{"id":3610,"date":"2013-08-26T05:49:05","date_gmt":"2013-08-26T09:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=3610"},"modified":"2013-08-26T06:18:59","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T10:18:59","slug":"brians-belgian-rail-marathon-liege-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/brians-belgian-rail-marathon-liege-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian\u2019s Belgian Rail Marathon, Liege and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting the most from My SNCB \u2018Railpass\u2019.<\/p>\n

At Leige (Li\u00e8ge-Guillemins<\/a>) I boarded an InterCity train for Brussels<\/a> and glided along in comfort along perfectly maintained track. At Bruxelles-Nord\/Brussel-Noord (French and Flemish names appear randomly applied to Brussels stations\u2014so far as I can tell) I changed to another express, this one destined for Antwerp.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
Gazing east from a westward SNCB InterCity train bound for Brussels. Lumix LX3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was aiming for Antwerpen<\/a> Noorderdokken, a location I explored in March, where freight trains access the port of Antwerp. Another change of trains at Antwerp Central brought me to this station. As I walked toward my desired photo angle, I noticed a dark wall of clouds rolling in off the North Sea. (It had been clear and cloudless at Liege!)<\/p>\n

Yet, I managed to photograph six freights before the sun vanished\u2014mission accomplished. Boarding my eighth train of the day, I aimed to ride around Antwerp and then back toward Brussels.<\/p>\n

By the end of the day, I\u2019d visited eight locations and traveled on ten trains. Not too shabby for the first day of my August visit to Belgium.<\/p>\n

\"Freight<\/a>
A French freight diesel leads a container train from the Port of Antwerp<\/a> near Antwerpen Noorderdokken. Canon EOS 7D<\/a> photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Electric<\/a>
Belgian Class 13 electrics crawl along with an empty freight train near Antwerpen Noorderdokken. Canon EOS 7D photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Electric<\/a>
SNCB class 28 electrics lead a train of tanks from the Port of Antwerpen. Canon EOS 7D.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Train<\/a>
Dark clouds rolling off the North Sea signal the time to head back toward the station. Canon 7D photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"SNCB<\/a>
Departing Antwerpen Noorderdokken on a local train, another SNCB passenger train was rolling along on an adjacent track. Lumix LX3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"SNCB<\/a>
Many SNCB passenger trains work with locomotives at both ends. Here a class 27 electric works the back of a train accelerating toward Antwerp Central. I’m on a local that will run around Antwerp on a different route. Lumix LX3.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

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