The last post

My friends,

We have waited such a long long time to write this line on our blogsite...
We have waited toooo long to see it and believe it, but...

it is true. The locomotive really excists and is waiting at our belgian frontdoor!

Here you can see the official time schedule of the train from Montzen to Schaerbeek, but... we have to inform you that we will leave Montzen 4 houres later as is indicated!

Meeting around 8h30-9h at Montzen formation!

MONTZEN 05:00 - REMERSDAAL-BLOK 12 P 05:06 –
SINT-MARTENS-VOEREN-BLOK 10 P 05:12 - Y.BERNEAU P 05:20 -
VISE-HAUT P 05:22 - BASSENGE P 05:31 - Y.GLONS P 05:38 –
TONGEREN P 05:45 - BILZEN P 05:55 - HASSELT P 06:08
Y.WEST DRIEHOEK HASSELT P 06:12 - SCHULEN 06:20 < 06:33 - DIEST P 06:44 Y.OOST DRIEHOEK AARSCHOT P 07:00 - Y.ZUID DRIEHOEK AARSCHOT P 07:01 AARSCHOT P 07:02 - Y.HOLSBEEK P 07:14 - Y.DIJLEBRUG P 07:18 - Y.HEVER P 07:35 - Y.PRINSENHOEK P 07:37 - Y.WEERDE 27 P 07:43 Y.MACHELEN P 07:51 - Y.HAREN-NOORD P 07:52 - SCHAARBEEK-BLOK 2E P 07:54 - SCHAARBEEK-VORMING 07:59

Small short announcement...but important!

Tomorrow we will leave Achen-West around 8-9 o'clock. This means that we will are in Montzen half an hour later...this means we will be in BELGIUM!!!!!!!

Believe or not believe

Yesterday evening we were able to make a big part of our trip in Germany in the direction of Koln, after a small stop in Lollar. The meaning was to arrive in Aken at 1 o'clock but stau...a small delay was there before we knew...the train left at 1 o'clock from Koln-Gremberg. A trip of 1hour and a half till Aken more to do...and so this morning the team arrived at 2h40 in Achen-West!

The locomotive will stay here untill friday because we have to wait for a new oil stock coming from Belgium.

But still...you are not able to get the feeling now! We are soooo close!

Lokführer founded

We made a small calculation to figure out that our crew and our lovely locomotive 64.169 made a non-stop trip of 11hours!

We were also able to find a new train cabdriver, so at this moment we are heading to Belgium! First in the direction of Proviad, then a small turn at Neustadt, to end in Dillenburg where we can lubricate our loco once more.

Germany

Since yesterday night we've covered a lot of track. We left Decin at 1.41 AM as a locomotive train (no other cargo behind us) pulled by 189 004. Destination was Engelsdorf where we scheduled another lube-job. This greasing work always takes about an hour to complete.
The next leg of the trip has now brought us to Kassel via Nordhausen. We're currently greasing up the old lady yet again while we wait for a new train driver

We've now covered more than half of the distance through Germany, the endpoint is almost in sight. It won't come a moment too soon as we're all pretty much exhausted, especially Henk who's been here from the beginning. Tonight none of us had any sleep worth mentioning.

The voyage continues...

To our great relief all documents for the German part of our journey are dealt with. The brake tests were also satisfactory. We've already got a time table all the way to Aachen. We're just waiting for departure which should be sometime this evening.

We're on our way over

Yesterday our P8 left Nymburk to arrive during this night at Decin. Some troubles with the papers to pass the German borderline are forcing us to a stay at Decin for a couple of days.

Hopefully we can cross the border Monday but...

The new team for the next week has arrived too, Kristof and Pierre are now already on their way back home in Belgium. The happy faces of the whole team is a sign of feelings and the spirit to succeed.

Trop is too much

When we got underway it became clear that 1000 tonnes was too much of a strain; we had to have the train split up twice, once at Viktor e Tisnova and again at Havlick Brod where we rendez-vous'ed with another replacement crew.

The landscape we are rolling through is quite picturesque; lots of snow and frozen lakes .


We're currently under way to Nymburk via Kolin, so we're making a big arch around Prague. We should reach the German border somewhere around midnight

Moving again

We're out of Brno in third place behind two series 230 electric units. Behind us is a consist of over 1000 tonnes which is a heavy load on the couplings....

