Belgian steam train takes part in locomotive festival in Poland

A Belgian steam train will travel to Poland on Thursday to participate in a locomotive festival. The Polish railways have invited Tubize 2069 from Dendermonde to join in a parade in Wolzstyn.

The locomotive, which weighs about 40 tonnes, will be placed on a truck by a specialised company on Thursday. The locomotive will first take part in a steam train festival in Wallonia and then take the two-day journey to Poland.

Sander Buyens, chairman of Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs VZW, says, "We have been working on this locomotive for several months to prepare it for the trip to Poland. The Polish Railway Company has sent a checklist of the conditions the machine must meet. The wheels were removed from under the locomotive to check that there were no cracks. The bearings under the locomotive, which determine the manoeuvrability of the train, have been replaced. All slack has been eliminated. This way, it runs with fewer jerks. We tested everything, and it went well."

The locomotive returned to service in 2021 after a lengthy six-year restoration and still runs every Sunday in August and September between Baasrode-Noord and Puurs. Starting on 21 August, it will be used intensively on the Polish rail network for a week covering an estimated 1,000 kilometres.

The steam locomotive was built in 1927 by Belgium's Ateliers Metallurgique de Nivelles and served for years in a marshalling yard.

_{©BELGA PHOTO PATRIMOINE FERROVIAIRE ET TOURISME}