The Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (North Friesland Railway) was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

province of

Friesland Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...

. It was operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: ''Noord-Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij'' (NFLS)). It was what would be known in the UK as a

light railway A light railway is a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more steep gradients and tight curves to reduce civil engineering costs. These lighter standards allow ...

. The line was built to and was about 91 km (57 mi) in length.

History

The NFLS had a network of lines in north Friesland. The lines opened in eight stages: Wetsens station closed in May 1902, less than eight months after opening. On 1 December 1905, the NFLS was taken over by the

Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij The Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij () or HSM (''Hollands Iron Railway-Company'') 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 ...

(HSM), which itself was nationalised on 1 December 1938, becoming part of

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and the ...

(NS).

Locomotives

The NFLS had a fleet of 10 2-4-2T locomotives, numbered 1-10. They became HSM 1051-60 and later the NS 7101-10. The locomotives cost f23,300 each and were built by Hohenzollern.NFLS Materieel Overzicht

Carriages

The NFLS had the following passenger stock, all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Goods wagons

The NFLS had the following foods stock: The rolling stock was all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel, Amsterdam except for the two 6,500 litre water tanker, which were built by Nivelles in 1896, and thus acquired second hand.

Closures

The lines were closed in stages, with some short term reopenings taking place during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Stations

Leeuwarden - Anjum line

All distances are from Leeuwarden station. *Leeuwarden *Leeuwarden Rijksweg Leeuwarden Rijksweg (or Halte) station was demolished in 1970 *Jelsum Jelsum station was demolished in 1944. *Cornjum *Britsum Stiens 1974-1

*Stiens *Finkum Finkum station was demolished by 1970 *Hijum *Hallum Hallum station was demolished in 1970 Station Marrum-Westernijkerk 01

*Marrum-Westenijkerk *Ferwerd Ferwerd station was demolished in 1974 NFLS stations article on Dutch Wikipedia *Blija *Holwerd *Ternaard *Hantum Hantum station was demolished by 1960. *Dokkum-Aalsum Dokkum-Aalsum station was demolished in 1974. *Wetsens Wetsens station closed in May 1902.Stationsweb.nl
*Metslawier *Morra-Lioessens *Anjum

Stiens - Harlingen line

*Vrouwbuurtstermolen 13 km *Vrouwenparochie 14 km (Vrouwenparochie station was demolished in 2002). *Langhuisterweg 16 km *St. Annaparochie 17 km *Koudeweg 19 km *St. Jacobiparochie 21 km (St. Jabobiparochie station was demolished by 1960). *Minnertsga 24 km *Firdgum 26 km *Tzummarum 27 km *Oosterbierum 30 km Oosterbierum station was demolished by 1980. *Sexbierum-Pieterbierum 32 km *Wijnaldum 35 km *Midlum-Herbaijum 36 km *Koetille 38 km *Harlingen 39 km.

St. Jacobiparochie - Berlikum line

*Berlikum

Tzummarum - Franeker line

*Dongjum 31 km *Franeker Halte 34 km

Accidents

On 12 June 1927, NS locomotive 7124 derailed near

Holwerd Holwert is a village in Noardeast-Fryslân municipality in the northern Netherlands, in the province of Friesland. It had a population of around 1,607 in January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Dongeradeel municipality. The ferry to ...

and ended up on its side in a dike. The locomotive was recovered on 23 June and returned to service after repairs were made.NS loc 7124

References

External links

Stationsweb.nl
Railway stations in Friesland
stichting Noord-Friesche Lokaal Spoorwegmaatschappij
{{in lang, nl Defunct railroads Standard gauge railways in the Netherlands Nederlandse Spoorwegen Railway companies of the Netherlands History of Friesland Railway lines in Friesland Buildings and structures in Leeuwarden Transport in Leeuwarden Former Dutch railway company NFLS