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 NMBS/SNCB Class 15 loco 1501 in Liège-Guillemins station with an IR service. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Class 15 is a type of electric locomotive operated by SNCB/NMBS. The locomotives were originally used for cross-border services TEE services between France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and, like the class 16, they became surplus after the introduction of Thalys and Class 11s. They earned their keep in their last years of service by pulling commuter "P" trains in the Liège area.
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These five locomotives were constructed in 1962 by La Brugeoise et Nivelles and were the first polycurrent locomotives ordered by SNCB/NMBS. They were designed for use on the 25 kV 50 Hz system in Northern France, the 3 kV DC system used in Belgium and the 1.5 kV DC system in use in the Netherlands.
Prior to the January 1971 renumbering, they were known in the six-number scheme as Type 150, and were numbered 150.001 to 150.005.
In the early 1980s, lacking the power to haul increasingly heavy TEE trains, the Series 15 power units were replaced by the SNCF Class CC 40100 locomotives between Paris and Brussels, but they continued to be used on services between Brussels to Amsterdam until the late 1980s, when they were withdrawn due to lack of compatibility with the new Dutch ATB signaling system. The Series 15 locomotives were then used on international trains between Liège and Paris, while being progressively incorporated into the Belgian domestic service, in particular on the Ostende-Liège line.
The units were stored in December 2000. A lack of suitable locomotives following the electrification of Line 43 between Liege and Luxembourg resulted in the locomotives returning to service to haul "P" (Peak hour) trains.
Final retirement from service was in 2004.
Two units were preserved 1503 (preserved by SNCB/NMBS at Train World Schaerbeek), and 1504 (preserved by PFT).
The National Railway Company of Belgium is the national railway company of Belgium. The company formally styles itself using the Dutch and French abbreviations NMBS/SNCB. The corporate logo designed in 1936 by Henry van de Velde consists of the linguistically neutral letter B in a horizontal oval.
The HSL 2 is a Belgian high-speed rail line between Leuven and Ans and is 66.2 km (41 mi) long, all of it on dedicated high-speed tracks, which began service on 15 December 2002. As part of the Belgian railway network, it is owned, technically operated and maintained by Infrabel.
Class 11 is part of the large 1980s family of 144 electric locomotives. The family was made up of Classes 11 (12), 12 (12), 21 (60) and 27 (60). Classes 11, 12 and 21 were nearly twice as powerful as Classes 22, 23 and 25 while Class 27 was more than twice as powerful as these 1950s locomotives. This family was heavily influenced by the Class 20² from the mid-1970s. They were very reliable because of the trial and error development of their predecessor. This family came into service with M4 and M5 coaching stock and the AM 80 and AM 86 series of EMUs. This generation was a major modernization of the NMBS/SNCB even if the older M2 coaching stock remained active for more than a decade before being replaced. The only real difference between a Class 11 and a Class 21 was the Class 11 had a transformer inside to allow working under both 3000 V DC in Belgium and 1500 V DC plus Dutch signalling and train protection for working in Holland. Externally they were identical to Classes 12 and 21 aside from the livery and a few minor details.
The Class 13 are a type of mixed use 200 km/h (124 mph) multivoltage electric locomotive of type Traxis designed by Alstom in the late 1990s for the Belgian and Luxembourgish railways.
Class 20 is a class of electric locomotives formerly operated by SNCB, the national railway of Belgium.
SNCB Class 22 Locomotives were owned by the National Railway Company of Belgium, also known as Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen or Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges, the Belgian national railway operator.
NMBS/SNCB Class 26 are single voltage locomotives that were designed as freight locomotives. They later started working on passenger trains as the electrification was expanded. A batch of five prototypes were delivered in 1964 as Type 126, numbered 126.001-126.005. 20 more were ordered around 1968, to be numbered 126.101-126.120. The final 15 arrived in 1971 and just missed getting six figure fleet numbers, carrying the numbers 2621-2635 from the factory. Actual original numbering turned out to be 126.001-126.005, 126.101-126.120 and 2621-2635. They had nothing in common with earlier Types 122, 123, 125, and 140.
The Belgian Railways Class 18 was a type of electric locomotive operated by NMBS/SNCB of Belgium. They have been displaced from these workings by Thalys electric multiple units and were all retired from service by 1999. They were derived from the French SNCF CC 40100 express passenger locomotives. Their multi-voltage capabilities allowed them to work beyond Belgium's borders, mainly Paris - Brussels/Liège and Oostende - Cologne.
The SNCB/NMBS HLE 18 are a series of four axle Bo′Bo′ multivoltage electric Siemens EuroSprinter locomotives ordered in two batches of sixty in 2006 and 2008.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 12 was a class of 4-4-2 steam locomotives built in 1938–1939 for the fast lightweight Ostend boat trains operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium.
The Belgian State Railways Type 7, later known as the NMBS/SNCB Type 7, was a class of 4-6-0 compound locomotives built between 1921 and 1924.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 29 was a class of 2-8-0 steam locomotives built between 1945 and 1946. The class was ordered and used to help revive the operations of the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) following World War II. The locomotives were built in Canada and the United States, and supplied to Belgium under the auspices of what later became known as the Marshall Plan.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 26 was a class of 2-10-0 steam locomotives built between 1945 and 1947. Originally commissioned as part of an order for 200 DRB Class 52 Kriegslokomotiven placed by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) with Belgian locomotive manufacturers in 1943, the 100 members of the Type 26 class were completed for the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB) following the liberation of Belgium late in 1944.
The Belgian State Railways Type 10, later known as the NMBS/SNCB Type 10, was a class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives built between 1910 and 1914.
The Belgian State Railways Type 23, later known as the NMBS/SNCB Type 53, was a class of 0-8-0T steam locomotives built between 1904 and 1927.
Herbesthal railway station was the Prussian/German frontier station on the main railway from Germany into Belgium between 1843 and 1920. It opened to rail traffic on 15 October 1843, and was thereby the oldest railway station frontier crossing in the world. It lost its border status on 10 January 1920, however, as a result of changes mandated in the Treaty of Versailles, which left Herbesthal more than 10 km (6.2 mi) inside Belgium.
The SNCF CC 40100 was a French class of quad-voltage 4,340 kW (5,820 hp) electric locomotives. They were intended for high-performance passenger services on the Trans Europ Express (TEE) routes of the 1960s and 1970s. This non-stop international working required them to support the electrical standards of several networks. They are significant for combining three innovations in locomotive design: quad-voltage working, three-axle monomotor bogies and the new 'Nez Cassé' body style of French locomotives.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 64 was a class of 4-6-0 steam locomotives built as Prussian P 8s for German railways, delivered as war reparations to Belgium at the end of World War I. 168 locomotives of this type were delivered to Belgium, working mostly on light passenger trains operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB). The final locomotives of this type were withdrawn in 1967, marking the end of steam service in the country.
The NMBS/SNCB Type 36 was a class of 2-10-0 Decapod steam locomotives built from 1909 to 1914 for heavy freight service in Belgium operated by the National Railway Company of Belgium.
Series 54, were diesel locomotives used by the National Railway Company of Belgium (NMBS/SNCB). Along with Series 52, 53 and 59, they were the first generation of Belgian diesel locomotives, built in the 1950s. All three types were ultimately derived from the earlier Series 52 locos, representing a faster version of the design, allowing for 140 km/h usage instead of 120 km/h.
