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Description
Brussels (Belgium), May 1st 2019

At the occasion of 150 years of Brussels Trams, the Brussels communal transport society STIB/MIVB organised a special happening with some of its historic equipment, closing one of its inner-city lines for a day.

While Belgium had one of the densest railway networks in the world (5000+ km in 1912) , there still were large swathes of the country not served by the railway compagnies. As a reaction, the SNCV/NMVB or Vicinal Tramways were set up in 1885, building a large rural tramway network that connected most of the towns and cities in the country.

The First World War saw a large number of Vicinal Tramway lines either destroyed or broken up by the Germans to recuperate the steel of the railways for their own purposes; in the immediate postwar years only the main lines were rebuilt, with a number of smaller lines disappearing; however the remaining lines started being electrified, leading to the disappearance of the steam-hauled Vicinal Trams. In Brussels, the last steampowered trams disappeared in 1930; elsewhere in Belgium a small number held out as late as 1960. Gradually, the introduction of busses and private cars meant the importance of the Vicinal Tramway network diminished; from World War II onwards the network was virtually wiped out, from 4769 km in 1945 to 205 km in 1980. Today, remnants of the Vicinal Network still exist as the Coastal Tram on the Belgian coast, and part of the TEC's tram network in and around Charleroi.

On October 1st 1894, only a decade after the first steam-driven trams started riding on the network, the Vicinal Tramways started experimenting with electric trams on the line between Brussels and Uccle. One of the first electric trams built for this purpose was Tram 19 (1896). She would go on to have an extremely long service, surviving both World Wars and only being withdrawn in 1950, by which time she had been thoroughly rebuilt a couple of times.

Following her retirement, Tram 19 was rebuilt to her original condition in 1954; she currently resides at the Musée de Transports en commun in Liège, but was transported to Brussels for the event.

Unlike their Brussels counterparts, which use Standard Gauge (1435mm), the Vicinal Tramways used Metric Gauge (1000mm), which meant the former Vicinal roling stock had to be displayed on temporary, purpose-built tracks.

Description
Brussels (Belgium), May 1st 2019

At the occasion of 150 years of Brussels Trams, the Brussels communal transport society STIB/MIVB organised a special happening with some of its historic equipment, closing one of its inner-city lines for a day.

While Belgium had one of the densest railway networks in the world (5000+ km in 1912) , there still were large swathes of the country not served by the railway compagnies. As a reaction, the SNCV/NMVB or Vicinal Tramways were set up in 1885, building a large rural tramway network that connected most of the towns and cities in the country.

The First World War saw a large number of Vicinal Tramway lines either destroyed or broken up by the Germans to recuperate the steel of the railways for their own purposes; in the immediate postwar years only the main lines were rebuilt, with a number of smaller lines disappearing; however the remaining lines started being electrified, leading to the disappearance of the steam-hauled Vicinal Trams. In Brussels, the last steampowered trams disappeared in 1930; elsewhere in Belgium a small number held out as late as 1960. Gradually, the introduction of busses and private cars meant the importance of the Vicinal Tramway network diminished; from World War II onwards the network was virtually wiped out, from 4769 km in 1945 to 205 km in 1980. Today, remnants of the Vicinal Network still exist as the Coastal Tram on the Belgian coast, and part of the TEC's tram network in and around Charleroi.

On October 1st 1894, only a decade after the first steam-driven trams started riding on the network, the Vicinal Tramways started experimenting with electric trams on the line between Brussels and Uccle. One of the first electric trams built for this purpose was Tram 19 (1896). She would go on to have an extremely long service, surviving both World Wars and only being withdrawn in 1950, by which time she had been thoroughly rebuilt a couple of times.

Following her retirement, Tram 19 was rebuilt to her original condition in 1954; she currently resides at the Musée de Transports en commun in Liège, but was transported to Brussels for the event.

Unlike their Brussels counterparts, which use Standard Gauge (1435mm), the Vicinal Tramways used Metric Gauge (1000mm), which meant the former Vicinal roling stock had to be displayed on temporary, purpose-built tracks.