Chemin de fer à vapeur des 3 vallées
The Chemin de fer à vapeur des 3 vallées (CFV3V) is a museum railway launched in 1973 in south-east Belgium . It has a collection of historic railway vehicles from several European countries that are either drivable or preserved in a museum. The name "Steam Railway of the 3 Valleys" refers to the Viroin river and its source rivers Eau Blanche and Eau Noire .
route
The CFV3V uses a 14 km long section of the railway line from Mariembourg to the French town of Vireux-Molhain, which was closed between 1966 and 1977 . It begins in the former depot of the former Mariembourg separation station , to which a siding leads, on the railway line from Charleroi to Couvin . Many of the vehicles used for museum traffic are stationed in the depot, where an island platform has been laid out for passengers. The brick-built six-sided semicircular shed with a concrete roof is the last of its kind to be used in Belgium.
The standard-gauge , single-track route mostly leads in the valley through the hilly landscape of the Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse and mostly follows the course of the Viroin. The train stations of Nismes , Olloy-sur-Viroin and Vierves-sur-Viroin lie between the endpoints . One of the 28 engineering structures is the 485 m long Les Abannets tunnel, which crosses a ridge on a bend in the river northwest of Olloy.
The end of the route is the former border station in Treignes with a correspondingly large reception building and extensive track systems. A large hall was built there in 1994, which houses the railway museum with numerous exhibits.
history
The sponsoring association asbl Chemin de Fer à Vapeur des 3 Vallées , consisting of volunteers, was founded on December 20, 1973. On May 14, 1975, the NMBS / SNCB state railway gave him the section from Nismes to Treignes for a period of 15 years. After the state railway had stopped using the Mariembourg – Nismes section on October 12, 1977, the contract was extended to include that section at the beginning of 1978.
vehicles
The association has 24 steam locomotives , nine of which are in working order. There are also eleven diesel locomotives (five operational), nine diesel multiple units (six operational) and several passenger coaches.
The vehicles built in Germany include the steam locomotives 50 3696-7 ( Krupp 1939), 52 467 ( Borsig 1942; not operational), 52 3314 ( Jung 1944), 64 250 ( Henschel 1933) and ELNA 158 (Henschel 1940) as well as the Rail bus 551.662 (former 795 662; in the museum in Belgian-looking, not original paintwork).
The Belgian tank locomotives AD 05 (Tubize 1926) and SA 01 (AFB 1945) as well as the Polish TKt 48-87 are also operational. The railcars used in passenger traffic include two Belgian rail buses of the 554 series , the Luxembourg double railcar 201-211 ( Westwaggon 1956) and a diesel railcar of the SNCF series X 3800 "Picasso".
64 250 in Treignes, 2011
ELNA at the water crane in Mariembourg, 2002
Three-axle box locomotive 808 from 1894, the oldest locomotive of the CFV3V
Two railcars of the NMBS / SNCB series 554 in the original (right) and later livery
.JPG)
business
Trains run on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from April to October. Trains run almost every day in July and August. The majority of them are not steam locomotives, but rather diesel multiple units.
At the “Festival Vapeur” (steam festival), which takes place every year in the second half of September, several locomotives are under steam. Special trains are z. B. used on the occasion of Halloween and during the Christmas season. Trains can also be chartered all year round.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Histoire du CFV3V at site.cfv3v.eu, accessed on November 1, 2018
- ↑ Timetable 2018
- ↑ Festival Vapeur at site.cfv3v.eu, accessed on November 1, 2018.
- ↑ Halloween + nocturne at site.cfv3v.eu, accessed on November 1, 2018.
- ↑ Train à Vapeur du Père Noël at site.cfv3v.eu, accessed on November 1, 2018.
- ↑ Trains spéciaux at site.cfv3v.eu, accessed on November 1, 2018.