Getting closer to Prague (and Belgium)

Good news for the entire team! Last night we all enjoyed a good night's sleep. Another replacement crew for the next week is on its way and in the mean time we're learning the art to communicate with the various people we meet along the way, this includes Romanian, Czech and even some Polish. The P8 keeps demanding attention, providing enough lubrication is serious business.


Today the rails will take us from Brno (departure around 9.30 AM) in the direction of Jihlava, we've been promised a 'curvy' route.

Traveling through the Czech Republic

At 5.30 pm we arrived in Breclav, some 20 kms past the border. N° 230.063 was relieved from its duties and we were shunted into another consist. At 11.07 pm we are scheduled to leave with train 62216 to Brno.

Thanks to the changeing of the guard earlier today Pierre and Henk were able to check into a hotel for some much needed rest

The third borderline

It's starting to become a kind of caravane. The 'reinforcements' made it on board at Malasky, another person is following by car and two more volunteers a following in a mobile home. We're currently at a standstill on the Slovak/Czech border but the Via Terra Group has assured us that we'll quickly have a connection.

The oil supply has also been taken care of, the loco consumes about a dozen litres of oil every 150 kms. A few minor leaks have appeared

The transport through Czechia will take us through Lanzhot, Breclav, Brno Malomerice, Havlickuv Brod, Kolin, Nymburk and Melnik to arrive at Devin Vychod, second last border station.

Slovakia, part 2

Electric locomotive 230 063 towed us out of Bratislava and now we're well underway to Kuty and the Czech border.

The first replacement crew is on its way and trying to make contact somewhere along the line so the current 'greasers' can enjoy a much needed break. The second crew will stay until Sunday, a third crew is expected Saturday evening.

Underway once more

While waiting for a new locomotive and train driver we were able to take a short nap. Together with our new train driver Novi Zamki we're en route for Bratislava, which is 2 and a half hours away.

A little time out

We got put into a freight train in Sturovo and will shortly be able to start the journey through Slovakia.

Thanks to the delay at the border our team could enjoy a little rest. It's not exactly a 5 star hotel of course; there are just two sleeping bags in the driver cab for the permanent crew...as it's not fully enclosed it means they sleep in windy and rainy conditions. The people following the convoy on road can sleep in their car, which isn't super-comfortable either, but at least they aren't subjected to the elements all the time. You can imagine it's starting to become a hard and tiresome voyage.

Crossing the second border

We're keeping our momentum; when the last message got posted we already were in Sturvo, Slovakia! From here on we make our way to Bratislava and later Kuty, close to the Czech border.

Rolling through the night

Tonight we covered a lot of distance: through Szolnok to Budapest and already we're underway again in the direction of Szob. Of course we're not traveling at warp speed (whatever the railway equivalent of that might be here), rather something like 60 kph. This is Vmax here for a 'special transport' like ours.

Almost halfway… in Hungary

After an M62 until Püspökladány, it’s now up to a MAV V46 locomotive to pull our P8. She’ll transport her to Szolnok. Once there, we’re halfway the itinerary in Hungary!

Goodbye Romania

We’re on our way in Hungary. The Romanian adventure of the 230.084 has ended… but that of the 64.169 in Belgium is coming closer!
We’re driving on the single track line between Biharkeresztes en Püspökladány. A single track line, so we don’t advance really well: we have to stop regularly to let a passenger train pass or cross us.

The first border crossing

Any bordercrossing is a little exciting; are you going to get across or not... At this first crossing it seemed we were already going to be in trouble: Hungarian officials wanted to to check the loco's 'gabarit' (this is the maximum width and height of a railway vehicle) to make sure we didn't hit any trackside installations.

Luckily everything was found to be in order; the P8 fits wonderfully well on the Hungarian track.

This means that at 2 pm our journey will continue. Our itinerary will take us past Püspökladány, Kapcag, Kisújszállás, Szajol, Szolnok, Újszász, Rákos, Rákosrendezó, Rákosplta, Úp, Dunakeszi and Vác to eventually arrive at Szob on the border with Slovakia.

The next step

In the meanwhile, we arrived at Oradea. We expect to be transported between 4pm and 5pm to Episcopia, the real border station between Romania and Hungary.

On the road again!

The troubles with the loco have been solved and the train continues towards Odradea.

En route in Romania

Tonight at 3 o'clock, 50 minutes later than planned, the convoy got under way. At this time (8.30 AM) three quarters of the distance between Cluj-Napoca Est and Oradea has been covered. The P8 is performing nicely, which can't be said about the train's diesel locomotive; it has just broken down and the train is temporarily blocked.

