North Friesland Railway

The North Friesland Railway was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the Dutch province of Friesland. 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. The line was built to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge and was about 91 kilometres (57 mi) in length.

North Friesland Railway
 Km
40 Harlingen Haven
39 Harlingen
38 Koetille
36 Midlum-Herbaijum
35 Wijnaldum
32 Sexbierum-Pietersbierum
30 Oosterbierum
34 Franeker
31 Dongjum
27 Tzummarum
26 Firdgum
24 Minnertsga
28 Berlikum
Mooie Paal
21 St. Jacobiparochie
19 Koudeweg
16 Langhuisterweg
17 St. Annaparochie
14 Vrouwenparochie
13 Vrouwbuurtstermolen
47 Anjum
45 Morra-Lioessens
42 Metslawier
40 Wetsens
37 Dokkum-Aalsum
32 Hantum
30 Ternaard
26 Holwerd
22 Blije
20 Ferwerd
18 Hallum-Westernijkerk
15 Hallum
13 Hijum
11 Finkum
9 Stiens
8 Britsum
7 Cornjum
5 Jelsum
3 Leeuwarden Rijksweg
0 Leeuwarden

History

The NFLS had a network of lines in north Friesland. The lines opened in eight stages:

Leeuwarden – Ferwerd22 April 1901
Ferwerd – Metslawier2 October 1901
Stiens – Tzummarum2 December 1902
Tzummarum – Franeker Halte1 October 1903
Tzummarum – Midlum-Herbaijum1 October 1903
Midlum-Herbaijum – Harlingen2 May 1904
St. Jacobiparochie – Berlikum (freight only)before 1910
Metslawier – Anjum24 August 1913

Wetsens station closed in May 1902, less than eight months after opening.[1] On 1 December 1905, the NFLS was taken over by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM), which itself was nationalised on 1 December 1938, becoming part of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).

Locomotives

The NFLS had a fleet of 10 2-4-2T locomotives, numbered 1-10. They became HSM 1051-60 and NS 7101-10. The locos cost f23,300 each and were built by Maschinenfabrik Hohenzollern.[2][3]

Carriages

The NFLS had the following passenger stock, all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel, Amsterdam:[2]

QtyTypeClassNFLS NºHSM NºNS Nº
10four-wheel carriage2nd classB1–10B1060–69B1071–80
25four-wheel carriage3rd classC1–25C1072–96C1146–70
2four-wheel brake carriage2nd classBDL1–2BDP1070–711001–02
3four-wheel brake carriagepost and baggageLD1–3DP3003–05PD1026–28

Freight wagons

The NFLS had the following freight stock:[2]

QtyTypeNFLS NºHSM NºNS Nº
2vanDE1–2DP3001–02D2261–62
9van with brakesman's cabCHG1–911950–58CHC3236–44
2van with steam heatingCHFF51–5211959–60CHC3561–62
4open wagon with brakesman's cabCL201–0429960–73GL43661–64
16open wagonCL301–1629974–89GL41816–31
2van with brakesman's shelterFO601–025490–91FB70774–75
8vanFO651–585492–99FB70571–78
3water tank
1 × 5,200 litres (1,100 imp gal)
2 × 6,500 litres (1,400 imp gal)
 WW1–34197–99 to 1911
4142–44 after 1911		158059
158056–57
1ballast wagon113646—

The stock was all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel, Amsterdam except for the two 6,500 litre water tanks, which were built by Nivelles in 1896, and thus acquired second hand.[2]

Closures

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

SectionDateAction
Tzummarum – Franeker Halte8 October 1933closed, track lifted
Tzummarum – Harlingen15 May 1935closed to passengers
Dokkum-Aalsum – Anjum15 May 1935closed to passengers
Stiens – Tzummarum15 May 1936closed to passengers
Leeuwarden – Dokkum-Aalsum1 July 1936closed to passengers
Midlum-Herbaijum – Harlingen11 January 1938closed, track lifted
Leeuwarden – Dokkum-Aalsum28 May 1940reopened to passengers
Stiens – Tzummarum28 May 1940reopened to passengers
Leeuwarden – Dokkum-Aalsum1 December 1940closed to passenger
Dokkum-Aalsum – Anjum27 July 1942closed[4]
Stiens – Tzummarum30 October 1942closed to passengers
Tzummarum – Midlum-Herbaijum7 December 1961closed, track lifted
Minnertsga – Tzummarum4 May 1966closed, track lifted
Mooie Paal – Berlikum27 September 1971closed, track lifted
Stiens – Minnertsga1973closed
Holwerd – Dokkum Aalsum1975closed
Stiens – Holwerd1978closed
Stiens – Dokkum-Aalsum1980track lifted
Stiens – Minnertsga1980track lifted
Leeuwarden – Stiens1997closed
Leeuwarden station2006track lifted

Stations

Leeuwarden - Anjum line

All distances are from Leeuwarden station.

  • Leeuwarden 0 km (0 mi)
  • Leeuwarden Rijksweg 3 km (1.9 mi)

Leeuwarden Rijksweg (or Halte) station was demolished in 1970[5]

  • Jelsum 5 km (3.1 mi)

Jelsum station was demolished in 1944.[5]

  • Cornjum 7 km (4.3 mi)
  • Britsum 8 km (5.0 mi)
Stiens.
  • Stiens 9 km (5.6 mi)
  • Finkum 11 km (6.8 mi)

Finkum station was demolished by 1970[5]

  • Hijum 13 km (8.1 mi)
  • Hallum 15 km (9.3 mi)

Hallum station was demolished in 1970[5]

Marrum-Westernijkerk.
  • Marrum-Westenijkerk 18 km (11 mi)
  • Ferwerd 20 km (12 mi)

Ferwerd station was demolished in 1974[5]

  • Blija 22 km (14 mi)
  • Holwerd 26 km (16 mi)
  • Ternaard 30 km (19 mi)
  • Hantum 32 km (20 mi)

Hantum station was demolished by 1960.[5]

  • Dokkum-Aalsum 37 km (23 mi)

Dokkum-Aalsum station was demolished in 1974.[5]

  • Wetsens 40 km (25 mi)

Wetsens station closed in May 1902.[1]

  • Metslawier 42 km (26 mi)
  • Morra-Lioessens 45 km (28 mi)
  • Anjum 47 km (29 mi)

Stiens - Harlingen line
  • Vrouwbuurtstermolen 13 km
  • Vrouwenparochie 14 km (Vrouwenparochie station was demolished in 2002).[5]
  • Langhuisterweg 16 km
  • St. Annaparochie 17 km
  • Koudeweg 19 km
  • St. Jacobiparochie 21 km (St. Jabobiparochie station was demolished by 1960).[5]
  • Minnertsga 24 km
  • Firdgum 26 km
  • Tzummarum 27 km
  • Oosterbierum 30 km

Oosterbierum station was demolished by 1980.[5]

  • 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 and ended up on its side in a dike. The locomotive was recovered on 23 June and returned to service after repairs were made.[6]

See also

Information contained in the above articles has been used in compiling this article.

References
  1. Stationsweb.nl Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine (in Dutch)
  2. NFLS Materieel Overzicht (in Dutch)
  3. NFLS Aanschaf Materieel (in Dutch)
  4. Railromantiek (in Dutch)
  5. NFLS stations article on Dutch Wikipedia (in Dutch)
  6. NS loc 7124 (in Dutch)
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