Locomotives and Multiple-units - Belgium: Books - Overviews

Benelux Railways

The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are three separate European countries that have their own railway systems, with much integration between each other. They are united by all running regular passenger train services, mostly hourly or more frequent, within each country and beyond.

Nederlandse Spoorwegen supplies the principal rail service within the Netherlands, supplemented by other operators such as Arriva and Syntus, who run a few local lines.
All the passenger services within Belgium are operated by NMBS/SNCB (Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen or Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges), uniting the Flemish and Wallonian parts of the country.
CFL (correctly called Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois) has a surprisingly large rail network, with frequent internal services and innumerable cross-border operations, including those from Germany and France.

John Law has been visiting the railways of this part of Europe since the early 1970s and has travelled on nearly all the lines opened to passenger traffic.
He has photographed the changing scene over the years and has compiled a huge number of images, the best of which are within these pages.

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Benelux Railways - Locomotives & Multiple Units (7th Edition)

This guide offers a comprehensive overview of locomotives and multiple units in service on the railways of Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Key features include a brief historical background, detailed fleet lists, and information on international high-speed trains. It covers the organizational structures of Belgian National Railways (SNCB), Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), and Luxembourg Railways (CFL), along with private operators and maintenance companies.

The guide provides tips on fares, travel from the UK, detailed railway network maps, numbering schemes, livery details, depot allocations, and technical data for each class. Additionally, it lists preserved steam, diesel, and electric locomotives, along with museum information and over 90 color illustrations.
Compiled and updated by David Haydock, former editor of Today's Railways Europe, this guide is the result of extensive research with contributions from contacts across the Benelux countries, making it the most comprehensive resource on rolling stock in the region.

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Les locomotives polycourant de l'artère de Paris - Bruxelles (Volume 1)

The first volume of two works of historical, technical and photographic retrospective of the great era of multi-current locomotives on the Paris-Belgium line.
This volume studies the birth and development of the concept of multi-current, through the SNCF BB-26000/30000 and CC-40100 locomotives, as well as the single-current prototype CC-10002 which was used to develop the three-axle single-engine bogie.
This study is completed by photographic themes showing the different SNCF and SNCB series in France.

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La Locomotive (réédition de l'édition originale de 1920)

La Chaudière, le Moteur, le Véhicule et enfin le Tender constituent les quatre parties de ce livre. Ulysse Lamalle et Fernand Legein savent de quoi ils parlent : le premier était Ingénieur Civil des Mines, le second, Ingénieur Civil mécanicien et tous les deux ont passé leur vie dans les trains, les étudiant pour les améliorer sans cesse. Bien que technique, ce livre est à la portée de tous.

Plus de 320 gravures, schémas et plans illustrent ce texte et améliorent sa compréhension. Ici, ce sont toutes les parties techniques et les divers éléments de la locomotive d'abord, du tender ensuite qui sont décortiquées et analysées. Le renversement du sens de la marche est longuement décrit, gravures à l'appui, de même que les freins, organes essentiels qui ont largement contribué à faire du chemin de fer l'un des moyens de transport le plus sur du monde moderne.

Cet ouvrage est également illustré de nombreuses et magnifiques photographies noir et blanc de locomotives et de conducteurs en action que la Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Belges ainsi que des passionnés ont bien voulu mettre à notre disposition pour cette réédition et qui permettront aux "Anciens" de retrouver l'ambiance si particulière de cet univers.

Un très bel ouvrage sur la locomotive à vapeur qui s'éloigne de plus en plus...
Véritable réédition. Ce livre n'est pas un fac-similé.

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Les locomotives polycourant de l'artère de Paris - Bruxelles (Volume 2)

Deuxième volume de rétrospective historique, technique et photographique de la grande époque des locomotives polycourant sur la liaison Paris - Belgique.
Cet ouvrage étudie le développement de l'électrification du réseau belge, les locomotives SNCB BB types 12, 15 et 16, CC type 18.
Des thèmes photographiques complètent cette étude en montrant les différentes séries SNCF et SNCB en Belgique.

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