The First Train

Our 64.169 has been put into a freight train, in first position behind the locomotive that provides the traction during the first part of the trip. The train leaves Cluj-Napoca Est tonight at 0210 hours and will arrive at Oradea, close to the Hungarian border at around 1030 in the morning.

Start

Monday march 19th 2007, 3.30pm: our P8 has just left for Cluj-Napoca Est.

Foreseen departure

At 4pm this afternoon, TransFerroviaria will transport the locomotive from Cug (the shed’s location) to Cluj-Napoca Est. Remember: from here she will leave the upcoming night with destination Belgium.

A green signal!

We just got some good news from Romania: nothing is going to stop the transport of our P8 anymore. The administration is ok, the locomotive is technically ok and we got the beginning of our timetable to leave. Via Terra Group is responsable for the loco and his crew during the whole trip to the belgium border line.

Monday afternoon, March 19th, TransFerroviaria will transport the loco from its current residence to Cluj-Est. She will leave Cluj in the night from Monday to Tuesday (between 1am and 2am). The start of a journey we’ve all been waiting for!

Romanian business attitudes...

After two years of gathering dust with as its only companions two scruffy guard dogs our P8 yesterday made a trip into the fresh air and a sunny sky.
With the help of people from LukOil the loco's dusty veil was rinced clean in a shower of rainbow-colored drops of water, all windows and headlights were clean again, so with a little imagination her clear white eyes could see the tracks in front of her on which she will soon embark on the long journey to her new home...

Yesterday a meeting took place between the TSP people and the Expeditor 'Via Terra Group', the firm which will now handle the paper work surrounding the transport. A proposal was put forward on Romanian business terms which raised quite a few eye brows on our side of the table.
During an evening diner positive and more ambiguous facts of the co-operation were considered by the PFT/TSP-staff and the conclusion is that you can be sure that our P8 will not miss this year's festivities celebrating the Centennial of our heritage line 128!

The departure in its most optimistic time-frame was scheduled at the end of the week but already the final hours of this Friday March 16th are ticking away...tomorrow the last fine-tuning on the contract details will be carried out so the final timetable can be put together...departure is to be expected next Tuesday. Before leaving we will have to pay the Via Terra Group for its services; a good example of differing business attitudes in Romania and Belgium; here we are used to having a job well done and THEN paying the bill but here it's quite the other way around which doesn't help in negotiations about the contract.

Also we still need a few more documents and finally it all seems to be falling into place. Today we received the papers from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, officially signed and stamped indicating that our locomotive is not part of Romania's Historic Heritage and allowed to leave the country. The technical documents of the railway engineering expert made it to us a few days ago but our professional contacts back in Belgium pointed out that these were on some points incomplete and on others just plain wrong. Let's just nog forget that we are in Romania and things are done along different standards than the ones we are used to back home; following this it is unthinkable and impossible to adjust these documents; to the Romanians this is the one and only way to go about it. To avoid problems at the different border crossings and with the various companies that will provide us with transport, we took the liberty to fill out a standardised SNCB/NMBS (Belgian national railway) document and send it ahead to all the players involved for inspection. At the same time the 'Via Terra Group' will provide us with assistance on administrative and technical questions throughout the journey.

In conclusion, what this means is that starting next week you'll find a travel log here!

Wednesday, march 14th

Today was a quiet day, compared to the past few days.

Tomorrow, we’re going to continue inspecting the locomotive and clean her… no unnecessary luxury after 2 years!

Tuesday, march 13th

Today, unlimited access to the shed was arranged and our team could fill the loco with water.

She survived the climatologic situation of the past 2 years pretty well: no leakage was found! A first lubrication was executed and the tracks between the loco and the end of the branch line, approximately 50 meters, were cleaned up and are now ready to ride upon.

Tomorrow we hope to get a clearer sight on the real date of departure, and the final route.

Monday, march 12th

The access to the shed where our 64.169 is located, in Cug, has been arranged with the local security service by our P8-team. Tomorrow, the locomotive will leave this place for the first time in 2 years, hauled by a TransFerroviaria locomotive. She will be shipped to Cluj-Est or Cluj-Depot, depending of the availability of an inspection pit. Here our team will execute a technical revision and braking tests.

The transport letter for the transport is filled out and a company specialised in export is getting the revised route and transporting costs (compared to 2005…) from the different railway companies involved.

In order for the locomotive to legally leave the country, we still need an official document from the Romanian ministry of culture and tourism. We try to have this document signed by the minister in Budapest as soon as possible!

