Hi,

I'm going to move to Brussels soon, so I have the usual "I'm a Märklin train" fanatic questions to the new area :

- What are the good Märklin dealers in Belgium?
- Any good one's in Brussels?
- I seem to recall that the only Märklin shop-in-shop is in a town near Leuven? Is that a good store?
- Is Märklin expensive in Belgium - should I consider German stores (or webshops), which are not too far away?

I have already been trainspotting on two of Brussels large train stations: Brussels Zuid/Midi and Brussels Nord. I even encountered some security guards at Brussels Nord. Somebody thought that this crazy guy running around on the platforms was trying to commit suicide - although I was just trying to get some pictures of all the trains [:0] I was asked to leave the station as I did not have any trainticket [xx(]

During my trainspotting, I have noticed that trains in Belgium are very different to what I'm used to in Denmark and Germany, so the obvious questions are:

- Where to find models of Belgium prototypes?
- I have noticed that the Märklin selection of Belgium prototypes seems limited - does any other manufactors produce models of Belgium prototypes?
- Any local manufactors?

Final group of questions:

- Any good train related stuff to see in Belgium?
- Model train layouts?
- Train museums?
- Good model train clubs, that speak english [:I]

Wow - that was quite a list of questions - can anybody help me with answers to these questions?

Cool - thanks!

I immediately checked out "Treinshop Olaerts in Gruitrode" - very impressive website!! Tons of Belgian trains. I immediately ordered the "Märklin 37663 279.00 Diesel lok 5404 Antwerpen 'Museum version'".

I see that Mehano has fielded quite a lot of locomotives - how are the quality of these. Furthermore, I see that "Treinshop Olaerts" have a special produced version of the "Brussels Airport Express" - but the price is quite high - does anybody know if it is worth it?

Is there any Belgian discussion groups on model trains? It is not a problem that they are in either dutch or french - Google translate will help me with that - and I might even learn the language

Hello and welcome in Belgium !

To complete the previous messages from Pianne, and from my point of view, the best MÄRKLIN dealer is the shop Hünerbein ( http://www.huenerbein.de/ )... in Germany, however very close to the border, in the city of AACHEN.
I confirm that the shop JOCADIS (not so far from BRUSSELS) has a top quality service with its own belgian models production, also often suitable with MÄRKLIN.

For the real trains, there is not yet a National Railroad Museum [V]

But, don’t miss the association PFT ( http://www.pfttsp.be/ ) . This is one of the most active in the preservation of belgian trains and she organizes some trips with historical materials on the main lines (with steam, diesel and electric engines) and some open day (once a year I think) in the depot of SAINT-GHISLAIN (near the city of MONS).

On the the following pics, there is one of the circulation days organized by the PFT in july 2007:



You can see the locomotive 29.013 still owned by the SNCB, which has hauled the last regular steam passenger train in 1966.



On the second pic, it is the 64.169 of the PFT (an old P8 from Rumany restored in all details into a “type 64” of the SNCB). I hope it will be a future model for MÄRKLIN.

In Summer, you can also make a visit to the CFV3V ( http://cfv3v.in-site-out.com/ ), the “Chemin de Fer à Vapeur des 3 Vallées” which runs from April to September regular steam hauled trains on the preserved line MARIEMBOURG-TREIGNES in the south of Belgium. In the station of TREIGNES, there is a little but very interesting railroad museum with in display, for example, the fabulous “Type 1” steam locomotive of the SNCB.


On this video ( http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=QHY2dp5Ae4c ), found on internet, you can see a good example of a train which can be transposed in HO with MÄRKLIN material: a double heading of SNCB diesels type 55 (item ref.3466) on an ore train (item ref.48444). This train is seen in the hard grade between VIELSALM and GOUVY on the line LIEGE-LUXEMBOURG.

To finish, I am also a member of a local club (+/- 1 hour from BRUSSELS) and we run with belgian themed trains in HO scale. It will be a pleasure for me if you want to visit us once Saturday.

Best regards,
Jean

Hi Bo,

I don't know if you're interested in second hand stuff. There's a quarterly auction organized by the Collector Banks, under supervision of a bailiff (so, not eBay practices here), where you can buy nice things, very cheap sometimes.

The next auction, through Internet, will take place on November 22. A list of the items auctioned will be available a week before on http://www.collectorsbank.com. Only the Dutch version works quite correctly. You always can take a look at the items in the shop itself a week before.

If you click on "traditional auction", you get the list of what were sold in September ago, with wonderful pictures. A quick comparison between the start price and the definitive bid price tells you that there are lots of bargains to make.

I bought almost all my locos and rolling stock there, roughly for 1/3 of the normal price. The store sells also new items. It is located in a suburb of Antwerp. The shop owner speaks indifferently Dutch, French, English and German.

I am glad I am not the only one who feels that way. This forum is waaay better/nicer/more informative/...

Bert

Hi Bo,

Welcome to Brussels (which is still a part of Belgium[}:)]!

