12th November 2004

Mercia Charters Limited
The Manage à Trois

Train Reporting Codes :
Z18162 : Schaarbeek to Brussel Noord
Z18163 : Brussel Noord to L269/1 bk 3.130
Z18164 : L269/1 bk 3.130 to Voie TY30
Z18165 : Voie TY30 to L141 bk 2.250
Z18166 : L141 bk 2.250 to L276 bk 0850
Z18167 : L276 bk 0850 - Manage
Z18168 : Manage - Brussel Zuid

Notes :
(1) 6210 on rear.
(2) 6262 on rear.
(3) Set back was around 200m back onto the line towards Y Feluy. Having arrived on a track towards the right hand side of the yard the set-back was also required to get to the left hand track in the yard from where there was access to line 269/1 (this was blocked by a freight when we arrived). During the manoeuvres problems with dragging brakes caused a few delays.

Source : Gary Thornton (on the train throughout)

Tour Review
(from Janet Cottrell)

This series of tours were a “must do”, bearing in mind that they conveniently coincided with my long weekend off work. This (Friday) tour was an added bonus as it covered three freight branches that were required, so a booking was duly sent with fingers firmly crossed that SNCB would not find reason to refuse them.

Friday 12^th was down as an “annual holiday” in Belgium so there was no need to go racing down to Mons at some ungodly hour for the two old electric turns, however we  still decided to rise early and try our luck with the class 13’s before presenting ourselves at Schaerbeek for the tour.

At the appointed time the train duly appeared top & tailed by 6262 and 6210, both dud for me but no doubt major clawbacks for some including a certain Mr. Thornton ! So much for rumours of 6210 being withdrawn last April (see “The One Little Ship”) – still, no complaints as 2 class 62’s were exactly what had been asked for.

We bailed on for the short journey to Brussels Nord and the first reversal. The train had originally been booked to go directly to Brussels Luxembourg and this turned out to be the only change to the advertised route. In actual fact it looked physically impossible to access the direct route from the platform, we were in, although I am sure we could have started from one of the lower numbered platforms which did give access to the desired route.

Following a reversal, we made our way south via Etterbeek, Halle and Braine le Comte before accessing the first branch shortly after passing Ecaussines. This was not very long and ended in a seven road yard filled with tank wagons and a class 77 loco fussing around. Two branches curved tantalisingly off to our left, neither of which we could access from the track we were standing on – in fact the train that the class 77 was attached to had just arrived off one of the branches and needed to be shunted out of our way. This was soon accomplished and we set back in order to shunt to the correct place and visit line Line 269/1. As the sun had deigned to appear by now, we were allowed out for a photostop before returning to the yard accompanied by some thrash from 6210. The reason for this was immediately apparent when the brakes did not release as expected. After several tries the driver went to the other end to tinker with 6262 and eventually succeeded in solving the problem, fortunately it did not re-occur.

6262 during an unscheduled photostop just south of Feluy Zoning (photo: Gary Thornton)

Line 269/1 was covered to it’s SNCB limit, a stop board just short of a level crossing beyond which the line disappeared behind a substantial gate, before we retraced our route back to Feluy Zoning Yard. The other branch from here was not on our agenda so we returned to the main line, reversing in the headshunt which appeared as Voie TY30 on the timing sheet.

Next port of call was Manage station where we picked the local “red-cap” up for the trip down the remains of line 141. This line did not look to be in use but it had once been very busy with automotive related traffic, the only evidence of this today was a large disused car storage area and lots of stored wagons.

6210 at the end of line 141 (photo: Gary Thornton)

Another reversal took us back to Manage where we doubled back to visit Line 276 which we had passed earlier, presumably the “red cap” was in charge of this line too and it was easier to go to Manage first in order to pick him up.

Line 276 was also accessed by a headshunt, aptly named Cul de Sac U, and also looked little used, apparently it is retained for occasional use by the army. At the end of the line there was a large building protected by heavy gates and the whole area was rather overgrown. It was now getting dark so it was time to head for Brussels via Manage (to drop the red cap off) and a reversal at Luttre, where quite a few people left the train to cane in 2630 which had been seen earlier on the stock for one of the few “P” trains running this evening. I did not need this, so stayed put for the run back up the main line which culminated in an early arrival at Brussels Midi, in plenty of time to get 1330 which had eluded me earlier.

Verdict, a good day out – the only minor quibble being the lack of heat on the train which made it rather chilly to start with. Perhaps the answer would have been to use an ETH fitted class 55, boring I know, but at least it would provide warmth.

Janet Cottrell

Timings (Booked & Actual)
(from Gary Thornton)

Back to "The Railtour Files"