To be continued…

Sunday, march 11th

Today, our team that will prepare the journey, has arrived in Cluj, Romenia. The planning was revised, everything seems to be ok. They also inspected the locomotive, and the branch line between the shed and the mainline.
Yesterday, saturday, the loco has undergone an official technical check-up, and was approved for transport. As we foresee right now, the loco wil leave the shed on tuesday. She will stay at the roundhouse of Cluj for a few days, where our team will prepare her for the long journey.

Welcome!

Weblog en Français - Weblog in het Nederlands

Welcome! This weblog of the PFT will inform you about the journey of steamlocomotive 64.169 to Belgium.

Prologue

On the 3rd of February 2001 TSP gained ownership of steam locomotive 230.048 in Romania. We took advantage of probably the last opportunity to acquire a loco identical to many of the Belgian 64's which were characteristic for our railnetwork.

We reserved an amount of 30.000, this comprised restoration, acquiring a second loco for spare parts and regular visits on-site in Romania where the work was being done. To account for these expenses we took a five-year-loan and attracted enthousiasts who could buy 'shares' in the loco for 250 Euros each.

Locomotive 230.084 is a German P8, built by Henschel in 1921. She was located in Bacau, in a state that made a complete overhaul unavoidable. General condition was as follows; frame and wheels in excellent condition, 1936-Resita boiler in a satisfying and usable condition. Many vital parts were missing; injectors, valves, steam whistles, drive-shaft gaskets and the complete interior of the driver cabin.

After much negotiating it was decided to have the overhaul done in two seperate locations; the central workshop 'Remarul' and the Gibaü-workshop, both near the city of Cluj-Napoca.

During mid-March 2002 a TSP-delegation went on-site to check the progress of the work. The loco had been taken apart in three pieces: under-carriage/frame, wheels and boiler. Each part was loaded on a seperate flat-bed rail car. Transport to the Remarul workshop was done the following month. Dismantling the boiler would give a clearer image about the work that had to be done.

Flame tubes were dismounted and the boiler was completely sand-blasted. After this another TSP-group went to Romania, accompanied by certified technicians who confirmed through ultrasonic the soundness of the boiler.

The accomanying tender however was in poor condition due to an accident of which the circumstances are long-forgotten. When this became apparent we decided to exchange it with that of the other loco (230.021). This however was an oil-burning machine so the 'new' tender had to be modified for coal-burning.

Other missing parts on 230.084 were also rescued from the spares-machine whose remains will be sold for scrap afterwards.

In April of the following year, Pierre Herbiet, co-founder of TSP and one of the pillars of our organisation went on-site again, taking again with him certified technicians to research the wheels ultrasonically. It was revealed one of the axes was in bad shape and it was immediately replaced by one of the donor-machine. Thanks to this an expensive lifting of the machine in Belgium was avoided. A representative of AIB-Vinçotte, the Belgian organism which does control of boilers was also present and did the necessary tests to declare the boiler fit for service.

Around the same time the driver cabin was also rebuilt to Belgian standards, together with the boiler frame. The only thing missing now were the flame tubes.

Due to these smooth proceedings a first prediction was made in our bi-monthly magazine 'Op de Baan 56' of August 2003 about the date when the machine was to be expected back in Belgium; Spring of 2004...

October 2003 saw Pierre's return to Cluj to participate in steam testing. The boiler was now tested under full pressure and at operating temperature, again under the watchful eye of AIB-Vinçotte. Apart from a few insignificant leaks the boiler was found to be satisfactory and for the first time the steam whistle was heard again.

April 2004...work was slowly but surely progressing and the first steps were taken to plan the loco's voyage back to Belgium.

In May 2004 the boiler was temporarily put on the undercarriage to verify wether all elements would fit as they were supposed to. After this the assembly was taken apart again to facilitate working on the air pressure pipes.

When this work was finished a milestone in the restoration process was reached: AIB-Vinçotte fully approved the boiler for operational service.

August 2004. The driver house was mounted on the frame, together with all its new equipment. In the mean time all exterior plating had also been refitted to the boiler. The machine was ready for a new paint job and a first test drive was scheduled for September. Due to work falling a little behind and an early Winter in Eastern Europe it had to be rescheduled to October.

Things did not go as hoped and we had to wait until the end of March the following year before the complete machine could be stoked up to full pressure. This brought to light a small leak in the airpump and a malfunction of the mechanical lubricator. On April first everything was repaired and retested, this time successfully.

