Maldegem 030514 HLV 41 41.195

Maldegem station, May 3rd 2014



The last survivor of her breed, 41.195 was the 195th of a series of 220 type 41 steam locomotives, built for the Belgian railways from 1905 onwards.  Originally built as 4295 in 1910 (renumbered to 41.195 in 1946), she saw continuous service with the Belgian railways, even during World War I (when she was used to haul ammunition to the frontlines) and World War II.

When her series was retired in 1959, 41.195 was to see a second life as a 'mobile steam generator' used to heat passenger carriages in the shunting yards.  When her task was taken over by dedicated mobile generators in the late 1970s, most of the surviving 'generators' were scrapped - however 41.195 escaped this sad fate when she was instead cosmetically restored (note the wooden 'boiler hatch' ) and installed as a monument at the Charleroi-Sud station in 1985.

However, after nearly fourty years of continuous exposure to the elements, 41.195 was eventually deemed... 'too far gone' for use as a monument by the Belgian railways.  She was withdrawn as a monument in 1999, and put into storage pending disposal.

After some negociations between the SCM and the Belgian Railways, the latter formally donated 41.195 on April 29th 2014 (she had only been at the museum for four days when I took this picture).  The SCM intends to fully restore her to operational status, even though they estimate the restoration might cost as much as €1 million.