“Belgian Beers at the Brabantal”
SNCB museum loco 5166 pictured during a photostop at Breite Wegebetween Raeren and Eupen during the Mercia Charters “Cause and Effect” railtour on Saturday 28th April 2012.
This trip was planned a weekend break involving the Mercia Charters railtour (which I was going to be stewarding) and the Zythos Belgian beer festival. After several years of June and I saying that we wanted to go to the beer festival I’d finally got round to doing something about it and having the tour on the same weekend made it almost ideal. The only problem was my leave as I was booked to work on the Friday and Saturday mornings as well as being spare on the Monday (so worst case scenario I could have been on at 00:01). Having booked the Saturday and the Monday off work, I hunted round on the internet to sort our travel plans and accommodation. As there’s a Priv ban on Friday afternoon/evening Eurostar travel and the last train was already full I had no choice but to take another day off work as I couldn’t drive overnight and steward the railtour.
June already had plans for the Thursday evening so I booked us on the first available Eurostar on the Friday (12:57), returning on the Monday. Hotel availability also seemed a bit thin on the ground with some of our regulars either full or expensive but we eventually found a good deal in the NH hotel near to Louisa metro station.
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, unscheduled stops are shown in italics. A review of the hotel, beers and railways follows at the end of the report.
Friday 27/04/2012
As our Eurostar was later than normal we didn’t need our usual early start to catch the direct HST to Paddington but as neither of us enjoy travelling via Newport we opted for the alternative route via Birmingham which had the bonus of not needing to use the underground. As we were travelling out standard class on the Eurostar we decided to give ourselves enough time for a late breakfast in Birmingham, easy to do with a choice of two Wetherspoons nearby. The move worked well until the approaches to Wembley where we were checked due to signalling/power problems which resulted in a fifteen minute late arrival at Euston. Despite this we had time for a quick half of Magic Rock “Dark Arts” in the Euston Tap before walking down the road to St Pancras.
My bag was stopped at security due to me having a railway key with me. After having all my bag checked and showing my railway ID as well as my Mercia ID accompanied with an explanation of the railtour I was eventually allowed to keep the key. Apparently Eurostar have an agreement for any SNCF staff to carry railway keys but no-one else which seems a bit silly and if they’re that worried about security issues why do Eurostars use the standard European key which is carried by thousands of people?!?
The Eurostar was fairly well loaded as we’d expected for a Friday but it delivered us into Bruxelles on time. June said that she’d take the bags to the hotel and check us in while I covered a few Type 18 diagrams in the afternoon rush hour so after buying two days worth of “jump” day tickets from the domestic ticket office she headed off to the metro while I checked the departure board for my first move. Things started off badly as I’d obviously walked into some sort of farce as almost every train on the screen was showing as late or cancelled! I eventually got moving (slowly) about fifteen minutes late on my planned move and after taking almost ten minutes to reach Central I decided to bale to find out exactly what was happening. It turned out that someone had decided to go for a wander through the tunnels just before I arrived so everything had been on stop. Despite trains starting to move, everything was well backed up so it was impossible to tell how late trains would be. In the end I sat at Central for about thirty minutes watching various trains (and cranks) come and go before getting on the move again but my time was limited due to meeting the other stewards for a pre tour meeting.
Still earning their keep on passenger services but for how much longer? 2704 pauses at Bruxelles Midi.
The meeting dragged on a bit and I was slightly narked to miss a required Type 18 which had been on my planned “restaurant move” so in the end we joined Steve, Richard and Ross on the metro to Anneessens and a walk to the Poechenellerkelder for a beer and a lasagne.Tim and John also joined us although they’d earlier sampled the lasagne in A La Becasse! Afterwards we walked back down to the metro but stopped short at Moeder Lambic which is possibly my favourite bar in Bruxelles. The bar was pretty busy but we got a table outside and were also joined by Dave and the local pub treat. He sat opposite Dave and kept clinking glasses every thirty seconds but apart from that he was harmless enough. The beer and the banter were excellent but we had an early start in the morning and I didn’t want to be bleary eyed so we decided to cut things short and return the following evening.
