The Tramsite Schepdaal is a tramway museum in

Schepdaal Schepdaal is a village and deelgemeente of Dilbeek in Flanders, Belgium. History The oldest mention dates back to 1260, when the area was called Scepdale. Before 1827 Schepdaal was a part of Zierbeek, named after the stream with the same name ...

, located in the Belgian municipality

Dilbeek Dilbeek () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. The municipality comprises the villages of Dilbeek proper, Groot-Bijgaarden, Itterbeek (with Sint-Anna-Pede), Schepdaal (with Sint-Gertrudis-Pe ...

, west of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

History

The

vicinal tramway The National Company of Light Railways ( nl, Nationale Maatschappij Van Buurtspoorwegen, abbreviated as NMVB; french: Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Vicinaux, abbreviated as SNCV) was a state-owned transportation provider which comprised ...

line going from

Ninove Ninove () is a city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in Belgium. It is situated on the river Dender, and is part of the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Ninove proper and since the 1976 merger of ...

''Ninoofsepoort'' starts operating on September 8 1887. It used metre-gauge rails and had its depot in

. This depot became the national museum for the

on May 5 1962, but was still used as depot for the line

(line ''Ni'') too until 1968. The line was abolished on February 21 1970. The whole site (station building and engine houses) became

protected Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

in 1993.Een halte in de tijd: De tramsite van Schepdaal // Het spoor (monthly magazine issued by NMBS Holding), september 2009, p 17 - 19 The museum was managed by volunteers and closed for renovation in 1999, only to be reopened ten years later (July 1st 2009) by the non-profit association "Erfgoed Vlaanderen".Website trammuseum
/ref> A lot of work remains to be done, like the re-electrification of the grounds of the depot and the renewal of the tracks and switches, to enable short rides with the carriages.

Site

Tram locomotives and carriages are kept in 3 depots * Depot 1 has vehicles that fit the standard-gauge railways. * Depot 2 is the biggest of 3 and has steam and electrical locomotives and passenger carriages, as well as freight vehicles. Also several historical artifacts related to the tramway's history are kept there on display. * Depot 3 is used as workshop for maintenance and restoration purposes. The rest of the site is kept in original condition and are (or will be) open to visitors; * Station (building), where people were able to buy tram tickets and wait for their tram. Also used to house the family of the stationchief; kitchen, desk, lavatory, toilets, sleeping rooms. The workers on late or early shift also were allowed to sleep there. Nowadays this is either used for storage, visitor reception and ticketing, a small shop and up for future display, after more restoration. * Weigh bridge * Water tower and pump to fill the vehicles that run on steam * Wood and sand warehouse; those materials were used to put on tracks when it was freezing or raining * Coal warehouse * Forge * Lamp warehouse

Collection

The majority of the historic vehicles is displayed in depot 2. The main showpiece is the royal carriage once built for King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date ...

. It remains a mystery if the King ever actually used the vehicle, but it is certain that the

Shah of Persia Iranian monarchism is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in Iran, which was abolished after the 1979 Revolution. Historical background Iran first became a constitutional monarchy in 1906, but underwent a period of autocracy during the years ...

used it when he visited

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariake ...

in 1900. Several electrical vehicles dating back to 1894 ( NMVB) and one of the last steam vehicles dating back to 1920.

Gallery

File:Tram type N in Schepdaal.JPG, NMVB-locomotive type N from Brussels File:Steamtram 1066 in Schepdaal.JPG, Steam tram

References

{{reflist

External links

article (Dutch) about the inauguration

website Tramway museum Schepdaal
Transport museums Museums in Belgium