Hi guys and gals
!
Today, we are going to Visé (Wezet in Flemisch) in Belgium, 2 km South of the Netherlands border :
Here is an aerial view of the complex of Visé taken from the North-East :
- in front of the view, "Visé-Haut" ("Visé Up") crossed by the freight line number 24, going from Tongeren to Aachen (Germany) . This line, which is now freight-only, is an important link between the ports of Antwerp to Germany, crossing the mounts of Ardens with spectacular viaducts and tunnels .
- in rear of the view, "Visé-Bas" ("Visé Down") crossed by the line number 40, going from Maastricht (Netherlands) to Liège (Belgium) . This line is a part from the link from Amsterdam to Luxembourg . There are locals and international trains passing by this station .
On the left, the city of Visé overlooks the tracks . On the right, the River Meuse, crossing France, Belgium and Netherlands, which is an important freight corridor too ...
Now, let's have a look at the station of Visé-Bas :
At the left, the Highway A25/E25, connecting Maastricht to Liège .
Then the station, with one platform for the passanger trains, and then several tracks for freight trains and shunting movements .
In the background, we can see the viaduct of the line 40 .
Let's go at the ground level :
We are at the foot of the city's retaining wall, looking at the station, though the tracks complex .
In front of us, there is a little embarkment quay, for car-sleeper trains preparation .
In the background, an international train has made a stop in Visé : we are in 1971 : this is the train number 134/135, which will be renumbered 296/297 later, connecting Amsterdam in Netherlands to Genova/Livorno in Italy, in 14 hours, through Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Switzerland . We see here the first five cars : 3 blue NS ones (Netherland Railways) and 2 grey FS ones (Italian railways) .
Let's go now near the platform :
We see now the last six cars : 1 blue NS one, 4 dark-green SNCF ones (French Railways), and one green CFL one (Luxembourgish Railways) .
Let's go to the end of the train :
We're just in front of the Luxembourgish car .
Here is the detailed composition of the train number 135, at the departure of Amsterdam :
Code:
number type owner traject kuid
140 A NS Amsterdam-Liège <kuid:249071:77184043> NS Plan D A 7718
141 B NS Amsterdam-Liège <kuid:249071:78294039> NS Plan D B 7829
142 B NS Amsterdam-Liège <kuid:249071:78294039> NS Plan D B 7829
130 Bm FS Amsterdam-Genova <kuid:483653:1337> Fs 1968 UICx B
131 ABm FS Amsterdam-Genova <kuid:483653:1342> Fs 1968 UICx AB
WR NS Amsterdam-Basel <kuid:249071:76554047> NS Plan D WRD 7655
132 BD SNCF Amsterdam-Basel <kuid:459683:10014> SNCF Nord Torpille Dd4s
133 AB SNCF Amsterdam-Basel <kuid:459683:10012> SNCF Nord Torpille A3B3D
134 B SNCF Amsterdam-Basel <kuid:459683:10010> SNCF Nord Torpille B9
135 B SNCF Amsterdam-Basel <kuid:459683:10020> SNCF DEV B9c9
136 B CFL Amsterdam-Luxembourg <kuid:23299:10010> CFLwegmannBn
Now, let's go to the front of the train :
The train is ready to go at its next stop : Maastricht, hauled by a NMBS-SNCB HLD63 type (<kuid:37235:6314> NMBS-SNCB HLD6314) .
Train is leaving, passing under the viaduct of the line 40 .
There are some maintenance works on the side of the tracks, near the access to the Quai des Fermettes, passing under the A25 roadway .
We are nearly at the same location, just on the other side of the Line 40's viaduct . The station staff is busy with some shunting trains ...
Let's turn around to see the train going to the Netherland's border : good bye farewell and have a good time in Amsterdam !!!
Please note :
The station of Visé is already available in the map "Nederland 7.0" published by myself in march 2024, but in the basic and incomplete condition, of its modelisation by a precedent conceptor of the "Nederland West/NLW" map series .
Even if this not the target/goal of the next iteration of the map "Nederland 7.1", to be released in late 2025-2026, I've fell for this part of the map . This WIP will be given as a bonus with Nederland 7.1 ... and will then be in the the goal of the map Nederland 7.2 to be released even later !
The rolling stock is available :
- for the NS ones, at trainzonline.nl,
- for the FS ones, at mondosimulatoferrovie.jimdofree.com,
- for the SNCF ones, at pnotrainz.jimdofree.com,
- for the CFL one, at the DLS soon
(tm),
- for the HLD63 locomotive, at trainzonline.nl .
Cheers,
Philippe
