eastwestdivide goes Dutch

[eastwestdivide]

A few weeks back, I took my folding bike on the Eurostar to do a bit of touring in NL, based in Gouda. 

 

Ticketing was a 4-day 1st class (for the extra space) Benelux Interrail ticket, which now permits you to include Eurostar on the first and last day, for a special supplement (€30 2nd class, €38 1st). So that gave me 2 long days' travel in Benelux as well as my to and from journeys. The Interrail opens Dutch ticket barriers with a 2D barcode, but I think the barriers detected that I'd wheeled my folding bike through as they sometimes beeped after me. You need a paid ticket to take a normal bike on Dutch trains, but it's free for a folding bike, so I suspect it detected the bike and beeped for "no bike ticket".

The rest of the time I used an OV chip card (Dutch nationwide equivalent to the London Oyster card). If anyone wants to make me an offer on the card, with about €15 left on it, PM me. I forget to get a refund on my way back.

 

So preliminaries over, I thought you might like some photos....

 

The journies out and back... breakfast in Eurostar

 

Interior of Brussels-Amsterdam Intercity - loco-hauled but via the classic lines and Brussels airport, so much slower than the Thalys. 

 

On the journey our, the guard doing the announcements (in French, Dutch, German and English) was obsessed with "watch out for pickpockets", announcing it on the approach to, and departing from, every station. The on coming back mentioned it a couple of times.

These services were predominantly NS coaches (about 6 in the rake), but there was at least one rake of SNCB stock running about (air-conditioned, the sliding windows didn't slide), which I caught on the way back home. These had no luggage stacks, so my bike ended up in a seating bay. Lucky it wasn't crowded.

 

Catering was nothing in Belgium, but in NL there was a chap with a belt-mounted tray (think cinema ice cream seller), with a few sandwiches and bits, plus a hot water backpack, from which a spout came round his side with a tap on the end so he could dispense hot water into your paper cup of instant coffee. Yum.

Where else could it be, Douwe Egberts and an ugly train in yellow and blue?

 

Here's my train on the way back, at Brussels:

 

Spotted en route at Roosendaal:

08-style shunter Locon 9701 

 

Observation car thingy (ID please?) 

 

And destination Gouda. It could only be Gouda really, the cinema next to the station having cheesy architecture (and a train to Alphen aan den Rijn):

 

More to come, including pics of trains and windmills.

[eastwestdivide]

General observations as a passenger in the Netherlands...

 

 

 

 

It's a busy network, at least in the central area (Randstad), so the occasional cancellations and late running have a limited impact on your journey - just catch the next one in 15 mins.

 

 

 

 

 

Loco haulage: As well as the Amsterdam-Brussels hourly Intercity, the domestic trains using the high-speed line are loco+coaches (since the debacle with the Fyra units ordered, and then rejected as being rubbish, a few years back). In fact most seemed to be loco+coaches+loco. They're limited to 160km/h despite using the high speed line. All locos on the Brussels Intercity and the domestic high speed (Intercity Direct) services were the Bombardier Traxx type.

 

 

Most were in blue/yellow, some with driving trailer coaches, although these don't seem to be in use - every one I saw was inside a top and tailed formation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some in grey liveries:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also noticed were a few push-pull double-deck sets using "broken nose" locos, these examples at Utrecht:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The NS mobile app is fairly handy - this screen shot shows you info on the train you're interested in, including its position and speed on a map, plus the unit number.

 

 

 

 

But for spotting purposes, I don't think you can search by loco number!

 

 

 

 

 

The unit number is also useful public info on this internal screen, where the train was "revised" en route due to late running. I had got on the correct half of a train that split, but they changed the order en route, and used the unit number to tell you which portion you were in:

 

 

 

 

Rough translation: This Intercity will split at Eindhoven. Train unit numbers are next to the doors. Train unit 8649 for Eindhoven. Train unit 9473 for Heerlen.

 

 

 

Of course I had to then run down the platform with my folding bike (quicker to lug it down folded than unfold, wheel, fold up, board?)

 

 

 

 

The evening I arrived, it was stinking hot, so as I still had validity on my ticket, I wandered down to the station and caught the first air-conditioned Sprinter to Den Haag. Not sure if the display temperature was correct, as it felt much cooler when boarding.