May 11 2005 was another great milestone, the first test drive, albeit without tender, which was very satisfactory and a treat for the ears and the eyes. The end of the restoration process was in full view and on September 7th, 64.169 made its debut on the main line.

The company in charge of expedition had waited for the completion of the whole restoration process before actually starting the administrative work surrounding the loco. No less than six different railway companies had to investigate and approve this exceptional transport. Date of departure was set somewhere in December 2005, but due to recurring problems with local administrators who would not let the machine go the permit for passage through 5 countries (Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Tsjech Republic and Germany) expired as it was only valid until December 31 2005. The whole 'cutting of red tape' had to start all over again...

Without wanting to raise doubt about the goodwill of the various administrative services involved, it was clear that November 2006 had appeared on the calendar, and work on 64.169 had finished well over a year ago. We were wondering how things could be advanced more quickly, so another PFT-TSP delegation went to Romania from November 12-19 2006. All involved were assembled so we could have a clear view about the remaining hurdles.

To make the transport some elements are indispensable:

• the loco has to be supplied of water so the flame pipes won’t break during the transport. When temperatures are freezing the water has to be mixed with an anti-freeze substance;
• a large enough amount of lubricating oil has to be aboard so that the machine can receive lubrication every 100 kms;
  
• during transport the loco has to be manned at all times so maintenance can be carried out, copper thieves are scared off and the people accompanying the transport by car can be notified of its exact whereabouts;
• transport permission has to be obtained from all railnetworks involved;
• every network has to provide a locomotive and timetable;
• the loco has to have her technical UIC-ID card on which all of the data is available in the language of the countries it travels through;
• it has to be released by its country of origin, Romania;
• a whole collection of other documents has to be completed, it’s this that has postponed de departure for sooooo long;
  

Before the train can really leave, a route to Belgium has to be chosen. This had already been done and approved by all the rail networks in 2005, but at the end of 2006 there was still a big empty space in the hall at Schaarbeek and in the hearts of many train enthusiasts...

But...the TSP put her best forces and best people together in Belgium and Romania to solve step by step the remaining problems and to write the last pages of this odyssey.

It has cost lots of money, sweat, tears, and an unexpected amount of time but finally we reached the point of departure!

In a couple of days a group of PFT technicians will go back to Cluj, Roumania. They will receive and check the last documents. Then after 5 years the locomotive will leave the place were she was reborn and rebuilt. First she will go to the CFR depot of Cluj where she will receive a complete check up. Thousands of kilometres are ahead of her on the long journey home...


The special transport starts at Cluj - Napoca in the direction of the Hongarian border at Episcopia through Oradea.



By taking this route we’ll quickly arrive in Hungary where MAV will take over the locomotive from MARFA at Biharjeresztes. Passing Püspökladány, Kapcag, Kisújszállás, Szajol, Szolnok, Újszász, Rákos, Rákosrendezó, Rákosplta, Úp, Dunakeszi, Vác the 64.169 will reach the Slovakian border at Szob.



From Sturovo, Urmiza railway company will take our locomotive further along a long line of stations which sound like a fairy tale or a forgotten dream...Nové Zamky, Galanta, Bratislava Vychod, Bratislava Odb, Vinohrady, Bratislava Hl.St til Kuty. To continue through Lanzhot, Breclav, Brno Malomerice, Havlickuv Brod, Kolin, Nymburk, Melnik and Devin Vychod.



When we arrive in Devin, the Belgian border is only one more country away, Germany. One country but still a long line of stations: Bad Schandau, Dresden, Altstadt, Freiberg, Chemnitz, Glauchan, GöBnitz, Gera, Göschwitz, Weimar, Erfurt, Eisenach, Bebra, Fulda, Alsfeld, Gießen, Dillenburg, Siegen, Betzdorf, Au, Troisdorf, Gremberg, Köln, Ehrenfeld, Düren, Aachen West... and then...the last borderline at Montzen.

We are now home again and steam locomotive 64.169 will make her first kilometers in the land where she will stay and live out the rest of her life among a group of enthusiastic people which will work weekly or even daily for the maintenance of the PFT collection.

The next few days and weeks you can read the latest information on this site and follow the evolution of the transport. In this way you can share the experiences of the team that accompanies 64.169 to her new home.

Dreams come true if you really pursue them. The PFT/TSP continues to pursure its goals and goes for it a 100%! Thanks again to all the people that support the organisation and the P8 project!

A special thank you to Pierre Herbiet!