I can confirm that Het Spoor (www.hetspoor.com) that is located in Haasrode (near Leuven) is a very good shop (or may be used to be if I read what Bert is saying). As I live currently in West Vlaanderen near the coast, I prefer to go to Vanbiervliet located in Inglemunster (www.vanbiervliet.com). I think they are one of the shops that have very competitive prices in Belgium. They have also a very good service and a great stock!

I hope that you like our grazy little country in the hart of Europe.

Kind regards,
Frank

Hey plutodie..
I can recommend you for sure the little shop in Brussels: Vandenbossche
It is located in Jette,Brussels and they are cool guys, also specialised in digitalising the locs...
Also if you want one day you can visit our club : www.lmtc.be
Our club is from Leuven (Louvain) and we have around 50 members..
Off course there are also from time to time fairs, and then you will be able to see mostly Ollaerts..good prices, nice seller.. Ollaerts has a shop like you can read, but they will be moving..

Anyways in February my club will organise a fair: there you will be able to find some interesting and original items ...
If you would be one day in Blankenberghe, visit the mini train expo: really good because the guys working there are real pros and allways there for a nice discussion....

for the rest you can buy through internet here:
www.kapaza.be
www.2dehands.be
www.hebbes.be
www.marktplaats.nl
www.yezzz.be
www.ebay.be
www.koopjeskrant.be

In Brussels you can find also another shop besides Vanden Bossche: Orient Express in 1050 Brussels: but this shop is really little and messy I think, plus they are even not open on Wednesday...

In Waterloo there is also a shop (it is some 15 km from Brussels) but last time I had a bad experience with them.....

Jocadis has really lots of choice, they are a 25 minutes drive away from Brussels, and they really have nearly everything....

If you are interested into totally unique belgian model trains in 2 rail or in messing, you can contact me...

Some days ago the club "DE PIJL" from Mechelen made an exhibition.it was worth visiting.. next year they will do it again...
they also have lots of infos on their internet site (about fairs and stuff like that)
www.depijl.be
Regularly some clubs open for the public to visit..

I also visited the swiss model railway club in Sinaai (close to st Niklaas)some time ago: really nice club and good atmosphere:

http://www.freewebs.com/dezwitsersetreinclub/

Hello,

If you wanan find a job in Belgium/ Brussels, you will for sure be able to find a job in a call center like Sitel or so..mostly they are looking regularly for native Danish and Norwegian speaking people...

jobs in our country can be found on:
www.vdab.be
www.monster.be
www.jobscareer.be
www.vacature.be

Also we have loads of interim agencies...

If you wanna buy second hand stuff concerning model trains, you can find some stuff in the shop "PELLE MELLE"... THis shop is located close to the tram station ANNEESSENS, in the center of the city... Recently they had a digital AC roco EE3/3 for sale....
They also have loads of magazines...

If you are lucky you can find also some second hand stuff on second hand markets, there are loads of them in Brussels; mostly on sunday (Marolles, Forest, St. Gilles)

If you are interested into some "second hand" belgian marklin stuff:

http://www.2dehands.nl/m...p;winkel=nl_NL%2Fmarklin

This seller is correct, he has a wide choice of marklin stuff for sale..most of the stuff is "untouched", like new..

Prices could be sometimes a littel bit expensie, but at least the seller is correct and really sympathique.....

There is also another really good seller, also really sympathic person and totally correct :

http://www.2dehands.be/m...30433042.html?qq=marklin

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YEaaaah.. allways nice to experience living abroad...
If you speak English (like I see you do) then it must be possible to find a job in the IT..
I met some guy last year from England, and he used to work for the company HP.. He even did not know any dutch or french...
Some company which is looking regularly for native Danish speakers is SITEL.. This is a call center, providing it helpdesk solutions:
www.sitel.com or www.sitel.be
another company is the internet provider telenet located in the city Mechelen: www.telenet.be
Do you know already a place where to rent an apartment in Brussels??
If you want to find a really really cheap place you can go to Molenbeek, or some parts of Anderlecht.. but I warn you, it is really "ghetto style"
the good/cool places to live in Brussels are Ixelles/Elsene, Etterbeek, Jette, Ukkel (expensive), and Saint Gille/ sint Gillis... Some parts of Schaerbeek are also ok...
Around Brussels I heard there is a model railway club in BEERSEL (south of Brussels); In Schaerbeek there is also a club..
but if you would find a job in DIEGEM (close to the airport)you could rent also an apartment maybe in Leuven instead of Brussels.. In this city you will not be bored at all (student city) ...

Yeah the atmosphere on this forum is much lesser aggressive than on other forums,...
I guess also because most guys here are more tolerant and more "international minded"?
Also probably people on this forum are into model trains just for fun, /because they like it and not because they wanna be "a king" or they wanna become "the best"....
But it is allways interesting to check other forums...
Another good forum is also the dutch Marklin forum:

www.3railforum.nl

Actually there are really a lot of things happening in our country concerning model trains.. In the Brussels North station there is an exposition about the TEE trains fro example..

cheers
Cheers