Train 1900 (Minett Park)

AMTF / Minett Park Fond-de-Gras
Luxembourg
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The Journey

Navigate from Pétange Station (Train 1900 platform, behind CFL station, rue de Niederkorn) to Fond-de-Gras Station across a span of 7km.

Scenery Highlights
  • Fond-de-Gras museum station and turntable
  • Lasauvage village and the Minett Trail head
  • Walertsbunn / Giele Botter former mine head (visible from the line)
  • Titelberg Celtic oppidum (panoramic view from the ridge above Fond-de-Gras)
  • Forested ridge between Pétange and Fond-de-Gras
Quick Facts
  • Duration

    0.42 hours

  • Distance

    7 km

  • Est. Price

    Affordable (€13–€18 adult, free under 5; reduced rates for children 5–11)

Official Booking Provider
Classes & Accommodations

Meals: None

Ensuite: No

Meals: None

Ensuite: No

Engine / Locomotive

Mixed traction: preserved European steam locomotives (Energie 507 — a Belgian Kriegslok KDL-7 built by Energie in Marcinelle; 'Anna Nr. 9' 0-6-0T; ADI 8 — the locomotive that gave the train its name), heritage diesel locomotives, and two early-20th-century railcars

Locomotive Weight

Heritage steam locomotives typically 40–80 tonnes; railcars 15–25 tonnes

Track Gauge

1,435 mm (standard gauge) — the line was built to standard gauge in 1874 for iron-ore transport to the Minett basin steel mills

Braking Technology

Historic vacuum-brake systems on the steam-hauled stock; modern air brake on the railcars; freight-style handbrakes on preserved goods vehicles in museum consists

Route Engineering Challenges

  • Single-track 7 km heritage corridor through the former iron-ore mining landscape of southern Luxembourg, with a single passing loop near the midpoint

  • Reconstruction after the 1964 landslide that closed the original Mining Line; the present-day heritage alignment reuses much of the original 1874 roadbed but bypasses the worst-affected cutting

  • Restoration of 1874-era infrastructure (rails, sleepers, station buildings) to operational museum standards while keeping the industrial character intact

  • Steep grades (up to ~20 ‰) on the approach to Fond-de-Gras, limiting consist length on steam-hauled departures

Route operator

AMTF (Association pour le Musée du Train et du Luxembourg Ferroviaire) / Minett Park Fond-de-Gras

Route distance

7 km (Pétange → Fond-de-Gras)

Journey time

25 minutes per direction (with a 1-hour layover at Fond-de-Gras to visit the museum before the return)

Maximum elevation

~320 m (Fond-de-Gras terminus, on the western flank of the Titelberg ridge)

Original line

Ligne des Mines — built 1873–1874 by the Société des chemins de fer et mines Prince Henri (PH) to move iron ore from the mines southwest of Pétange; the Pétange–Fond-de-Gras section opened 20 December 1875

Closure and revival

Iron-ore mining ended at Fond-de-Gras in 1955; full rail closure followed in 1964 after a landslide; volunteers re-opened the Pétange–Fond-de-Gras section as a heritage operation in 1973

Name origin

'Train 1900' is named after the ADI 8 steam locomotive, originally placed in service in 1900 — not the calendar year 1900 itself

Rolling stock

Mixed European heritage collection: Energie 507, 'Anna Nr. 9', ADI 8 steam locomotives; heritage diesel locomotives; two early-20th-century passenger railcars; restored 1874–1920s carriages

Notable structures

Fond-de-Gras restored station building and turntable; Minett Park open-air museum complex (Giele Botter, Paul Wurth Hall, Épicerie Victor Binck); Lasauvage village halt; preserved iron-ore loading infrastructure at Fond-de-Gras

Typical speed

15–20 km/h (heritage operation)

Quick Facts
  • Duration

    0.42 hours

  • Distance

    7 km

  • Est. Price

    Affordable (€13–€18 adult, free under 5; reduced rates for children 5–11)

Official Booking Provider