The Museumstoomtram Hoorn Medemblik is a heritage railway

Heritage railway

thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...

 in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. It runs from Hoorn

Hoorn

-Cities :* Purmerend * Enkhuizen * Alkmaar * Amsterdam * Lelystad * Den Helder * Leeuwarden -Towns :* Edam...

 to Medemblik

Medemblik

Medemblik is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.- History :...

, a distance of about 20km.

Original

The original connection was run by Locaalspoorwegmaatschappij Hollands Noorderkwartier (1884 - 1935). The line was opened on November 3, 1887. The connection follows a curving path, to reduce the amount of land that had to be confiscated. The train used steam traction, with diesel traction being introduced in 1929.

The line was closed for passenger service from January 1, 1936 until May 29, 1940.

On January 5, 1941 the line was permanently closed for passenger service, just as the railway station in Medemblik

Medemblik

Medemblik is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.- History :...

.

The line

Distance (km)	Station name
|Hoorn
2	Westerblokker
4	Zwaag
5	Zwaagdijk
6	Wognum- Nibbixwoud
7	Wijzend
9	Benningbroek- Sijbekarspel
10	Abbekerk- Lambertschaag
14	Midwoud- Oostwoud
16	Twisk
18	Opperdoes
19	Opperdoes Oosteinde
20	Medemblik

Station with names in italics have been restored.

Heritage railway

Nowadays the railways is in use as a tourist attraction. The masterpiece in the collection is the former Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Nederlandse Spoorwegen , or NS, is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands.Its trains operate over the tracks of the Dutch national railinfrastructure, operated by ProRail, which was split off from NS in 2003...

 locomotive 7742 Bello, the Netherlands' only preserved light steam engine. Other steam locomotives in running order include three tramway engines, two of which are enclosed tram engine

Tram engine

A tram engine is a locomotive specially built, or modified, to work on a street, or roadside, tramway.-Steam tram engines:In the steam locomotive era, tram engines had to comply with certain legal requirements, although these varied from country to country:* The engine must be governed to a maximum...

s (steam dummies).
The remaining ones are: three industrial engines; a German one which is now being rebuilt as a replica of a Dutch railway shunting engine (of a series of which several also served on steam tramways); and a locomotive of industrial type which served at a steam tram company in Zuid-Holland, still awaiting restoration.

Seven of the nine steam locomotives are official Dutch rail monuments.

NS 7742 and the two enclosed tram engines are in regular use: Bello mainly in the peak season afternoon train, and the two steam dummies mainly in the 10 o' clock train (tue/wed/thursdays during peak season).

Eight steam tram carriages are in regular service, as well as several steam tram goods wagons.

Bello and the three tramway engines originate from the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Limburg.
The serviceable steam tram carriages originate from the provinces Friesland, Gelderland, Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Zeeland.

The livery and presentation of the cars is as they were in 1926.

The station is twinned with the Bluebell Railway

Bluebell Railway

The Bluebell Railway is a heritage line running for nine miles along the border between East and West Sussex, England. Steam trains are operated between and , with an intermediate station at .The railway is managed and run largely by volunteers...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The ride between Hoorn and Medemblik is often combined by tourists with a trip from Medemblik

Medemblik

Medemblik is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.- History :...

 to Enkhuizen

Enkhuizen

Enkhuizen is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia.Enkhuizen was one of the harbour-towns of the VOC, just like Hoorn and Amsterdam, from where overseas trade with the East Indies was conducted. It received city rights in 1355...

 by boat.

On the disused side of platform 2 of Huddersfield railway station

Huddersfield railway station

Huddersfield railway station serves the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.The station is managed by First TransPennine Express who provide trains between the North East, North and East Yorkshire, and Leeds to the east and Manchester Piccadilly and North West.It is also served by local...

 in northern England, an old carriage is bolted to the ground, and set in its window is a Dutch plaque commemorating 100 years of Stoomtram Hoorn - Medemblik.

Film

The railway was used as film location for the 1979 movie 'The Riddle of the Sands

The Riddle of the Sands (film)

The Riddle of the Sands is a 1979 British spy thriller based on the novel of the same name by Erskine Childers. Set in 1901, and starring Michael York and Simon MacCorkindale, it concerns the efforts of two British yachtsmen to avert a German plot to invade England.It was filmed on the North Sea...

': the stationbuilding of 'Emden' = Medemblik, 'Bensersiel' = Twisk.

Gallery

External links

• www.museumstoomtram.nl (English)
• Stationsweb entry (Dutch)