“Lest We Forget”

5941 waits to take charge of “The Mortal Coil” Mercia Charters railtour from Oostende on Saturday 12th November 2011.

As Mercia Charters had a couple of railtours planned for Belgium in November I offered to assist Denzil by compiling the booklet, transporting the headboard to Belgium and stewarding on both tours. As June decided to join me I asked Denzil if I could just steward on the Sunday to give us a day together on Saturday so I was very pleased and surprised when Denzil told me that he wouldn’t need me to steward on either day!I booked us FIP Eurostar tickets, travelling out standard class to save a few pennies but treating ourselves to first class on the return trip.

All opinions and comments in this report are my own unless otherwise stated and I make no apologies for any typos or grammatical mistakes! As usual, new loco’s are marked in bold, late running is highlighted red and a review of hotels, beers and railways follows at the end of the report.

Friday 11/11/2011Our usual early start to head to London on the HST had a slight alteration when I discovered that there was engineering work affecting the South Wales mainline for our return journey on Sunday and the service on the Worcester line is poor on a Sunday. To get round it we decided to drive to Malvern and park the car there so that we had a better choice of trains back from London. Luckily I’d allowed plenty of time as it was quite foggy heading up over the Malvern Hills so the last few miles were quite slow going. We needn’t have worried though as the HST was twenty minutes late due to cable theft (yet again!), this time in the Pontypool area which had delayed the empty stock en route to Hereford.We were both keen to get on the HST when it arrived after our wait in the cold and after warming up with a hot drink from the buffet I took advantage of the free electricity to make a start on the report. This had the added bonus of distracting me from the woman opposite who had a very annoying voice and wouldn’t stop talking!! In the end we didn’t pick up any time but luckily didn’t lose any either so we had time for breakfast on our way to St. Pancras.Not surpisingly there were a few recongnisable faces in the departure lounge of the Eurostar terminal although it wasn’t until we approached Bruxelles and got up to walk to the vestibule that I bumped into John Holmes who had some gen on the 18’s working the Eupen services. I scribbled down what he told me just as we approached Bruxelles Midi and I was then very pleased to see 2825, the last passenger sector type 28 that I was after coupled to a set of Benelux stock. Today was Armistice day which the Belgians take very seriously, not surprising considering their role in both world wars. From a railway point of view, it meant that there was a Sunday service was operating as very few people were at work so there were no P trains running and some of the new type 18 diagrams were also caped as they were Mon-Fri only trains. This was a bit of a blow although there were still four type 18’s to go for on the IC-A services thanks to the gen from John in addition to 2825.Quite a few others had the same idea although our first job was to head for our hotel near Bruxelles Nord to check in. We just had time to do this and get back to the station in time to jump on a type 18 to Bruxelles Midi for a comfortable move onto 2825 back to Bruxelles Central. As we left the station we saw a small demonstration going on although I couldn’t work out exactly what they were demonstrating against! June had hoped for some shopping time so I thought that now would be a good opportunity but unfortunately despite us finding a few shops open at first we soon realised that most were closed for the day. June had to make do with some window shopping (much better vfm in my opinion!) followed by a visit to a supermarket to stock up on a few supplies for the following day.As I still had about forty five minutes before the next type 18 was due, I decided to cheer June up with a visit to “A la Becasse”, a bar that we both like although it was not surprisingly quite busy. One jug of Lambic Doux later and I was back at Bruxelles Central having left June in town (she wanted to go and see the Mannekin Pis in daylight for a change). The type 18 produced as expected but the unit from Midi back to Nord didn’t appear so I hopped on the Benelux to Central (as they don’t stop at Nord any more) and waited for the next train from there. I popped back to the hotel to drop off the beers that we’d bought before heading back to meet June via another type 18.As I walked down to the “Bier Tempel” to meet June and buy a few more beers I noticed that the roads leading to the Grand Place appeared to be closed off. After filling the rucksack for the second time I asked one of the cops what was going on and was told that the Grand Place was closed off for a while to prevent a demonstration gaining access so I assumed that it was the same bunch as we’d seen earlier. After a wander round the market stalls on Grasmarkt we headed back to Central for the final type 18 to Midi.Just as we arrived at Midi I had a text from Henders to ask where we were as he couldn’t get hold of Denzil or Dan so we met up with him and route conducted him to the Ustel where we found the othes waiting in reception. Denzil had just finished his stewarding meeting and everyone was now ready for something to eat so we walked to the nearby metro station (Lemonnier) and headed to the Bourse. We all agreed on a chinese at the nearby “Chaochow City” and a very good meal it was too although the first attempt at a beer resulted in bottled water (not my fault though, I was in the bog at the time!!). A few of the early risers decided to call it a night after the meal but five of us headed off to “Moeder Lambic Fontainas“, an excellent Belgian beer café half way between the Bourse and Bruxelles Midi. As per usual, the social banter was good fun so “just the one” turned into quite a few and we eventually got back to our hotel at about 00:30.