BRDMU07:34Hereford - Birmingham New Street09:07------07:34Hereford - Birmingham New Street
BREMU10:10Birmingham New Street - Euston11:32------09:45Wolverhampton - Euston
ES373.10312:57St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi16:08913212:57St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi
ES373.10412:57St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi16:08913212:57St. Pancras International - Bruxelles Midi
SNCB187416:28Bruxelles Midi - Bruxelles Central16:31IC451515:37Charleroi Sud - Essen
SNCB183817:01Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Nord17:04IC51515:42Oostende - Eupen
SNCB187217:25Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Central17:28IC453816:12Essen - Charleroi Sud
SNCB182117:00Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Nord17:03IC201616:08Charleroi Sud - Antwerpen Centraal
SNCB184417:56Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Central17:59IC53916:15Eupen - Oostende
SNCB181318:01Bruxelles Central - Bruxelles Nord18:04IC51616:42Oostende - Eupen
SNCB274818:17Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Midi18:24IC153916:39Tongeren - Knokke (Double train)
SNCB276018:17Bruxelles Nord - Bruxelles Midi18:24IC153916:39Tongeren - Knokke (Double train)
Saturday 28/04/2012
After an 06:30 alarm call, June and I just had time for a quick breakfast before walking down the road from the hotel to Louisa/Louiza metro station. We’d already bought our “jump” day tickets so we went straight to the platform but I seem to have an uncanny knack of just missing Bruxelles metros and this morning was no exception. In the end we arrived at Bruxelles Midi just after the ECS had arrived. I’d already suited up on the metro so I took my kit to the stewards compo on the train while June headed off to the supermarket to stock up on a few supplies.
After taking a couple of photos of the tour and meeting/greeting a few of the passengers I was surprised to hear a noisy diesel in the distance and turned round to see the very odd combination of 6077 heading a set of M2 coaches, 5183 and a set of International coaches! PFT were operating two tours on the same day as us with 6077 heading to Merelebeke and 5183 starting of the Type 12 farewell tour. This second tour had sparked interest with some of our passengers and plans were in place for them to join the returning tour for a short run off the Type 12. Luckily for me I’d had all the Type 12’s when they’d been in service on the Antwerpen – Lille passenger service so I’d be able to head straight off our tour for an evening meal and a few beers.
Unfortunately, Denzil had reserved a seat for June but at the opposite end of the train to the coach that I was stewarding so I made a quick check on her before we departed on time with 2810 leading our three AK coaches and 5166 (dead on rear). I was straight into action then, distributing the booklets which also contained the latest set of timings received from Infrabel. As is often the case, various bulletins are issued in the weeks prior to the tour and annoyingly the final version had come out after we’d compiled the tour booklet!
Our first reversal and photo stop was at Brussel-Nat-Luchthaven but a slow run past Schaerbeek saw us arrive about ten minutes late so we only had time for a quick fot stop. Luckily, the unit in the next platform departed before us so the photos were actually prettygood and quite rare as diesels are banned at the station due to the emmisions and fire safety regulations. I ended up at the wrong end of the train so made my way back through to the stewards compo as the next job was calling – the grip! It took a while to complete but it was a good opportunity to say hello to all the familiar faces.
We arrived at Monzten ahead of timeand passed the long line of withdrawn Type 51’s – one of the reasons that we’d chosen to visit Montzen. I was surprised by the number of JT42CWR “class 66’s” that were also present and pleased that the weather was better than forecasted as after consultation with the B-Logistics rep we got the train moved back up to the 51’s and got off for fots. In total there were fifteen 51’s lined up including six old favourites and nine that I certainly wont be getting for haulage (from left to right 5177, 5136, 5102, 5157, 5152, 5154, 5158, 5143, 5181, 5156, 5141, 5138, 5110, 5173 & 5168) and all were starting to look very tired so I expect that their next port of call will be to a scrapyard. Rather confusingly, two of the 66’s bore the same UIC number of 266.018 – something that I thought was impossible so it looks as though Crossrail’s signwriter might be dyslexic!
