European Railroad Discussion > Amsterdam freight operations?

Good afternoon.  Next work destination is Amsterdam, and I've been there once before.  We stay right near the Central Station, but all I saw was passenger operations.  I certainly know there are freight operations in the Netherlands, but the vast majority of what I can find online looks like passenger operations in Amsterdam.

Is there anywhere in the city or an easy ride from Central that might yield some opportunities to photograph freight trains?  Thank you in advance to the group for any replies.
 

You probably need to consult Rolandrail

http://www.rolandrail.nl/drgl/dltdr.html

The site contains freight timetables for various operators. Hope your Dutch is up to scratch.

Aye, no es bueno!!!  ;-p

 

There's a freight yard East of Central station. If you take a local train to Science Patk, there's often some action there.

Rotterdam has an order of magnitude more freight activity.

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Yes, Amsterdam has decent freight activity, but NS (Nederland Spoorweg) resorts to some incredible routings to thread freights through the area to avoid the passenger traffic. Though as you mention some freights do run right through Central Station. Amsterdam's port is just northwest of downtown but there are many routes within the port area making any one route having few trains. Schipol's train station is actually probably as good or better than Amsterdam CS. Most freights out of Amsterdam's port are not Intermodals but rather chemicals or fuel oil or jet fuel bound for Germany.  They normally head east and I would recommend going to Bussum or Hilversum to see them.  As far as Rotterdam proper goes it is almost as bad as Amsterdam. Many routes mean fewer freights on any one route. The best "Hotspot" is Dordrecht station SE of Rotterdam, and just east of Kijfhoek Yard, the modern humpyard serving Rotterdam and its massive port. If your layover is long enough and you choose to rent a car, let me knoww and I can make some other recommendations. Good Luck.

SOO6617 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The best "Hotspot" is
> Dordrecht station SE of Rotterdam, and just east
> of Kijfhoek Yard, the modern humpyard serving
> Rotterdam and its massive port. If your layover is
> long enough and you choose to rent a car, let me
> knoww and I can make some other recommendations.
> Good Luck.

Agree about Dordrecht, although the photo angles are problematic. When I was in the Netherlands in March I saw a steel train in Rotterdam from the steelworks at Beverwijk, which is just NW of Amsterdam, it was 61601 operated by DBC bulk transport. According to the Rolandrail timetables it leaves Beverwijk at 09:22, and is routed via Lis 10:29-10:40, Gv 11:07 and Rotterdam Central 11:27. According to the key Lis is Lelystad Centrum and Gv is Den Haag Hollands Spoor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/17/19 05:03 by 86235.

86235 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SOO6617 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The best "Hotspot" is
> > Dordrecht station SE of Rotterdam, and just
> east
> > of Kijfhoek Yard, the modern humpyard serving
> > Rotterdam and its massive port. If your layover
> is
> > long enough and you choose to rent a car, let
> me
> > knoww and I can make some other
> recommendations.
> > Good Luck.
>
> Agree about Dordrecht, although the photo angles
> are problematic. When I was in the Netherlands in
> March I saw a steel train in Rotterdam from the
> steelworks at Beverwijk, which is just NW of
> Amsterdam, it was 61601 operated by DBC bulk
> transport. According to the Rolandrail timetables
> it leaves Beverwijk at 09:22, and is routed via
> Lis 10:29-10:40, Gv 11:07 and Rotterdam Central
> 11:27. According to the key Lis is Lelystad
> Centrum and Gv is Den Haag Hollands Spoor.

Yes, freights do indeed operate via Rotterdam Centraal. Minor correction in that 61601 operayes via Lisse (lis) rather than Lelystad which is (Lls) Lelystad is on the east bank of the Markermeer and NE of Amsterdam.

SOO6617 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Minor correction in that 61601 operayes
> via Lisse (lis) rather than Lelystad which is
> (Lls) Lelystad is on the east bank of the
> Markermeer and NE of Amsterdam.

Thanks

Another possibility is Zwijndrecht, the station before Dordrecht. It is then a about a 20 min walk back towards Rotterdam along Jeroen Boschlan which is beside the railway under the A 16 freeway and into Oude Stationweg. Eventually it comes to a road called Munnikensteeg which crosses over the line and the throat of the yard, you can also go up under the bridge (up the bank, good for shade on a hot day) and view the yard from there. The advantage of this over Dordrecht is you can seen the freight trains entering and leaving the yard on the Betuweroute which enters a tunnel here. Not great for photos though with lots of wires and fences but good just for viewing
Hope this helps
Roger P

Certainly does. Thanks to all for the very helpful information!

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