BR HST 06:08 Malvern Link - Paddington 08:51 ---- 05:35 Hereford - PaddingtonEurostar 373.202 10:57 St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi 14:12 9126 10:57 St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi

Eurostar 373.201 10:57 St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi 14:12 9126 10:57 St. Pancras International - Bruxelles MidiSNCB EMU 14:23 Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Nord 14:30 IR4214 14:23 Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Nat AeroportSNCB 1811 14:55 Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Midi 15:02 IC536 13:12 Eupen - OostendeSNCB 2825 15:18 Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Central 15:21 IC9237 15:18 Bruxelles Midi - Amsterdam CentraalSNCB 1844 16:59 Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Midi 17:02 IC538 15:12 Eupen - OostendeSNCB 2816 17:18 Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Central 17:21 IC9245 17:18 Bruxelles Midi - Amsterdam CentraalSNCB EMU 17:27 Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Nord 17:30 IR4217 17:23 Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Nat AeroportSNCB 1843 17:55 Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Central 17:58 IC539 16:12 Eupen - OostendeSNCB 1835 18:59 Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Midi 19:02 IC540 17:12 Eupen - Oostende

June was slightly disappointed to find the Mannekin Pis dressed up as Gordon Ramsey on Armistice Day!

Saturday 12/11/2011June and I took advantage of the railtour picking up at Bruxelles Nord, having an extra thirty minutes in bed followed by a hot breakfast and a gentle stroll to the station, arriving just before the tour was booked to deport Midi. I left June on the right platform and wandered to the end of the next platform ready to fot the tour coming round the curve from the tunnels. Iain had drawn the short straw of stewarding at Nord and he called over to me to say that there was a problem and the tour was still in the sidings at Schaerbeek – bugger!In the end, the tour turned up 30 minutes late but with just 5941 on the front (it shold have been an 82 on the front and the 59 on the rear). It turned out that the second driver hadn’t appeared but full marks to Denzil and the PFT staff at Schaerbeek who managed to get the 50 on the front and the train round to Midi via the Western loop so as to avoid a run round at Midi. Sadly this meant that the seats I’d reserved were now at the wrong end, away from the 59! Once we arrived at the depot platform most of the passengers detrained to visit the depot while the train headed back to the sidings to pick up our assist loco.The depot cotainerd more lcoo’s than I’d expected including a few Infra 55’s and 62’s, some of the TVM 55’s and a selection of preserved PFT and SNCB museum loco’s. I was however surprised to see two type 16’s in the shed as they had until recently been stored at Oostende where we’d expected to find them later in the day! Later interrogation of the PFT buffet crew revealed that 1608 should now be owned by PFT and 1602 is probably for the national collection. 6077 had been seen heading off towards the carriage sidings so we all assumed that we wouldn’t now be getting the booked type 55 although as I knew it would be dud anyway I was actually quite happy to get another noisy diesel. However, after about thirty minutes the train still hadn’t reappeared and we’d now reached “raitour standard time” of an hour late. News then filtered through that there was a problem and it turned out that 6077 wasn’t insured and neither was one of the coaches so “mad Pierre” from PFT who’d happened to be at Schaerbeek got 5511 ready for us while the 60 and coach were removed. All this took quite a while to accomplish so by the time the train was back down in the paltform for us we were running on “Pathfinder standard time” two hours late!