 

 

 

 

(27 deg outside, 26 inside, at 20:12)

 

 

 

 

 

Integration: The OV card covers the whole country, on trains, trams, metro, buses and bike hire. Everywhere I went, integration between modes of transport was pretty convenient, and planning was helped by the 9292.nl website, giving you integrated travel itineraries including the OV card price.

 

 

Here, the terminus at Den Haag has the RET (Rotterdam area) metro/tram lines going over the top of the buffer stops, here with a neat take on Mondriaan on the panels:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out in the countryside next...

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by eastwestdivide
temperatures wrong!

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks for the extra info Dutch Master.

We'll have to agree to differ on the ugly train. For me, it's all those angles on the front, plus the enormous "forehead" that makes it look like it's frowning or angry. The wikipedia page on the Brunel Awards doesn't list an award at all for 1993, or for that train - was it a different award?

At least it's not as bad as those ancient one-eyed Belgian 2-car units (more of which later).

[F-UnitMad]

Had a holiday in Holland years ago, & got a bit of railfanning in - I liked that blue & yellow livery, & even all the EMUs, when I wouldn't have given a British EMU a first glance back in my spotting days! I also like the 1600/1700 electrics in NS, but not SNCF colours!!

Always fancied an NS-based little layout, a Minories-style terminus for some EMUs etc, but the prices of European outline models were always rather eye-watering.

Interesting thread, thanks for posting!

[eastwestdivide]

Linesiding around Gouda.

Here's a selection of shots taken on various cycling days in the Gouda area.

Gouda is on a roughly E-W line between Den Haag and Utrecht. To the W of the station there's a 3-way junction for the lines to Alphen, Den Haag and Rotterdam. It is, of course, pretty flat, so high vantage points are at a premium. However, there were still plenty of interesting shots to be had.

On the eastern edge of Gouda, sheep and a passenger train:

 

and in the same area, cows and a freight train.

I saw the odd freight there, but this was the only one I had a chance to photograph. The recent Betuwe route takes a lot of the freight traffic between Rotterdam docks and Germany

 

On the western edge of Gouda is where the lines split.

Here, looking east, the single line on the left comes in from Alphen, the two trains* are to and from Den Haag, and the Rotterdam route goes under the flyover:

*which one's prettier?

 

The structure in the background is a lift bridge, taken in the 5 minutes of sunshine on an otherwise claggy evening:

 

I promised you a windmill:

 

And all week, the Thalys Amsterdam/Paris trains were being diverted off the high speed route.

This was the only one I managed to photograph however:

 

Further west, I found myself in the area where the river Rotte (-rdam) rises, where there are "proper" windmills.
Arrow-straight cycle path beside rail line beside motorway:

 

Windmills:

 

 

[eastwestdivide]

I mentioned the Betuweroute freight artery in my previous post. On a very hot day I cycled broadly south, using the excellently-signposted cycle route network, from Gouda to Sliedrecht, where the freight line runs parallel to a local passenger line between Dordrecht and Geldermalsen.

 

View from the bridge, tank train heading east. I like the design of the overhead line supports:

 

Passenger trains crossing on the single line, with the freight route to the right.

The local trains are run by Arriva using "Spurt" units from Stadler, with the electrical bits concentrated in a short section between the passenger accommodation. I think a similar arrangement is coming to the UK on the bi-modes ordered for the Anglia franchise.

 

As I moved location, another freight appeared at the wrong moment:

 

More freight:

 

And the same one with my bike. I was in the shade of a tree, using my hat to prevent the black saddle becoming too hot to sit on.

 

Just round the corner at Sliedrecht Baanhoek is a large bridge across the Beneden Merwede, with a single track for trains plus a cycle path.

Here, you can see the movable section of the bridge with no wires:

 

And the fixed section from the riverbank, with a well-timed boat:

 

Coasting over the unpowered moving section of the bridge, showing the short intermediate motor coach (3rd of 4 sections of the train)...

 

Close-up of the pantograph about to make contact. Speed was about 30-40mph I would guess.

 

 

 

[F-UnitMad]

*which one's prettier?

Dunno, actually - it's a tough choice between a Whaleback & a Koplopper!!

Let's just say they're both very distinctive, & both would be on my "must have" stock list, if I ever did that layout...

[Barry Ten]

Thanks for these great pictures.

