Steam Train Maldegem-Eeklo (Dutch: , SME), formerly Steam Centre Maldegem (Dutch: , SCM), is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

association based at the former

NMBS The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de V ...

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

Maldegem Maldegem (), earlier spelled Maldeghem, is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Maldegem, Adegem and Middelburg. and have always been separate hamlets of Maldegem. On 1 Jan ...

in northern

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

and

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

trains run on the line to

Eeklo Eeklo () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises only the city of Eeklo proper. The name ''Eeklo'' comes from the cont ...

. A

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

line runs from Maldegem to Donk on the former line to

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

; this was supplemented by the standard gauge line in 1989.

Line 58

Railway line 58 used to run from

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

to Bruges, but half of it (between Eeklo and Bruges) was closed for passengers in 1959 and for goods in 1962 and 1967. Steam Train Maldegem-Eeklo maintains of standard gauge tracks between Maldegem and Eeklo. In Maldegem the organization has acquired the old NMBS station and its buildings. In Balgerhoeke there is a simple

without buildings. In Eeklo, SME has its own simple Eeklo Oostveld station, but the association has also acquired permission to use track 3 of NMBS's Eeklo station, with tracks 1 and 2 still in use for mainline NMBS passenger trains. In Eeklo station SME's preserved line connects to line 58 of the national railway network of

Infrabel Infrabel is a Belgian government-owned public limited company. It builds, owns, maintains and upgrades the Belgian railway network, makes its capacity available to railway operator companies, and handles train traffic control. Infrabel was cr ...

Stock List

Steam locomotives

Operational **Standard Gauge ***

Avonside Avonside is an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest suburbs of the city, with only Heathcote being older. History The Avonside district was first mentioned in the Lyttelton times as a local district by Bish ...

No. 1908 of 1925. Named "Fred". *** La Meuse of 1926. Named "Bébert". ***St. Léonard n°947 of 1893. Build in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

. ***

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

, No. 3796 of 1953, WD196, "Errol Lonsdale". Previously based on the South Devon Railway in England. *** Hanomag 0-4-0WT of 1906. *Non Operational **Narrow Gauge *** TKh No. 5387, named "General Maczik". Moved to SME from the

Northampton & Lamport Railway The Northampton and Lamport Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway in Northamptonshire, England. It is based at Pitsford and Brampton station, near the villages of Pitsford and Chapel Brampton, roughly north of Northampton. Overvie ...

in England in 2006. *** Haine St. Pierre n°416 of 1891. Awaiting restoration ***

Orenstein & Koppel Orenstein & Koppel (normally abbreviated to "O&K") was a major German engineering company specialising in railway vehicles, escalators, and heavy equipment. It was founded on April 1, 1876, in Berlin by Benno Orenstein and Arthur Koppel. Ori ...

0-4-0WT of 1911 (works number 4854). Named "Marie", Static. (First Locomotive of SME) *** "Adolphe" Tubize 4-6-2 (miniature) 1935. Built for Brussels World Fair railway. Awaiting restoration. **Standard Gauge ***Haine Saint-Pierre n°1405 of 1923. Stored awaiting restoration. *** 41.195 (Ex-SNCB) Macintosh superheated 0-6-0. Awaiting restoration. *** AD08 "La Meuse" (ex-CFV3V) awaiting restoration.

Diesel locomotives

*Operational **Standard Gauge ***

SNCB Class 74 The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de V ...

7408. Operational. ***

SNCB Class 80 The National Railway Company of Belgium (, NMBS; , SNCB; ) is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de V ...

8040. Operational. *** SNCB Class 91 9151. Operational. **Narrow Gauge *** Moës 4wDM. *** Moës 4wDM, named "NELE". ***Diema DS30-1 *Non Operational **Standard Gauge ***Moës shunter named "Karien" **Narrow Gauge ***Moës 4wDM, to be named "Dolly", under repair. ***Simplex 4wDM, Under restoration off site.

Diesel multiple units

*Operational **Standard Gauge ***SNCB Class 44 single car unit 4403 Operational. ***SNCB Class 46 single car unit 4620 Operational. ***SNCB Class 49 single car unit 4903 Operational. ***SNCB Inspection unit ES202. *Non Operational **Standard Gauge ***SNCB Class 44 single car unit 4405 Will be scrapped

References

External links

Official Website
600 mm gauge railways in Belgium Heritage railways in Belgium Tourist attractions in East Flanders Maldegem {{Belgium-transport-stub