Despite the low maximum speed of 80km/h (set by the AK coaches) the type 55 was thrashed pretty hard although I don’t think that they’re anywhere as good as an AFB and certainly far inferior to a type 59. We approached Oostende and stopped in Zeehaven yard in the sidings adjacent to the depot where we were able to get out for a wander round, including fotting the tour as well as what was outside the depot. As expected, the remaining five type 16’s were stored at the rear of the yard so most people went over for a final look at these fine machines.The next problem reared its head when we all rejoined the tour as it appeared that there was now a problem with one of the freight branches. Unknown to everyone, including the train planners, the branch to Voorhaven was closed for engineering work and part of the route was dug up! Plan B was to visit the shorter branch to a local factory so we reboarded the train and shunted down to the end of the yard ready to access the factory branch. However, when we set off we headed back through the yeard and continued to Oostende station! It transpired that as the factory was closed we couldn’t enter the complex which was necessary for the signalling to allow us to return back down the branch so Mercia – nil, SNCB – two, not impressed!!The only upside was arriving in Oostende early, while the light was still reasonable enough to grab a few fots and it also gave me the chance to pass Dan out on fitting the headboard onto a 59! The local food kiosk was overwhelmed with customers, cleaning them out completely much to their bemusement. Things then got confusing as out train got the road to depart early, while numerous passengers were wandering into town. Everything got sorted and we departed through the carraige sidings as a small compensation for missing the Voorhaven branch.The run back to Bruxelles passed quickly as the beer was still flowing and the social was good but June and I were starting to get a bit peckish so I suggested that we head out for a meal. We headed to Rogiet metro stop and called into the Brussels Grill for an excellent meal along with about a dozen of the others. Afterwards to headed off for a nightcap, finishing a bit earlier than the previous evening as we were both starting to flag.

SNCB 5941 08:25 Bruxelles Nord - Schaerbeek AT 08:32 18050 08:25 Bruxelles Nord - Schaerbeek ATSNCB 5511 09:10 Schaerbeek AT - Oostende TW 12:01 18051 09:10 Schaerbeek AT - Oostende TWSNCB 5511 15:20 Oostende TW - Oostende 15:30 18052 15:20 Oostende TW - OostendeSNCB 5941 15:52 Oostende - Jette 18:49 18053 15:52 Oostende - JetteSNCB 5511 19:00 Jette - Bruxelles Midi 19:15 18054 19:00 Jette - Bruxelles Midi

Almost finished! PFT owned 5927 receives a new coat of paint inside Schaerbeek depot on Saturday 12 th

November 2011. The loco should be ready for action next year and a tour is planned for 5927+5941 together.

Sunday 13/11/2011Today’s tour was starting at Bruxelles Midi but as it was a slightly later start we still had time for a relaxed breakfast before catching a train to Midi. Unlike Saturday, the train was ready and waiting when we arrived and as a bonus I had a required loco on the front although as I’d only ever had one type 77 before I’d have been very unlucky to have got the same one!As we were heading home on the afternoon Eurostar, I was keeping an eye on the timings as we didn’t have much time to spare so if things went pearshaped we’d have to bale early and catch a service train back to Bruxelles. I soon noticed that we seemed to be dropping a minute between every station (and later discovered that the train had been timed for 100km/h despite being composed of 80km/h vehicles!) so by the time we arrived at Erquelinnes we were running almost thirty minutes late. After a quick photostop in the sun, we reversed direction and headed across to the next French frontier at Quevy. The original plan had been to traverse France between Erquelinnes and Quevy via Maubeuge but SNCF didn’t want to play ball so we took the long way round via La Louviere and Mons.We once again baled for a fot and reversed, retracing our steps to Mons and heading to Geraardsbergen for our final reversal. We were still running a bit late when we reached Geraardsbergen but we were now committed to

