Friends of the Rail have an annual trip to
Waterval Boven to ride the Oosterlijn Express, from Waterval
Boven to Waterval Onder. A group of 17 visitors, including
Friends of the Rail and Reef Branch RSSA members descended upon
the station at 10:30 a.m. to ride the train.
| 11:00 a.m. departure, and a tender-first
15F 2985 led the train through the many curves and
across the magnificent concrete arch bridge just out of
'Boven. Once through the first tunnel, magnificent views
were had across the valley and of the waterfall. |
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After arrival at Waterval Onder, the
crew staged a false departure which not only gave some
of the passengers a fright, it also provided a great
subject for the many photographers and videographers
amongst the visitors. The sun had appeared and the
gleaming locomotive looked and sounded great!
(25 sec. stereo 168k MP3 encoded WAV) |
15F 2985 had her work cut out on the return, and
sounded fantastic thundering up the valley beneath the
high rock walls and around the horseshoe curve. We took
a couple of pictures at Onder Valle, and the loco
climbing away was music for the ears!
(31 sec. stereo 219k MP3 encoded WAV). |
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Arrival at Waterval Boven gave us another photo
opportunity, both of ourselves and the locomotive and
crew. The train pushed back for a false arrival, then we
all posed by the engine to preserve the moment for
posterity. Many thanks to all the people at Waterval
Boven who run the Oosterlijn Express, we had a
magnificent trip in fantastic scenery! |
| The Oosterlijn Express operates every Sunday from
Waterval Boven station. It leaves at 11:00 a.m. for
Waterval Onder, and departs 'Onder at 12:30 p.m.,
arriving back at around 1:00 p.m. There are three steam
locomotives there, 15F 2909 (green, hand-fired), 15F
2985 (black, stoker-fired), and a ZASM 'B' locomotive. I
believe today was the last run with steam until the
summer months. The trip will probably run with diesel or
electric for the next few months. |
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All photographs copyright © 1999 Trevor Staats -
Photos were captured from a Sony TRV7 video camera.
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