Beijnes
Encyclopedia
Beijnes was a defunct Haarlem
manufacturer of carriages, busses, trains, and trams. It was closely associated with the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
(HIJSM)
described such a horse buggy servicing shop in detail in his autobiographical description of his early apprenticeships to a local typesetter and a local carriage shop owner in "Jaap", 1923. The increasing amount of ironwork needed for wagons of all types resulted in J.J. Beijnes merging his business with his brother A.J., a local smith, whose workshop was located at Grote Houtstraat 126 across from the Cornelissteeg in Haarlem.
canal, connecting Amsterdam with Haarlem, which opened on 20 September 1839. To service the trains on the rails, the HIJSM had British engineers come over along with the locomotives they built. Beijnes was eager to obtain a contract, and it wasn't until 1855 that the services of the Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens J.J. Beijnes managed to win a commission for four charabanc
s. They were helped along by the local patrons J. Borski and J. Gerken, who both happened to be in the board of directors of the young HIJSM.
After their initial order, the Beijnes company grew so fast, that in 1858 the first stone was laid in the new location at the stationsplein across from the Haarlem railway station. In 1870 the King William III added the predicate "Royal" to the company's name and it became Koninklijke Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens J.J. Beijnes. In 1891, the HSM, aided by the social activist Daniel de Clercq, began the Haarlem society called De Ambachtsschool to unify various city efforts to start a vocational school in Haarlem, in order to satisfy their need for skilled workers in the booming train carriage business. In 1896 the "twin hall" was built to service more train compartments simultaneously, and in 1914 the "Staalhal" was built on the Verspronckweg.
, and the other the Beijnes-built Mat.’36.
After the war, the company moved the entire factory in 1950 to Beverwijk
, where the company had its own train station for workers. It managed to recover somewhat from the damages of war and with the introduction of the new model ELD 4 in 1956 (called the "hondekop" because the nose looked like the head of a dog), the company was able to see some successful years, though the decline had already set in. In 1959 the company was taken over by Verenigde Machine Fabrieken (VMF) and in 1963 the factory closed after the last model DE 140 was delivered.
Haarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
manufacturer of carriages, busses, trains, and trams. It was closely associated with the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij
The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij or HSM was the first railway company in the Netherlands founded on 8 August 1837 as a private company, starting operation in 1839 with a line between Amsterdam and Haarlem...
(HIJSM)
History
J.J. Beijnes the elder opened a horse carriage shop (wagenmaker) behind the St. Bavochurch on the Riviervischmarkt in Haarlem in 1938. The painter and writer Jacobus van LooyJacobus van Looy
Jacobus van Looy was a Dutch painter and writer.-Biography:Van Looy was the son of a carpenter, but his father lost his job when his eyesight began to fail. His mother died when he was five years old and when his father died soon afterwards, he ended up in the Haarlem municipal orphanage...
described such a horse buggy servicing shop in detail in his autobiographical description of his early apprenticeships to a local typesetter and a local carriage shop owner in "Jaap", 1923. The increasing amount of ironwork needed for wagons of all types resulted in J.J. Beijnes merging his business with his brother A.J., a local smith, whose workshop was located at Grote Houtstraat 126 across from the Cornelissteeg in Haarlem.
Train
The first train line constructed in the Netherlands was a line following the straight route of the HaarlemmertrekvaartHaarlemmertrekvaart
The Haarlemmertrekvaart is a canal between Amsterdam and Haarlem in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. It was dug in 1631, making it the oldest tow-canal in Holland...
canal, connecting Amsterdam with Haarlem, which opened on 20 September 1839. To service the trains on the rails, the HIJSM had British engineers come over along with the locomotives they built. Beijnes was eager to obtain a contract, and it wasn't until 1855 that the services of the Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens J.J. Beijnes managed to win a commission for four charabanc
Charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year...
s. They were helped along by the local patrons J. Borski and J. Gerken, who both happened to be in the board of directors of the young HIJSM.
After their initial order, the Beijnes company grew so fast, that in 1858 the first stone was laid in the new location at the stationsplein across from the Haarlem railway station. In 1870 the King William III added the predicate "Royal" to the company's name and it became Koninklijke Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens J.J. Beijnes. In 1891, the HSM, aided by the social activist Daniel de Clercq, began the Haarlem society called De Ambachtsschool to unify various city efforts to start a vocational school in Haarlem, in order to satisfy their need for skilled workers in the booming train carriage business. In 1896 the "twin hall" was built to service more train compartments simultaneously, and in 1914 the "Staalhal" was built on the Verspronckweg.
Electric Train
In 1922 the first experiments were made with electric trains. Beijnes won a commission for a model called the Mat.'24. They were called "blokkendozen" for their similarity to a child's building blocks and became a success for years. Their speed was 100 kilometers per hour and over 98 of them were built, with the last one going out of service in 1959. After this initial success, Beijnes was again allowed to innovate with the diesel-electric train in 1933, called the DE-3, which could reach a speed of 125 kilometers per hour and was designed for international service. From 1935, 91 of the streamlined models Mat.'35, Mat.'36, Mat.'40, and Mat.'46 were built. In 1939 the Dutch railways celebrated their 100 year anniversary with two postage stamps, one representing the first locomotive ArendArend
Arend was one of the two first steam locomotives in the Netherlands. It was a 2-2-2 Patentee type built in England by R. B. Longridge and Company of Bedlington, Northumberland. On 20 September 1839, together with the Snelheid , it hauled the first train between Amsterdam and Haarlem...
, and the other the Beijnes-built Mat.’36.
WWII
The company's history during WWII is a sad tale of ever increasing economic distress. The war put an end to international travel (aside from what the German occupying forces desired) and the DE line including the new DE 5, which was designed in 1942-1944 together with Werkspoor in Utrecht and Allan in Rotterdam, could not be exploited. Together with other hardships of war, including the hunger winter, the company declined.After the war, the company moved the entire factory in 1950 to Beverwijk
Beverwijk
Beverwijk is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast...
, where the company had its own train station for workers. It managed to recover somewhat from the damages of war and with the introduction of the new model ELD 4 in 1956 (called the "hondekop" because the nose looked like the head of a dog), the company was able to see some successful years, though the decline had already set in. In 1959 the company was taken over by Verenigde Machine Fabrieken (VMF) and in 1963 the factory closed after the last model DE 140 was delivered.