Back home.
Static but beautifully displayed, National Railway Company of Belgium's 12004 is back home to where she was assigned for most of her working life - Schaerbeek, near Brussels.
Designed for the fast Brussels - Ostend boat train service, six Type 12 4-4-2 steam locomotives were built between 1938-39. They were capable of 75–87 mph (120–140 km/h) though on June 12th 1939 a Type 12 locomotive completed the 65 miles (105 km) from Brussels to Ostend in 57 minutes at a maximum speed of 103mph (165 km/h). The current journey time on the route is around 1 hour 10 minutes!
Used on other services later in their life, they were finally withdrawn in 1962. One locomotive, 12004 shown above, was preserved by SNCB and actually brought back to running order for the 150th anniversary of railways in Belgium in 1985. Tragically it was then left exposed to the elements, with rescue finally arriving when the "Train World" railway museum at Schaerbeek opened in 2015. So this locomotive is back home!
Back home.
Static but beautifully displayed, National Railway Company of Belgium's 12004 is back home to where she was assigned for most of her working life - Schaerbeek, near Brussels.
Designed for the fast Brussels - Ostend boat train service, six Type 12 4-4-2 steam locomotives were built between 1938-39. They were capable of 75–87 mph (120–140 km/h) though on June 12th 1939 a Type 12 locomotive completed the 65 miles (105 km) from Brussels to Ostend in 57 minutes at a maximum speed of 103mph (165 km/h). The current journey time on the route is around 1 hour 10 minutes!
Used on other services later in their life, they were finally withdrawn in 1962. One locomotive, 12004 shown above, was preserved by SNCB and actually brought back to running order for the 150th anniversary of railways in Belgium in 1985. Tragically it was then left exposed to the elements, with rescue finally arriving when the "Train World" railway museum at Schaerbeek opened in 2015. So this locomotive is back home!