Our orignal itinerary included heading from Montzen across the border to Aachen West and returning via Aachen Hbf to complete both border crossings with Germany. Unfortunately, this had to be cancelled courtesy of DB sitting on the SNCB request and then saying no when it was too late to source an alternative – not impressed as this was the main reason for me coming on the tour!Instead we had to make do with a trip to the border at Botzelaer although rather annoyingly the staff at Montzen wantedus away early (probably due to pathing as the line was very busy with freight). This did make fotting the various 66’s and dumped 51’s a bit rushed and once again I ended up at the wrong end of the train for our departure! The run to Botzelaer took us over the 1107m long Moresnet Viaduct, a large iron truss construction and a fairly famous landmark on the Belgian railway network. We weren’t able to get off at Botzelaer due to the live running line next to us so we had to make do with a pause on the viaduct on the way back for some scenic views from the train.
After a quick reversal back at Montzen we headed off to Welkenraedt along another line that had been electrified since my last visit. We were surprised to see our assist engine (7840) already waiting at Welkenraedt and we discovered that the traincrew wanted to attach straight away. This meant a few more km’s off the 77 so it was agreed and once attached we set off. As per the line to Aachen West, we were not able to cross the border so we headed to Hammerbruck Junction where we could reverse, about 1.5km short of the border. Unfortunately we staggered in both directions and lost about ten minutes in the process which cost us our booked path from Welkenraedt to Raeren.
I’d only ever been to Raeren once before and that was by bus from Eupen although my return trip was courtesy of 5922, back in 1994 when the Vennbahn (RIP!!) was still going strong. The route was quite scenic but also fairly slow but at least we didn’t lose any more time. The old Vennbahn shed at Raeren has in recent years been the home of “Rails & Traction”, a railway equipment workshop who had overhauled several loco’s for industrial use. They had sadly gone bankrupt so several loco’s were left dumped around the shed and I assume that their futures are now uncertain. The loco’s included demic 5178, the remains of 9126 & 9108 as well as 2454, 2413, 2424 (all ex NS & SNCF)and CP metre gauge loco 9003. Numerous photos were taken and after the train was repostioned next to the station building 7840 was removed to enable photos of the TRAXX electric on a non electrifed route. The traincrew even managed to raise the pantograph which was the cue for a slightly bizarre seminar photo.
As we’d now lost our path we were likely to drop into the same slot an hour late so the opportunity was taken to have an additional photo stop at Breite Wege on the way back to Welkenraedt. It was an excellent location although it required a bit of hill climbing to get to the vantage point by the overbridge. As well as the embankment there was also a ditch which Jan our guard missed so he had a soggy foot for the rest of the tour! Back at Welkenraedt the train formation was rearranged with 7840 heading back to Kinkempois and 2810 & 5166 swapping places so that the 51 could lead the train back to Bruxelles. The traincrew seemed keen to recover some time on the way back as we all got thrown around when taking the junction to cross the Meuse after Seraing, possibly a bit too quickly! The highlight of our return was the ascent of the bank out of Namur, not as steep as Liege but still a challenge for a loco approaching fifty years old. More time was recovered due to a slack schedule from Leuven to Breuxelles via Vilvoorde so after a frantic rubbish run through the train I just got back to the compo as we rolled into Bruxelles Midi. Dan and Matt had already been through the train to sort arrangements for anyone wanting to do the PFT tour and in the end around a third of our train baled at Bruxelles Nord for the short run off 1206.
After dumping our kit in the hotel and freshening up we joined Steve, Richard & Stuart at the Rogier branch of the Bruxelles Grill and various others also arrived later after doing 1206. We decided to head off to Moeder Lambic again but as Stuart wasn’t valid on the trams he walked while the rest of us used the tram. As usual we just missed one so Stuart actually beat us there by a couple of minutes! Dave was already there and had bagged a tablebut I’d also sent John a text with our plans so he and Tim joined us too.Various others made an appearance after their meals including Denzil, Daffy, Dan, Matt & Chris so it ended up as quite a social.
Everyone gradually drifted off as the night went on, eventually leaving just Tim, John, June and myselfso we decided to call it a day but a glance at the watch revealed it was now 02:00 so no chance of public transport! We said goodnight to Tim & John and set off on the twenty five minute walk back to our hotel passing the Port Noire en route.
Where have the wires gone? 2810 poses for an unusual photo at Rearen.
