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The North Friesland Railway was a railway serving the sparsely populated north of the Dutch province of Friesland. It was operated by the North Friesland Local Railway Company (Dutch: Noord Friesche Locaalspoorweg-Maatschappij (NFLS)). It was what would be known in the UK as a light railway. The line was built to standard gauge and was about 91 kilometres (57 mi) in length.
Contents
History
The NFLS had a network of lines in north Friesland. The lines opened in eight stages:
Wetsens station closed in May 1902, less than eight months after opening. On December 1, 1905, the NFLS was taken over by the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij (HSM), which itself was nationalised on December 1, 1938, becoming part of Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS).
Locomotives
The NFLS had a fleet of 10 2-4-2T locomotives, numbered 1-10. They became HSM 1051-60 and NS 7101-10. The locos cost f23,300 each and were built by Maschinenfabrik Hohenzollern.
Carriages
The NFLS had the following passenger stock, all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel, Amsterdam:
Freight wagons
The NFLS had the following freight stock:
The stock was all built by Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen & Spoorwegmaterieel, Amsterdam except for the two 6,500 litre water tanks, which were built by Nivelles in 1896, and thus acquired second hand.
Closures
The lines were closed in stages, with some short term reopenings taking place during the Second World War:
Leeuwarden - Anjum line
All distances are from Leeuwarden station.
Leeuwarden Rijksweg (or Halte) station was demolished in 1970
Jelsum station was demolished in 1944.
Finkum station was demolished by 1970
Hallum station was demolished in 1970
Ferwerd station was demolished in 1974
Hantum station was demolished by 1960.
Dokkum-Aalsum station was demolished in 1974.
Wetsens station closed in May 1902.
Stiens - Harlingen line
Oosterbierum station was demolished by 1980.
St. Jacobiparochie - Berlikum line
Tzummarum - Franeker line
Accidents
On June 12, 1927, NS locomotive 7124 derailed near Holwerd and ended up on its side in a dike. The locomotive was recovered on June 23 and returned to service after repairs were made.