discovery as the GBG entry keeps somewhat restricted hours. Back at Leuven the evening the evening was completed by visits to Domus for the house 'ordinaire' which was a bit, a chippie, and 'Universum'.
An unidentified NS electric unit stands at Rhenen station on 9.5.96. I couldn't have hoped to get much nearer the end of the line.
Friday 10.5.96
A slightly too long lie-in resulted in a mad dash for shower, breakfast etc. in time to stand from Leuven to Brussel Noord, and sit from Nord to Zuid on 08:26 to Oostende. After rendezvous with JR at Au Laboureur and unsuccessful enquiries about the alleged Statte - Moha shuttle on Sunday we caught the delayed 10:06 to Mons. This crawled for miles through the LGV engineering works, not reaching line speed until well south of Halle. Arrival in Mons was 33 minutes late. An uncomfortable walk up to the town was rewarded with dubious Leffe Brune in the excellent Excelsior and excellent Floreffe Tripel in the dubious (but friendly) Podo. GBG refers to it rather kindly as 1970s style.
Another parting of the ways as JR disappeared to Binche via La Louvière Sud and I went via La Louvière Centre and Tubize. A chance discovery at Tubize was the Charlemagne just outside the station - a four ale bar selling Rochefort 10, no less, for a mere BFr 80. Back down to Binche on the 14:37, much refreshed. Binche station is enormous and very impressive though far too big for the traffic it serves. It appears the line used to go through to Erquelines on the Charleroi - Jeumont (France) line.
At this point the day's gricing was abandoned in favour of a return to Leuven, where a protracted discussion with the station supervisor and his colleagues failed, despite their best efforts, to produce any evidence of special trains from Statte to Moha on the Sunday.
A slightly too long lie-in resulted in a mad dash for shower, breakfast etc. in time to stand from Leuven to Brussel Noord, and sit from Nord to Zuid on 08:26 to Oostende. After rendezvous with JR at Au Laboureur and unsuccessful enquiries about the alleged Statte - Moha shuttle on Sunday we caught the delayed 10:06 to Mons. This crawled for miles through the LGV engineering works, not reaching line speed until well south of Halle. Arrival in Mons was 33 minutes late. An uncomfortable walk up to the town was rewarded with dubious Leffe Brune in the excellent Excelsior and excellent Floreffe Tripel in the dubious (but friendly) Podo. GBG refers to it rather kindly as 1970s style.
Another parting of the ways as JR disappeared to Binche via La Louvière Sud and I went via La Louvière Centre and Tubize. A chance discovery at Tubize was the Charlemagne just outside the station - a four ale bar selling Rochefort 10, no less, for a mere BFr 80. Back down to Binche on the 14:37, much refreshed. Binche station is enormous and very impressive though far too big for the traffic it serves. It appears the line used to go through to Erquelines on the Charleroi - Jeumont (France) line.
At this point the day's gricing was abandoned in favour of a return to Leuven, where a protracted discussion with the station supervisor and his colleagues failed, despite their best efforts, to produce any evidence of special trains from Statte to Moha on the Sunday.
Binche station - 'never knowingly undersold'!
[Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence, with thanks to Wikimedia user 'Pierre André' for making his work available.]
[Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic licence, with thanks to Wikimedia user 'Pierre André' for making his work available.]
Saturday/Sunday 11-12.5.96
No breakfast, alas, before catching the 06:57 Leuven - Brussel Zuid to connect with ADL's 'Grand Belgian Depot Tour'. The ECS was noted passing through Leuven behind preserved 6041. The GBDT left Brussel more or less on time and proceeded to Schaarbeek depot, where the shed was visited. Many 80xx were present as well as preserved 2-10-0 26 101 and various preserved diesels. On leaving Schaarbeek we went via lines 26B and 27 to Vilvoorde instead of 26 towards Leuven. We eventually reached Leuven via Haacht (lines 27B and 53) and failed to go through the yard or use te freight only curve between the lines to Ottignies and Landen (Y Tivoli to Y Molenbeek). At Tienen we again failed to do the booked route but did so, rather unexcitingly, at Landen. Booked route and timings were then adhered to as far as Kinkempois, where a comprehensive shed visit was had. The tour train left Kinkempois at the north end and continued to Gouvy where half an hour was allowed to get the numbers of three locos and run 6041 round the train.
