Thuin Tram Museum
The Thuin Tram Museum is operated by the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Vicinal (ASVi) and is located in Thuin in the province of Hainaut in Belgium . The collection of the tram museum consists mainly of narrow gauge - vehicles that the Société nationale des chemins de fer Vicinaux (Vicinal) entertained. Most of the vehicles were in use in the extensive tram network to and from Charleroi .
In Thuin there are two museum buildings in which the vehicles are exhibited. From here journeys are made on the electrified museum railway line between Thuin (Ville Basse) and Lobbes , as well as on the non-electrified line from Musée ASVi to Biesme-sous-Thuin. The electrified route is a remnant of the earlier tram line 92 from Thuin via Anderlues to Charleroi.
The Union
The Association pour la Sauvegarde du Vicinal (ASVi, German translation: Association for the preservation of the Vizinalbahnen ) - Vicinal refers to the SNCV's Belgian overland network, which was previously operated nationwide - was founded in 1972 with the aim of preserving the history of the SNCV for posterity. It began with a vehicle collection with which, starting in 1978 , the first museum trips were carried out from the Anderlues depot .
After some of these special trips on the then still quite extensive network around Charleroi, the association looked for a line that could be permanently preserved as a museum route, which it finally found in part of the then line 92 at the beginning of the 1980s. Initially, the association established a museum operation with its (decommissioned) vehicles from the SNCV that it had acquired in the meantime, initially on a few summer weekends, later for the entire summer period, and today (2014) from the beginning of April to the end of October on Sundays and in July and August also on Saturdays .
Museum and depot
The site of the (former) Thuin Ouest (Thuin-West) train station was acquired by the association in the late 1980s in order to park the vehicles permanently. The advantage was that this area was not far from the museum route and could be connected to the existing tracks with limited resources.
First, from 1996, a parking hall with a workshop was built in the rear part, which was opened in 1999, when the historic vehicles were being transferred from Anderlues to Thuin Ouest. It should also be used as an exhibition hall. In 2000, the establishment of its own traction power supply from this site followed (600 V direct current, using equipment from the closed line 90 and new parts of the AEG ).
However, generous public funding of 1.1 million euros (for which the ASVi had to raise a further 110,000 euros as its own funds) opened up a new opportunity: From 2000, the Center de Découverte du Chemin de Fer Vicinaux (German translation: “Tram Discovery Center "), which opened in 2004. This is basically a four-track wagon hall with platforms between the tracks, which is connected to the rear of the workshop as well as to the front of the line (in the direction of Lobbes): This means that the operational wagons can also be parked here when there is no traffic, as is also the case with the extensive collection of the ASVi (stop boards, historical waiting benches, baggage carts, etc.). On the second floor, a “streetcar café” spans all the tracks. The tracks in the apron are also used for presentations and vehicle shows.
Electrified route
Line 92 was part of the extensive meter-gauge network that the SNCV maintained in the province of Hainaut (Hainaut) and that was geared towards the two coal and steel sites in Charleroi and La Louvière , specifically to the “Groupe du center” network, which mainly covers rural areas between the two cities. At the depot in Anderlues, the 92 branched off from one of the main lines (most recently line 90) to the south and initially followed the N 59 road.To descend into the Sambre valley , it left this road, crossing Lobbes-Les Bonniers initially on the side of the N 559 , from Lobbes-Entreville on your own route to Lobbes Center down the slope to the Sambre. It reached the Charleroi- Erquelinnes state railway line at the Lobbes station , which it initially followed (including together with the state railway over the Sambre), and later crossed it at the level of the Lobbes cemetery. The route turned again to the west and finally, after crossing the Biesmelle river in Thuin-Ville Basse (Thuin-Unterstadt), it reached the end point right next to the Sambre - at that time also the southernmost point in the SNCV network. The line from Anderlues to Lobbes was opened on April 11, 1914, the extension to Thuin 1930. It was operated in regular passenger traffic until December 31, 1983.
