Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Hoorn Station
While pleasant, the town of Hoorn itself has little to offer (
TI
is a 2-min walk from the train station, open Mon 13:00-18:00,
Tue-Fri 9:30-18:00, until 17:00 Sept-April, Sat 9:30-17:00, closed
Sun, Veemarkt 4, tel. 072/511-4284, www.vvvhoorn.nl).
Coming from Amsterdam, you'll arrive at Hoorn's modern
train station. Exit the train and find the modern pedestrian over-
pass (following
stoomtram
signs) that runs up and over the tracks,
leading to the small, old-timey station. (Both old and new trains
share the same train tracks, but on opposite sides.) Buy your
combo-ticket here for the steam train, boat, and open-air museum.
Then poke around to kill time while you wait for the steam train's
departure.
The station has a genteel little waiting room where you can buy
coffee or snacks (also available on the train). Outside, you can climb
up the stairs to the cute signal house
(seinhuis),
where the conductor
pulls a long line of levers to change tracks (see the complex diagram
posted overhead). As he demonstrates pull-
ing the levers, watch the signals flip at the
far end of the tracks to notify the trains.
Then head alongside those tracks and
into the workshop
(werkplaats),
where a
crew of devoted engineers keeps all those
proud old steam trains in working order.
You can actually climb the steep steplad-
ders into some of the gorgeously recon-
structed locomotives, and imagine pulling
levers, turning valves, and shoveling coal
to keep the “iron horse” moving.
Before long...all abooooard!
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“Museum Steam Train” from
Hoorn to Medemblik
From Hoorn, it's a relaxing 1.25-hour steam-train ride to
Medemblik. The trains are the kind that ran through Holland
from 1879 through 1966; the train you'll be riding has a chassis
from the 1920s, but the cars are fur-
nished circa 1950s. It's a time-warp
back to when train trips really had style,
with wooden-bench seats, leather belts
to keep windows secured in place, and
nattily uniformed conductors.
After you choose a seat inside the
train, you can get up and walk around.
The best views (farthest from the soot,
noise, and vibrations of the engine) are
