Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs

In the flat, green heart of Flanders, along a bend of the river Scheldt, a steam railway still runs the way railways used to — slowly, on Sundays, at the patient pace of a coal fire.

The Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs is a 14-kilometre heritage line between the towns of Dendermonde and Puurs, in the watery country the Flemish call the Scheldeland. It is run entirely by volunteers, under a society founded in 1977 as the Belgische Vrienden van de Stoomlocomotief — the Belgian Friends of the Steam Locomotive — who took the line on and have kept steam alive here since 1986.

What makes this railway special is its fleet. The society keeps eleven steam locomotives, built between 1859 and 1948 — the oldest of them reaching back to the middle of the 19th century — alongside vintage diesels and railcars. Among them are a Cockerill of 1907 and a Haine-Saint-Pierre of 1922, machines that would be museum pieces almost anywhere else and here are fired up and put to work.

The line itself has real history under it. It is part of the old Line 52, and the Dendermonde–Puurs section opened on 22 July 1880. Regular trains ran until 1980, and it was into that gap that the preservationists stepped, turning a closed branch into one of Flanders' best-loved steam railways.

Ride it and you get the gentlest of journeys: green polders and willow-lined water, the villages of Baasrode, Sint-Amands and Oppuurs, and the whistle of a real steam engine drifting across the Scheldt on a summer Sunday.

The line branches off the national network just a few hundred metres from Dendermonde station, so you can arrive on an ordinary NMBS train and step almost straight onto a vintage one. From there the heritage railway strikes out north toward the Scheldt.

First comes Baasrode-Noord, less than five kilometres out — the railway's depot and workshops, and its true home. This is where the locomotives are stored, coaled and rebuilt, and on a running day the sheds and yard are as much a part of the visit as the ride itself.

Beyond Baasrode the train rolls on through Sint-Amands, a riverside village on a broad, beautiful bend of the Scheldt, then Oppuurs, and finally into Puurs, fourteen kilometres from the start. It is flat, quiet country — polders, willows, wide skies and water — and the railway crosses it at a pace that leaves you plenty of time to look.

The history beneath the ride is straightforward and rather moving. The route is part of Line 52, built by the Belgian State railways, with the Dendermonde–Puurs stretch opening on 22 July 1880. It served the towns and the river trade for a century until regular passenger and freight services ended in 1980. Rather than let the rails be lifted, the newly formed Belgian Friends of the Steam Locomotive took the line on, and from 1986 brought steam back to it.

If the scenery feels faintly familiar, there may be a reason: several scenes of Jaco Van Dormael's acclaimed 1991 film "Toto le Héros" were shot on this very railway — a small piece of cinema history rolling quietly through the Flemish fields.

Like all volunteer railways, this one runs to its own calendar rather than every day — so the schedule is the thing to check before setting out.

The pattern:

Good to know:

• Summer Sundays are the core service. From July to September the train runs each Sunday; outside that window, you are relying on special-event dates, so always check first.
• The calendar lives on the operator's site. Running days, times and any changes are published at stoomtrein.be — confirm before you travel.
• Join along the line. The train calls at Baasrode-Noord, Sint-Amands and Oppuurs as well as the two ends, so you can start or finish partway if it suits your day.
• Build in time at Baasrode-Noord. The depot is the most interesting stop for anyone who likes machinery — allow time to see the sheds and the collection.
• The festival is the big one. For the fullest turnout of locomotives, aim for Scheldeland in Stoom (in 2026, 4–5 July — a special edition marking 40 years of the museum line); it is busier, so plan ahead.

Running days as of the 2026 season. Confirm current dates and times with the operator — see the Tickets section below.

Tickets are sold by the railway, and it is refreshingly simple: a return ride behind steam along the Scheldt on the days the train runs, boarding at either end or at the stops between. The Sunday service runs from July to September; the Scheldeland in Stoom festival in early July and the December festive trains run to their own timetables and are the best days to see much of the fleet in steam. Fares change, so the operator publishes the current prices and any family tickets.

Confirm the running day first — outside the summer Sundays the train only runs on special dates, so do not turn up on spec. Arrive by train if you can: the heritage line meets the national network right by Dendermonde station. And know where the money goes — this is a non-profit run by volunteers, and the fares buy coal and restoration.

No rail pass is valid on the steam train. The Stoomtrein Dendermonde-Puurs is run by a volunteer association on its own preserved line rather than by SNCB/NMBS, so Interrail, Eurail and SNCB's own products have no standing on it. The society sells its own tickets.

They are, though, the natural way to arrive — and this is one of the easiest heritage railways in Belgium to reach without a car.

Using a pass to reach the line

Interrail and Eurail Global Passes are valid on SNCB/NMBS services, with no reservation and no supplement on Belgian domestic trains. Both ends of this line sit beside national-network stations: Dendermonde is a junction on the Ghent–Mechelen and Brussels routes, and Puurs is on the Antwerp–Brussels corridor.

That makes the obvious plan a simple one — arrive at Dendermonde on your pass, walk the few hundred metres to the heritage platform, ride to Puurs and back, and continue on the national network afterwards. Few preserved railways anywhere are this well connected.

If you are not on a pass

SNCB's ordinary fares reach both ends easily: Youth (under 26), Senior (65+) and Child (under 12) bands, the Train+ subscription if you are travelling often, and mini-group fares from four people for a family outing. None of them affect the heritage railway's own fare, which you buy on the day.

SNCB products: belgiantrain.be (opens in a new tab). Correct as of August 2026.

The railway threads the Scheldeland and Klein-Brabant, an easygoing region of river, polder and small brick towns between Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels. Since 13 October 2023 the whole of it has been Nationaal Park Scheldevallei, one of the four national parks of Flanders, stretching along the Scheldt from Ghent to Antwerp.

One word of warning about Dendermonde's most famous possession. The Ros Beiaard, the great wooden horse carried by twelve bearers with four armoured brothers on its back, comes out for its procession only once every ten years — the last time was in 2022, itself postponed from 2020 by the pandemic, and the city is restoring the horse for the next one, due in 2030. Between processions it stays stabled in the Hollandse Kazerne, so do not plan a trip around seeing it.

Otherwise this is perfect country for pairing the train with a day of gentle exploring, and the signposted cycle routes along the dykes make it easy — plenty of people ride out along the river and take the steam train back.

This is a comfortable corner of central Flanders, well connected and easy to base yourself in — whether you want a town, a riverside village or somewhere out among the cycle routes.

• In Dendermonde. The town at the western end has hotels, B&Bs and guesthouses and is the most convenient base, with its own NMBS station right by the start of the heritage line.
• Riverside villages. For something quieter, look to Sint-Amands, Bornem and the villages of Klein-Brabant, where small B&Bs and guesthouses put you on the Scheldt and its cycle paths.
• City nearby. Because the region sits between Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels — each well under an hour away by train — you can just as easily stay in a city and come out for the day.
• For cyclists and walkers. The Scheldeland has plenty of rural guesthouses, holiday rentals and campsites geared to people exploring the dykes and rivers under their own steam.

However you do it, the appeal is the same: a slow river, flat green country, and the sound of a steam whistle carrying across the polders on a Sunday.