Pinnable

Belgium was the first country on the European mainland to build a railway network, but the national railway company SNCB didn’t operate in the countryside. In 1884, some fifty years after the first Belgian train hit the tracks between Brussels and Mechelen, the national tramway company SNCV was established to provide rail transport in rural areas, and by 1914 the so-called vicinal tramway had a total length of over 4,000 km. In the 1950s and ’60s most trams were replaced by buses, and today SNCV’s only remaining tramway, now operated by De Lijn, is that of the Coastal Tram, which runs along the Belgian coast. Two heritage lines are being kept alive, one by the Aisne Tourist Tram in Erezée, and another on the Lobbes–Thuin tramway, which is run by the Vicinal Tram Museum in Thuin, a picturesque medieval hill-top town known for its hanging gardens.

The rail network of the Vicinal Tram Museum comprises two lines: a section of the former SNCV № 92 tramway, between Lobbes and Thuin, and a newly built extension, which runs between the depot in Thuin-Ouest and Biesme-sous-Thuin alongside the bicycle path that follows the route of the abandoned SNCB № 109 railway. The tramway operates on Sundays from April to mid-October, as well as on Saturdays in July & August. If you want to see the oldest rolling stock in action, a steam engine from 1888 with a carriage from 1891, you’d better have a look at the timetable in advance, because it runs only on selected days. Apart from the steamer there are ten electric tramcars in operation, the oldest of which was built no fewer than 125 years ago, and two diesel-powered railcars serve the non-electrified line to Biesme-sous-Thuin. All trams are on display at the depot when not in use.

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