THE VIEW FROM THIS SIDE

The Lowlands

This is a bit of an odd one out, being a selection from the early 1990s. It covers parts of Belgium and Holland. Whilst the emphasis is on contemporary modern scenes, there is also steam content from a couple of SSN specials in Holland, plus the NVBS cavalcade at Sloterdijk in 1991 and museum items. There are British expatriates, the obvious one being 1501 (the last working former EM2 Co-Co electric), an 0-6-0 DE shunter unmistakeable as a close relative to the British 08 class, and North British WD 2-10-0 Longmoor stuffed and mounted in the museum at Utrecht. Otherwise, there is a reasonable selection of national locomotivity/units and scenes, but mention must be made of the NS 1201 class (Baldwin/Westinghouse Co-Co Electrics) and the discovery of Zwolle, a location with an uncanny resemblance to Derby as it was in the 1960s.

Samples from this show. These images are compressed. Actual images on the CD are high resolution:-

Utrecht CS in the rain and everything, 10th May 1992. NS 'Baldwin' CoCo 1201 on the 1259 Heerlen-Zandvoort. Built and looking like a battleship, but with a ride like a Rolls Royce.


 
 
 
 

Ghent St Pieters, 14th August 1991. Left is SNCB Class 62 BoBo DE No. 6391 with the 1552 to Ronse. A class AM79 EMU, No. 769 is lurking suspiciously in the shadows, right.

Oostende, 14th August 1991. SNCB BoBo No. 2321 is right with the 0948 to Antwerpen, and on the left is quadruple voltage SNCB BoBo No. 1601 on the 0934 to Köln.
 


 
 
 

Amsterdam CS, 5th October 1991. SNCB 1184 and Benelux stock arrives forming  the 0910 Brussels Zuid-Amsterdam CS. All of the train is in the same livery although the locomotive is Belgian and the coaches are Dutch.

Rotterdam CS, 9th May 1992. Co-Co No. 1501 arrives with the ‘Four Nations Express’ railtour on its first leg from the Hoek. These machines were discarded by British Rail in the 1960s, without ever reaching their full potential or lifespan. Nederlandse Spoorwegen had no inhibitions about design (or their commitment to 1500vDC power supply) and could spot a bargain a mile off.  1501 is the last survivor resident in Holland and still works the odd railtour.


 

Zwolle, 5th October 1991. Bo-Bo 1155 brings a train of rented SNCB M2 stock over the scissors crossover (aah...fond memories of Derby in the '60s!). These locos date from the early 1950s, but were visibly modified in the ‘70s by the addition of the ‘nose job’, which is detectable as not being part of the original outline.
 

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