 

I was in Den Haag Centraal last week and struck by what a brilliantly pleasant station it was, somehow relaxing and exciting at the same time, with everything spacious and easily navigated. Compare with some of the redeveloped UK mainline stations, such as King's Cross, which I generally find clinical, overly-bright, cluttered and noisy.

[eastwestdivide]

Another hot day, I abandoned the bike and headed to the rail museum at Utrecht. The museum's on a own branch line with its own station, Maliebaan, only open when the museum's open, and served by a sprinter shuttle from the main Utrecht station.

The line used to be a through route, but it now only serves the museum station. The train from Utrecht sets off NE from the main station through Overzecht towards Hilversum, stops to reverse under a road flyover (red arrow), the driver walks through, and the train sets off round a curve onto the line into Maliebaan (black arrow). Lots of level crossings on the short stretch north of Maliebaan station

 

En route, at Blauwkapel, you cross a flat crossing (à la Newark), but one route is now out of use and rusty since the line via Maliebaan is no longer a through route.

 

Arrival at the museum, shuttle train on the left in case you wondered:

 

Plenty of interest in the museum, even for dyed in the wool UK enthusiasts.

"Longmoor" Austerity steam loco:

 

"Tommy" nameplate, stored sideways:

 

"08"-style shunter, in Delft pottery livery:

 

And a wide selection of Dutch stuff, including the comic statue next to the Hondekop (Dog's Nose):

 

The station platform, with exhibits on one platform, the other clear for the shuttle train.

 

[EddieB]

Good to see some different views of the museum at Utrecht.  I haven't been back there since it was "modernised" quite a few years ago, and most of the pictures I've seen tend to concentrate on the "arty" displays, so it's pleasing that there are still some exhibits that can be inspected and photographed

[eastwestdivide]

Good to see some different views of the museum at Utrecht.  I haven't been back there since it was "modernised" quite a few years ago, and most of the pictures I've seen tend to concentrate on the "arty" displays, so it's pleasing that there are still some exhibits that can be inspected and photographed

There was an "arty" display which took you through a mockup of a Tyneside village (complete with sign saying "Pub") where the first Dutch loco was built, into a mockup of the first journey. It comes with an audio guide pretending to be the driver of the first train - the English version has a Geordie accent. Not bad as these things go. 

Also another section with technical stuff for older children and non-engineer adults, including hands-on displays, such as different wheel geometries to show how the wheels stay on the rails.

But plenty of locos and rolling stock that you could get up close to. And a couple of Royal carriages that you can walk through.

Quite expensive (€16), but worth a trip if you're over that way.

[Northroader]

Enjoying your account and photos, I only got over there once, about thirty years ago, and its interesting to catch up.

[eastwestdivide]

Thanks for all the extra info and comments people.

As I mentioned at the start, I had two days remaining of my Benelux Interrail ticket for longer trips. One day was used going to the SW of the country, Middelburg, to catch a bus out to the Neeltje Jans visitor centre on the Delta Works sea defences. There was a surprisingly good reconstruction "experience" of the disastrous 1953 flooding, which recreated some of the horror of that night. That was the trigger for the long-term programme of sea defences reconstruction - "never again". I have to say, the scale of the works and the vision to carry it out over 50-odd years is truly impressive. There was also technical info, displays of construction equipment and a chance to go inside some of the sea defences. Also a lot of stuff for the kids, like getting close to sealions and seals. Sorry, no pics here.

 

The second of the two long days out was a carefully-planned but poorly-executed trip to the far SE of the country, to the three-country border of NL, B, D. That's just a few paces from the highest spot in the Netherlands, just over 1000 feet for the non-metricated among you. My route back took me into Belgium past the huge Moresnet viaduct on the freight line between Aachen and Visé near Liège.

The itinerary was Gouda to Heerlen by train, cycle via the highest point and the Moresnet viaduct to Hergenrath (Belgium), and then train back, changing at Welkenraedt, Liège, Maastricht, Utrecht.

However, things didn't go entirely to plan, what with a late running train with portions that got reallocated en route requiring a sprint down the platform, a lower level of cycle route signage than in the central Randstad area resulting in me getting lost in an industrial estate, a map which showed Belgian rail stations as being in the Netherlands, and a puncture.