Alpha281008:09Bruxelles Midi - Brussel Nat Luchthaven08:37Z1852308:09Bruxelles Midi - Brussel Nat Luchthaven
Alpha281008:52Brussel Nat Luchthaven - Nossegem08:59Z1852408:52Brussel Nat Luchthaven –Montzen yard
SNCB516608:59Nossegem - Montzen yard11:19Z1852408:52Brussel Nat Luchthaven –Montzen yard
SNCB516611:58Montzen yard - Botzelaer12:12Z9423011:58Montzen yard – Botzelaer – Montzen Yard
Alpha281012:22Botzelaer - Montzen yard12:36Z9423011:58Montzen yard –Botzelaer - Montzen yard
SNCB516612:46Montzen yard - Welkenereadt12:59Z1852612:46Montzen yard - Welkenereadt
SNCB516613:00Welkenereadt - Y Hammerbrück13:06Z9423113:00Welkenereadt - Hammerbrück - Welkenereadt
SNCB784013:18Y Hammerbrück - Welkenereadt13:24Z9423113:00Welkenereadt - Hammerbrück - Welkenereadt
SNCB516613:50Welkenereadt - Raeren14:26Z1852813:50Welkenereadt - Raeren
SNCB784014:50Raeren - Welkenraedt15:31Z1852914:50Raeren - Welkenraedt
SNCB516615:54Welkenraedt - Bruxelles Midi19:38Z1853015:54Welkenraedt - Bruxelles Midi
Sunday 29/04/2012
Not surprisingly we didn’t get up very early but breakfast was served until midday and the beer festival didn’t open until 11:00 so we decided to aim for the 10:58 ex Bruxelles Midi where we met Tim and John. We’d also expected to meet Steve and Richard but I’d received a text saying that they’d headed down to Leuven an hour earlier as required 1868 had appeared working top & tail with 1818 on the previous Eupen service. Required 1869 did the honours to Leuven and we arrived just in time to meet Steve & Richard and catch the 11:30 free bus to the Brabanthal exhibition hall, the venue for the 2012 Zythos beer festival. The bus was heaving but Steve had seen the previous bus and said that it was only half full so I guess we were just unlucky.
Ten minutes later we were at the festival but we weren’t sure of the system so we just followed the crowd and were soon armed with non refundable beer tokens, a program and a 150ml glass. We’d seen a few people signing in and we assumed that they were volunteers but it later transpired that as CAMRA are classed as associates of ZYTHOS we could have registered and claimed a few free tokens – Doh! There were still plenty of seats available so we grabbed a table and set about deciding what to go for – quite difficult when there are five hundred beers to choose from, over half of which I’d never heard of!
The program was fairly informative but rather frustratingly the main brewery and beers section didn’t say whether the beers were bottled or on tap. To find this out you had to refer to the beers listed by style at the back of the program but the styles weren’t mentioned in the brewery section so there was no means of cross referring and some beers took a fair bit of tracking down! Two aspects of the festival that I liked were that all beers cost a standard one token so there was no messing about (although I’m not sure how well this system worked from financial view) and there was a floor plan listing all the stalls so it was easy to find the brewery you were after.
In the end, we stayed for eight hours and had a nice relaxing afternoon sampling some superb beers as well as enjoying a good social with guest appearances from Beer Mat and Mr HODB. I also bumped into one of my fellow Hereford CAMRA members who spotted Steve wearing one of our festival shirts (having volunteered last year) – it just shows you never know who you’ll bump into. Our beer of the festival was the “Père Canard Grand Cru Barrel aged Vat Nr1” from Huisbrouwerij Sint Canarus – a bit of a mouthfull in more ways than one! It was a superbly rich, dark and sweet beer weighing in at 8.5% so not one to be rushed. We’d decided to aim for the 20:15 bus as this would connect into 1818+1868 returning from Eupen and luckily we boarded the bus within five minutes as it soon filled and departed three minutes early! It was also rather lively which surprised us a bit as we’d not seen any idiots at the festival but en route to the station we wwere all treated to some rather loud football style chanting and June was on the end of a lad dropping his trousers three times. He’d obviously had far too much to drink though June said that the view was nothing to write home about!