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In May
1981, I took my family on a short break to Holland. The break was titled
"Holland from a Steam Train", though in truth it was a
sightseeing tour of Amsterdam that included a day trip to Hoorn and a
journey from there to Medemblik and return on the Stoomtram Hoorn
Medemblik.
Our steam locomotive was
0-4-0 tank loco no 30, and the journey on the 11.30am service from Hoorn
took approximately 61 minutes with "Oiling stops" at Fietspool
and Midwoud. We were able to stand on the balcony at the rear end of the
train. Medemblik was an excellent destination and we enjoyed our stroll
around the town. We returned on the 4.00pm service with the same
locomotive and same Oiling stops. An excellent day, and a trip to be
repeated next time we came to Holland.
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In fact our next holiday in Holland was in
September 2003, when we had a 4 night break in Amsterdam. And a day had been
reserved for another trip from Hoorn to Medemblik. So we travelled from
Amsterdam Central station to Hoorn, a journey that took 32 minutes on
a 4 car double deck train (see picture below)
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Again
we caught the 11.00am service from Hoorn, this time the loco being no 3,
an 0-4-0 tank named Medemblik. The 8 coach train was very full with a
party of tourists who would continue by boat from Medemblik. We had a 17
minute intermediate stop at Twisk, and the overall time to Medemblik
was 77 minutes. We noticed that the area around Hoorn had been greatly
developed since 1981, and there were more level crossings, all of which
involved the fireman jumping off the locomotive and running forward to
press the release buttons. Medemblik also had been developed, but still
retained it considerable charm. |
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And
so after a lengthy walk and a coffee and snack break, we made our way back to the station for, once again, the 4pm
departure. There were few passengers on this service, and we sat
ourselves in the coach adjoining the refreshment car. The wife, who is
rather partial to pancakes, noticed that on offer were some Poffertjes, those
delicious small Dutch Pancakes. We we were served at our table by a
charming gentleman, who spoke fluent English, was immensely proud to be
a volunteer on the railway, and who brought us a second plate of
Poffertjes free of charge. I will see you at Twisk, he announced. And he
did, giving us a conducted tour of the station, with it's newly
completed convenience. We were also told that the station was authorized
to carry out marriage ceremonies, and would we like to have a go. This
took us rather by surprise, and to our everlasting regret, we declined.
How we would have liked to have seen the look on our two sons faces on
our return, when we announced "Oh, by the way, we got married in
Holland". |
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