 

Anyway, a few photos.

En route between Heerlen and the highest point, there's a preserved line at Simpelveld. Not much happening on a Friday though:

 

Here's the highest point and the 3-country border, where you can visit three countries in three seconds:

 

Reached the viaduct with a puncture, and I was so delayed by that point that I gave up on finding other vantage points. Just a couple of phone pics (NB don't use a touch screen phone with bike grease on your fingers!):

 

After the puncture repair had failed after a few more km, it was only a short distance to Hergenrath, so I walked it. The local train across the border to Aachen is the SNCB equivalent of a 4-SUB, which makes Dutch trains suddenly look much prettier.

(this is the one heading away from the camera towards Aachen - did I mention I had a long wait for the hourly service?)

 

Change at the stunning Liège Guillemins:

 

And a final bonus. En route back to Gouda, as we passed under the Betuweroute mentioned earlier, there was a freight heading for Germany. A quick phone camera shot through the double glazing, and it's almost my favourite photo of the week:

 

That's all folks. Tot ziens.

[EddieB]

The then NSM Board took its cue from the NRM in York, the resulting plans were not received favourably 

Oh dear - that does illustrate a trend among some transport museums, where the precious exhibits have secondary status to some artistic "concept".  (I understand "narrative" is the latest buzz-word).

 

While on the subject of the NSM at Utrecht, can I ask whether steam locos nos 3737 (4-6-0, the last NS steam loco certified for main-line operation) and PO/2 4-4-0 2104 are now displayed in positions where they can be examined and photographed?  The former was stored elsewhere when I visited the museum, the latter displayed in a special glass case that meant it was difficult to get decent photographs.

 

Regarding Simpelveld - I think there was something a few months back where the preserved railway operation was being hit with crippling costs for a licence/insurance (to meet EU regulations, IIRC).  When running it relies heavily on former Swedish (SJ) steam locomotives sold out of that country's strategic reserve.

[eastwestdivide]

...While on the subject of the NSM at Utrecht, can I ask whether steam locos nos 3737 (4-6-0, the last NS steam loco certified for main-line operation) and PO/2 4-4-0 2104 are now displayed in positions where they can be examined and photographed?  The former was stored elsewhere when I visited the museum, the latter displayed in a special glass case that meant it was difficult to get decent photographs....

Sorry, no idea - I've just looked back over the photos I took there (not just the ones above) and can't see either, but I didn't photograph everything, so that's not conclusive.

[olivegreen]

I have just spent a happy 20 minutes-or-so looking through this thread. very many thanks for posting all the photos and comments.

Mike

[31A]

3737 and 2104 were certainly on display and photographable when I visited the museum in 2014:

 

 

 

I have to say, despite having read of the 'revision' of the Dutch Railway Museum before my visit (and noting the 'theme park' comments on here), I actually enjoyed my visit and found it educational as well as entertaining, and thought some other museums could benefit from taking a leaf from its book, including our own NRM!

[EddieB]

Thank you, Steve. Like you, the descriptions I've read have tended to be off-putting, though I haven't avoided the museum as such, just not had opportunity to be in the vicinity since its redevelopment. Now I think I need to find an excuse!

[jonhall]

 

Regarding Simpelveld - I think there was something a few months back where the preserved railway operation was being hit with crippling costs for a licence/insurance (to meet EU regulations, IIRC).  When running it relies heavily on former Swedish (SJ) steam locomotives sold out of that country's strategic reserve.

 

I had a ride back in May, they seem to have an issue where the drivers need to work 40-odd days on the mainline to retain 'the knowledge' and they just couldn't achieve that, so they couldn't run onto the mainline. They were running both branches (one exclusively with the DB railbus) and the steam stopped short at the junction station - which therefore retains the public transport interchange.

 

Jon

[Neil]

I visited Utrecht earlier this year, my visit coinciding with Ontraxs.  I enjoyed both the models and the railway museum. My memory of what was where is a bit mixed up and may not be relevant as some of the museum exhibits may have been moved to make space for the layouts. I thoroughly enjoyed my day there as did Mrs R. Like Steve (31A) I thought there was much that UK museums could learn from Utrecht, certainly the crowd during my visit seemed to be a good cross section of society with a mix of ages and genders. I was particularly impressed by the catering which was top notch yet modestly priced.