staying on the tour as we would be the quickest route back to Bruxelles. Unfortunately we got stopped half way at Enghien/Edingen as there was some single working in place which got me flapping a bit. Some of the others weren’t impressed either as they were heading to the Hasselt beer festival wheh they got off the tour so the bigger the delay, the less time they’d have to sample beers! Eventually a train appeared from Bruxelles so everyone got back on board in anticipation and I was very relieved when we got the road. In the end we had about forty minutes before our Eurostar so we had time to say a quick cheerio to everyone before heading to the Eurostar terminal. After the lively and fun atmosphere on the two tours, the Eurostar seemed very restrained and civilised but it was nice to relax and have a meal washed down with a bottle of wine – just the one for me though as we still had to collect the car from Malvern. We made the right choice with the car though as we arrived at Paddington just after the 16:30 Swansea service had departed so we wouldn’t have got back home until after 22:00 comapred to 20:00 after driving home from Malvern.

SNCB EMU 08:23 Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Midi 08:30 IR3529 08:07 Bruxelles Nat Aeroport - Gent Sint PietersSNCB 7737 08:49 Bruxelles Midi - Erquelinnes 09:50 18056 08:49 Bruxelles Midi - ErquelinnesSNCB 1205 10:00 Erquelinnes - Quevy 11:15 18057 10:00 Erquelinnes - QuevySNCB 7737 11:30 Quevy - Geraardsbergen 12:25 18058 11:30 Quevy - GeraardsbergenSNCB 1205 12:35 Geraardsbergen - Bruxelles Midi 13:13 18059 12:35 Geraardsbergen - Bruxelles MidiEurostar 373.201 14:59 Bruxelles Midi - St. Pancras International 15:56 9141 14:59 Bruxelles Midi - St. Pancras InternationalEurostar 373.202 14:59 Bruxelles Midi - St. Pancras International 15:56 9141 14:59 Bruxelles Midi - St. Pancras InternationalBR DMU 16:42 Paddington - Malvern Link 19:21 ---- 16:42 Paddington - Great Malvern

Only the second type 77 to work a Mercia Charters railtour, 7737 takes a break on Saturday 12 th Novemberhaving just arrived at Erquelinnes, the last station before entering France.

SummaryThe weekend certainly brought back a few old memories, including 5927 which I’d not seen since May 1994, 1205 which I’d not encountered on a passenger train since August 1992 and Oostende which I’d not visited since April 2001. The problems on Saturday were unfortunate but not the fault of Mercia so full marks to them and PFT for rescuing the day. It had been a while since I (and Mercia) had run a second “mini” tour and Ithink it went quite well, particularly as the sun came out.

Our next holiday is likely to be our annual Christmas market trip to Germany in December and by the sounds of it there’s going to be quite a few Brits in Germany while we’re there thanks to a few railtours….

© Neil Aitken 14/11/2011

Hotel GenAfter a bit of trawling on the internet caused by the spiralling costs of Bruxelles hotels, I booked us two nights in a Best Western using www.booking.com.

Best Western City CentreSquare Victoria Regine 9, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode1210 BrusselsTel: +32 22190661Fax: +32 22193882Web: E-mail: gm@citycentre.beLocated less than 10 minutes walk from Bruxelles Nord station and Rogier metro station. A double room including breakfast cost €62.10 per night including a PYB hot breakfast.

Beer GenAll of the bars and restaurants used had been visited before so I’ve just listed them belowA La Becasse http://www.alabecasse.com/Bier Tempel (CAMRA discount) http://www.biertempel.be/Restaurant Chaochow City (chinese restaurant opposite the Bourse)Moeder Lambic Fontainas http://www.moederlambic.euBrussels-Grill Restaurant, Rogier http://www.brussels-grill.be

Railway GenThere wasn’t much to report except for the tour loco’s and the type 18’s covered on the Friday afternoon/evening however, anyone interested in Belgian railways might want to join the belgen Yahoo group where news on train workings and loco status is well documented.http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/belgen