This is, so far, the only other 1993 expedition which seems to have slipped the Great 2023 Recap. It relates to a brief (one day I believe, with overnight ferry crossings both ways) visit to Belgium for a Gent-based ADL tour on 20 November 1993.
Saturday 20 November 1993
This tour was called 'Brussel in Detail' and was number 18 in the ADL sequence of tours back in those early days. It probably involved overnight crossings on MV Reine Astrid (built in Bremerhaven in 1975 and beginning to show her age, bless 'er) and/or MV Prins Filip (Boelwerf, Temse, 1992 and a little faster), though whether from and to Ramsgate or Dover I'm not sure. The Ramsgate service started in 1993, and this being late in the year, Ramsgate seems the more likely UK end of the cross-Channel route. I do have better information on the railtour itself, very kindly provided (at considerable effort) by my old friend IM, who was also on the tour and was able to confirm the date which I'd obtained from my so-called archives, and the route. The outline concept for the tour was to start with a run out to Eeklo for reasons too obscure to remember (this was and is a passenger line). The tour continued to some of the non-passenger lines in the Gent port area then migrate south through Brussel to cover some branches of the Brussel-Charleroi route. There are clues in the tour name but it did quite a few lines outside the Brussel area too. Burst to Aalst was, at the time, a threatened passenger branch which I'd done on 30 April 1993 to be on the safe side, and 30 years later is still open. After that it spun round Brussel doing quite a few curves listed in the route below, before heading off to Quenast and Clabecq. This was, I believe, my first ADL tour (of quite a few) and being a British-based venture, was a conveniently gentle introduction to some quite heavy duty trackbashing outside the UK.
The full route as recorded by my friend was : Gent St P – Gentbrugge – Gent Ost Yard – Gentbrugge Nord – Eeklo – Gentbrugge – Gent Zeehaven Yard – conn to Moerbeke line – North Docks branch to Honda compound gate – Dock Jn – North Dock, south side – jn with conn to South Dock, north side – South Dock north side – Gent Zeehaven - Merelbeke – Zottegem – Burst – Aalst – Denderleeuw – Y Jette – Y Pannenhuis – Thurn en Taxis: [freight liner terminal on north side – start of yard -furthest north line to main station (curve alongside old signal box)] – Y Pannenhuis – Y Laken – Y Zennebrug – line round back of Schaarbeek Yard – Y Machelen – Vilvoorde – Y Machelen – line 27 – line 26B past A yard – diveunder between A and B yards – alongside locoshed – fuelling point – entrance to shed – fuelling point – Schaarbeek (far west plat) – ‘new flyover’ – Haren Zuid – Brussels Airport – Diegem – Y Diegem West – Y Keelbeek – Y Machelen – Vilvoorde -Y Keelbeek Zuid – Delta – Watermaal – Groendaal – Etterbeek – Y Josaphat – Schaarbeek (plat 4) – Schaarbeek Depot (fuel ine no.2) - Schaarbeek (non platform line) – Brussels Central – Buizingen – conn to northbound flyover line – Halle – Lembeek – Clabecq – 5 km post (beyond mine) – Tubize – Quenast (200 m beyond station) – Tubize – Halle – line round back of flyover – 3rd line – Y Ruisbroek – Y Kuregem – Brussels West Y Pannenhuis - y Laken – Y Zennebrug – Y Josaphat – Quatier Leopold – Brussels Central – Brain L’Alleud – Y Vorst Oost – Y Kuregem – Y Laken – Brussels Central – Line 50a – Y Katerina – Denderleeuw – Y Welle – Gent St P.
Simple, really. The high spots for me would have been any one of the Gent dock lines, Brussel Thurn en Taxis, Quenast, and Clabecq - which is not to decry the various curves and flyovers included in this and many other tours, some of which would certainly have been on my 'to do' list at the time. Once my ambitions expanded beyond Belgium there had to be a good deal of filtering to achieve a doable level of detail!
