Maastricht-Vaals Stage 03

Details: Parent Category: Tram Line Maastricht-Vaals; Category: Stages Tram Line Maastricht-Vaals; Last Updated: 01 December 2023; Hits: 194

Easy

It quickly became clear to local residents that the tram line would not last long. It started well on the day of the opening June 27, 1922 in Wijlre.

Stage 03

Stage 03

Distance: 10 km

Duration: 2h30

Grade: Easy

Gps track: Yes

Route description: Yes

Type: Point to point

Height gain: No information

Way mark: See PDF route description

Wheelchair: Unsuitable

Dog: Allowed on leach

"A merry march"

In the extensive reference work “Tracks of the tram Maastricht-Vaals” by F. Jansen a quote from this: "For the official opening of the Wijlre-Gulpen-Vaals line on June 27, 1922, the guests had to gather at Wijlre station. The guests included the ministers of the Interior and Water Management. In Wijlre, cheerful 'folk songs' were played by the harmony to get the mood right. To the surprise of those present, they were not asked to board the decorated festive tram, but were invited for a healthy walk to the Geulbruggen a few kilometers further northeast of Gulpen, while the music band started 'a merry march'. The party tram came quietly behind it a little later. The reason for this sporting interlude was that, contrary to the express order of the LTM management, a gravel train had left for Vaals in the morning, but it had derailed halfway through the journey near Nijswiller. The guests' walk had no other purpose than to buy time". We are also going to take a healthy walk, not because a train has derailed, but to be able to resume the route at Wittem. In the good 16 years that followed (1922 to 1938) steam tram has left a sad history due to the various minor and major accidents on the track, sometimes with a fatal outcome. As in Wittem there once stood a horse on the rails, an employee of the LTM who was in one of the wagons, saw the horse panicked and risked the jump from the moving wagon. He did this very unluckily and jumped miserably against a tree. In this part of the walking tour there is little in the landscape that reminds of the tramline with the exception of the Old Road Baan at the end of this section Originally the route between Wahlwiller and Nijswiller was along the Rijksweg, later the route was slightly shifted and in Wahlwiller went over the current road, the Oude Baan.