At the time, the SNCV administration had already agreed that the ASVi could use the route if it took care of ongoing maintenance. Regular museum operations between Lobbes and Thuin-Ville Basse began as early as 1984, initially with individual trips to Anderlues (at least at the start and end of operations). However, the SNCV soon expressed its intention to give up the route between Lobbes and Anderlues (it has been used today mainly through the widening of the N 59 between Lobbes-Les Bonniers and Anderlues at the end of the 1990s), so the association had to take care of the accommodation of the vehicles (which until then had been in the Anderlues depot) from their own resources.
The (electrically) operated line has been stretching from Lobbes-Entreville to Thuin-Ville Basse since 2014, since metal thieves stole the catenary on its own route and between Lobbes-Entreville and Lobbes-Quatre bras (popular: Lobbes 4 bras ) in 2010/11 and this could initially only be replaced by the ASVi from Lobbes-Center to Lobbes-Entreville. As a result, operations to Lobbes-4 bras (i.e. one stop further), as before the theft, are not yet possible again. In the meantime, parts of this section of the route have also been “over-tarred”, and they have been exposed gradually since 2017.
The line itself is still available from Lobbes-4 bras to the N59 in Lobbes-Les Bonniers, but requires more maintenance and is only planned for operation in the medium term.
Non-electrified route
From the double-track state railway, the single-track branch line to Chimay once branched off in Lobbes , which was last only used for freight traffic and was finally shut down in 1991. The ASVi was able to acquire a 3.1 km long section of this route (including the Thuin Ouest station), which meant that the area was also available for the future depot. The line itself was changed to meter gauge by the ASVi from the end of the 1990s, and in August 2010 the (non-electrified) museum line to Biesme-sous-Thuin went into operation.
Duration
Thuin is home to around 40 vehicles, not all of which have been refurbished or are in working order. These include a steam locomotive from 1888, 15 motor cars from 1898 to 1957, 5 trailer cars, two diesel railcars (“Autorail”) and numerous passenger and freight cars from the steam-powered era of the SNCV. Eight railcars were available as “roulant” (i.e. “operational”) in 2014, the oldest from 1901. The operational vehicle fleet has grown since then, and in August 2018 the HL 303 steam railcar was put back into operation. As of December 2018, the operational stock includes the following 13 vehicles:
| ASVi no. | Type | Manufacturer | year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HL303 "Type 7" | Box steam locomotive | La Métallurgique à Tubize | 1888 |
|
| A.9073 | Two-axle | Electricity and Hydraulique | 1901 |
|
| A.9385 "Manage type" | Two-axle | Franco Belge | 1910 | |
| A.9515 | Two-axle | Le Rœulx | 1918 |
|
| 9924 | Two-axle | La Dyle à Louvain | 1931 |
|
| AR.86 | Diesel railcars | SNCV Brabant | 1934 |
|
| 10284 "Type Eugies" | Four-axle | Braine-le-Comte | 1936 |
|
| 10308 "Standard Métallique" | Four-axle | Baume and Marpent | 1942 |
|
| ART. 300 | Diesel railcars | SNCV Andenne | 1947 |
|
| 10409 "PCC" | Four-axle | La Brugeoise & Nicaise & Delcuve | 1949 |
|
| 10480 "Type N" | Four-axle | SNCV Cureghem | 1954 |
|
| 9063 "Type S" | Four-axle | SNCV Brabant | 1956 | |
| 9974 "Type SE" | Four-axle | SNCV Brabant | 1958 |
|
literature
- Guido Korff: A “big” sister in Belgium: the Lobbes-Thuin museum tram . In: stop. Journal of the Bergische Museumsbahnen eV Wuppertal, No. 119 (May 2015), without ISSN. Pp. 26-29.
- Dirk Budach: The whole variety of tram operations . In: Straßenbahn Magazin , 7/2015, ISSN 0340-7071 , pp. 68–72.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Korff, pp. 26/27.
- ↑ Budach, pp. 69, 70.
- ↑ Korff, p. 27
- ↑ Korff, p. 27.
- ↑ Korff, p. 26.
- ↑ Korff, p. 26.
- ↑ Budach, p. 71.
- ↑ Korff, p. 27.
- ^ Railway romance, episode 915: The trams of Thuin , from the minute 23:15. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
- ↑ Budach, p. 72.
- ↑ Budach, p. 71.
- ↑ Korff, p. 29.
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 26.2 " N , 4 ° 16 ′ 47.1" E