By Rodney Beech
The huge natural gas discoveries in the early 1960's were a turning point in the fortunes of the Netherlands and spelt the beginning of the end of the importance of Winterswijk as a cross border rail junction. In pre-war days, more that a thousand loaded coal wagons a day passed westwards from the German coalfields of the Ruhrgebied, the empties returning behind a cavalcade of HSM steam engines.
Engines were turned and serviced in a loco depot, which boasted an American style roundhouse alongside a separate facility for the engines of the KPStEV. Trains arrived in the passing loops opposite the main station building where locos were uncoupled and replaced before the train moved on towards Zutphen and all points west. Although there was some general freight traffic requiring the attention of the Marechaussee, mostly the trains were coal wagons, which must have done nothing for the daily washing on the line and the slumbers of the good townsfolk.
Winterswijk grew as a textile town with many linen mills alongside a stream with the some of the hardest water in Holland. The need to move the products and the possible extra business involving farm produce and passengers, gave the impetus for a local textile factory owner, Jan Willink, to set up two regional railway companies. A railway from Zutphen via Winterswijk to Gilsenkirchen (Ruhrgebiet) became the Nederlandsch-Westfaalsche Spoorweg-Maatschappij and was completed in 1880. The GOLS, with links north to Enschede, west to Doetinchem, Zevenaar and Arnhem was completed by 1885. The rest of the story is beyond the scope of this piece, save that to say that today the Region is served by the Syntus Company, which operates both passenger trains and buses. Have a look at their web site www.syntus.nl or check details for all museums at www.railmusea.nl.
The museum is housed in the old GOLS station building near the existing NS station and visitors are welcomed with the sight of green liveried Sic No. 270, a small shunting loco, coupled to a long wheel base van alongside a loading ramp and a massive multi-arm semaphore signal in the car park. A climb up the typically steep staircase in the old station brings one to the first floor and the home of the centre piece of the Museum, the HO layout of the entire main line station and associated yards and engine facilities as well as the GOLS station complex alongside. Next-door is a comfortable meeting room with canteen facilities, workshop and library.
The layout is set in the pre-war period and is as good a presentation as the museum at Pendon, with excellent attention to detail. Scale trains of 30+ wagons, loads west and empties east, pass slowly before the spectator behind weathered locos through the yards while in the foreground 0-6-0 tanks of the GOLS railway haul freight trains and passenger services on the cross-country routes. Almost all the stock is hand made and correct for the period modelled and although there are plenty of suitable propriety German locomotives, the Philotrain examples don't have the pulling power required for the coal trains. Any offers from loco modellers to build some appropriate types?
A separate team of dedicated modellers have set out to recreate the surrounding townscape by recording and modelling in miniature, both the existing and long demolished buildings alongside and between the stations on a layout more than 15.5 metres long by 3.5 metres wide. Two operators control movements through hidden sidings and visitors are invited to view the model via periscopes, which provide an eye level.
Opening times are on the website and while the layout and museum are a worthwhile reason for a detour while on holiday in the Netherlands, the rest of the family will find the nearby shopping streets and cafes a pleasant alternative. There is an hourly service via LINT 41 sets from Arnhem and Zutphen to add to the experience, which will make a change from pushing through the hoards of Japanese tourists at Zaanse Schans.
I am greatly indebted to Mr. Arjan Ligtenbarg for his hospitality and his encyclopaedic knowledge of the history of the GOLS railway and the museum and the writer can heartily recommend a visit to the museum, set in a charming landscape of forests and castles.
