The Pays de Waes is a preserved tank locomotive built in 1844, which is part of the historical collection of the National Railway Company of Belgium (SNCB), on display at

Train World Train World is a railway museum in Brussels, Belgium, and the official museum of the National Railway Company of Belgium. It is situated in the preserved buildings of Schaarbeek railway station and in a new shed built to its north. Although sched ...

. It is reputed to be the oldest preserved locomotive on the European continent.

History

The "Pays de Waes" is the second locomotive in a series of nine machines designed by the Belgian engineer Gustave De Ridder. Built in his private workshops, the locomotive was put into service on a narrow gauge line (Anvers-Saint-Nicolas-Lokeren-Gand) that was operated by the ''Compagnie du chemin de fer d'Anvers à Gand par Saint-Nicolas et Lokeren'' (a private company) in 1845, a narrow gauge line ( vs ). The locomotive reached a speed of in 1844, the year of its construction. The series of nine locomotives were taken out of service between 1880 and 1890. The "Pays de Waes" was still intact in 1896 when the Belgian State took over operation of the rail line and

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

it to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

. All other locomotives in the series were

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

ped, with only the "Pays de Waes" being preserved. The preserved locomotive was exhibited at the 1913 World Fair in Ghent and then in England in 1925 to mark the centenary of the railways held in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. It was then placed on display (starting in 1958) at the railway museum located in the Brussels-North station complex until March 22, 2014, when it was transferred to the site of the current Belgian railway museum, Train World. This required a wall to be broken at the Brussels-North station to be able to remove the locomotive. It is now displayed in Hall 1 at Train World, a witness to the beginnings of the railways in Europe. The locomotive is named after Waasland (Pays de Waes in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

), where it commonly ran between 1844/1845 and 1896.

References

{{reflist Steam locomotives of Belgium Early steam locomotives