This tour was called 'Brussel in Detail' and was number 18 in the ADL sequence of tours back in those early days. It probably involved overnight crossings on MV Reine Astrid (built in Bremerhaven in 1975 and beginning to show her age, bless 'er) and/or MV Prins Filip (Boelwerf, Temse, 1992 and a little faster), though whether from and to Ramsgate or Dover I'm not sure. The Ramsgate service started in 1993, and this being late in the year, Ramsgate seems the more likely UK end of the cross-Channel route. I do have better information on the railtour itself, very kindly provided (at considerable effort) by my old friend IM, who was also on the tour and was able to confirm the date which I'd obtained from my so-called archives, and the route. The outline concept for the tour was to start with a run out to Eeklo for reasons too obscure to remember (this was and is a passenger line). The tour continued to some of the non-passenger lines in the Gent port area then migrate south through Brussel to cover some branches of the Brussel-Charleroi route. There are clues in the tour name but it did quite a few lines outside the Brussel area too. Burst to Aalst was, at the time, a threatened passenger branch which I'd done on 30 April 1993 to be on the safe side, and 30 years later is still open. After that it spun round Brussel doing quite a few curves listed in the route below, before heading off to Quenast and Clabecq. This was, I believe, my first ADL tour (of quite a few) and being a British-based venture, was a conveniently gentle introduction to some quite heavy duty trackbashing outside the UK.
The full route as recorded by my friend was : Gent St P – Gentbrugge – Gent Ost Yard – Gentbrugge Nord – Eeklo – Gentbrugge – Gent Zeehaven Yard – conn to Moerbeke line – North Docks branch to Honda compound gate – Dock Jn – North Dock, south side – jn with conn to South Dock, north side – South Dock north side – Gent Zeehaven - Merelbeke – Zottegem – Burst – Aalst – Denderleeuw – Y Jette – Y Pannenhuis – Thurn en Taxis: [freight liner terminal on north side – start of yard -furthest north line to main station (curve alongside old signal box)] – Y Pannenhuis – Y Laken – Y Zennebrug – line round back of Schaarbeek Yard – Y Machelen – Vilvoorde – Y Machelen – line 27 – line 26B past A yard – diveunder between A and B yards – alongside locoshed – fuelling point – entrance to shed – fuelling point – Schaarbeek (far west plat) – ‘new flyover’ – Haren Zuid – Brussels Airport – Diegem – Y Diegem West – Y Keelbeek – Y Machelen – Vilvoorde -Y Keelbeek Zuid – Delta – Watermaal – Groendaal – Etterbeek – Y Josaphat – Schaarbeek (plat 4) – Schaarbeek Depot (fuel ine no.2) - Schaarbeek (non platform line) – Brussels Central – Buizingen – conn to northbound flyover line – Halle – Lembeek – Clabecq – 5 km post (beyond mine) – Tubize – Quenast (200 m beyond station) – Tubize – Halle – line round back of flyover – 3rd line – Y Ruisbroek – Y Kuregem – Brussels West Y Pannenhuis - y Laken – Y Zennebrug – Y Josaphat – Quatier Leopold – Brussels Central – Brain L’Alleud – Y Vorst Oost – Y Kuregem – Y Laken – Brussels Central – Line 50a – Y Katerina – Denderleeuw – Y Welle – Gent St P.
Simple, really. The high spots for me would have been any one of the Gent dock lines, Brussel Thurn en Taxis, Quenast, and Clabecq - which is not to decry the various curves and flyovers included in this and many other tours, some of which would certainly have been on my 'to do' list at the time. Once my ambitions expanded beyond Belgium there had to be a good deal of filtering to achieve a doable level of detail!
The one photo from the day where I'm sure of the location! This was the first branch done by the tour, and shows the tour train, single unit 4401, standing at Eeklo, with the hardier passengers on the platform. The line continues north beyond the station, formerly to Brugge but now only as far as Maldegem operated by the preservation group Stoomcentrum Maldegem.
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This was never going to make Photograph of The Year -
but a glance at the track does demonstrate how cold the late November morning was! 4401 is standing at a mystery location, possibly Gentbrugge, though positive identification would be very welcome. |
The day was warming up by the time 4401 reached the Honda compound gate in the Gent dock area. |
Another mystery photo. My best guess for this one is that it's at the now redeveloped Brussel Thurn en Taxis - but if anyone recognises the location, do please feel free to correct me. |
Notwithstanding my reservations about trying to do too much detail, I did get very much into these Belgian byways and it's no surprise that my next outing was for ADL's 'North East Belgian Byways' tour in January of the next year. I've been able to 'document' this and several other 1994 expeditions with the aid of the admirable tour listings here.