On returning to Liège we took the Angleur - Grace Dieu (east - north) curve as booked and I took advantage of a brief stop in the platform at Visé to leave the tour and go back to Liège on a service train. The 16:08 local to Namur allowed me to stop off at Statte where the booking office was closed but there was a timetable on the door of the nearest pub indicating that a shuttle service to Moha was running the next day. The pub landlord's English and my French were inadequate to settle the matter so I caught the next train back to Huy where more local publicity was in evidence and railcar 4333 was stabled in a siding. Unfortunately the Statte - Huy train was late and there was insufficient time to get verbal confirmation of the Moha trips before catching the 17:10 to La Louvière.
My notes run out at this stage, half way down the page and with no apparent reason for doing so. My photo catalogue does at least offer an answer as to whether the Moha shuttles did indeed run- they did, and were worked by the railcar from Huy, 4333.The shuttles went to the end of the usable line just north of the Moha quarry - if Google Maps is to be believed, at 50.55749139627731 N, 5.177374277606244 E ! A visit was made on the return trip, to a fleamarket at the old Moha station site in Rue du Val Notre Dame - I still have a Rochefort glass purchased at a flea market and I suspect it was there. A nice souvenir of a classic branch line, finally closed in 2012 and lifted beyond Moha quarry in 1996 (it ran through to Landen as line 127). It seems that I was back in the UK on Monday 13th May so it's doubtful that any worthwhile track was done after the Moha branch.
No breakfast, alas, before catching the 06:57 Leuven - Brussel Zuid to connect with ADL's 'Grand Belgian Depot Tour'. The ECS was noted passing through Leuven behind preserved 6041. The GBDT left Brussel more or less on time and proceeded to Schaarbeek depot, where the shed was visited. Many 80xx were present as well as preserved 2-10-0 26 101 and various preserved diesels. On leaving Schaarbeek we went via lines 26B and 27 to Vilvoorde instead of 26 towards Leuven. We eventually reached Leuven via Haacht (lines 27B and 53) and failed to go through the yard or use te freight only curve between the lines to Ottignies and Landen (Y Tivoli to Y Molenbeek). At Tienen we again failed to do the booked route but did so, rather unexcitingly, at Landen. Booked route and timings were then adhered to as far as Kinkempois, where a comprehensive shed visit was had. The tour train left Kinkempois at the north end and continued to Gouvy where half an hour was allowed to get the numbers of three locos and run 6041 round the train.
On returning to Liège we took the Angleur - Grace Dieu (east - north) curve as booked and I took advantage of a brief stop in the platform at Visé to leave the tour and go back to Liège on a service train. The 16:08 local to Namur allowed me to stop off at Statte where the booking office was closed but there was a timetable on the door of the nearest pub indicating that a shuttle service to Moha was running the next day. The pub landlord's English and my French were inadequate to settle the matter so I caught the next train back to Huy where more local publicity was in evidence and railcar 4333 was stabled in a siding. Unfortunately the Statte - Huy train was late and there was insufficient time to get verbal confirmation of the Moha trips before catching the 17:10 to La Louvière.
My notes run out at this stage, half way down the page and with no apparent reason for doing so. My photo catalogue does at least offer an answer as to whether the Moha shuttles did indeed run- they did, and were worked by the railcar from Huy, 4333.The shuttles went to the end of the usable line just north of the Moha quarry - if Google Maps is to be believed, at 50.55749139627731 N, 5.177374277606244 E ! A visit was made on the return trip, to a fleamarket at the old Moha station site in Rue du Val Notre Dame - I still have a Rochefort glass purchased at a flea market and I suspect it was there. A nice souvenir of a classic branch line, finally closed in 2012 and lifted beyond Moha quarry in 1996 (it ran through to Landen as line 127). It seems that I was back in the UK on Monday 13th May so it's doubtful that any worthwhile track was done after the Moha branch.
8213 on the turntable at Gouvy, 11.5.96 |
6041 waiting to leave Gouvy with the SDL tour train on 11.5.96 |
Railcar 4333, waiting at Huy to work a shuttle service to Statte and Moha on 12.5.96, is about to be passed by 'Break' unit 435 |
The guard and shunter from the Moha shuttle on their way to operate the level crossing over the N643A at Wanze |
Despite this being a local event not aimed particularly at trackbashers, a fine effort was made at getting to the end of the line beyond Moha quarry |
It being a 'day out' event, the shuttle service stopped for passengers to visit the flea market at the site of the former Moha station |
The next trip I've been able to retrieve from my recently discovered (in 2023) notes was at the end of July for another ADL freight line tour in Belgium, covering branches in 'Le Centre' - and my photo records do suggest that I actually managed to stay in the UK for the rest of May, June and most of July.
