HISTORY
HISTORY
The making of plans with regard to building a railroad in northern Friesland already started in 1858. Apparently it was not easy to make a decision because it took years of much deliberation and rejected plans before a final plan was agreed upon: a railway Leeuwarden - Stiens - Holwerd - Ternaard - Hantum - (Ooster)Nijkerk - Metslawier - Anjum/Ooostmahorn with a side-track Metslawier-Dokkum. The province would subsidize the whole track for dfl. 300.-- per kilometer/per year with exception of the track Metslawier-Anjum/Oostmahorn. Now the next question was: should it be a streetwagon (tram) or locomotive track? In connection with expected transport of freight it was decided to build a railroad track.
And so it finally happened that on October 6, 1897 the drawings were presented to the Deputy States of Friesland and on May 29, 1899 the Royal approval was given to the constitution of the Noord Friesche Lokaal Spoorwegmaatschappij (Northern Frisian Local Railwaycompany) and two days later the company was officially founded by means of a notarial memorandum. The agreement of the Deputy States and the NFLS was signed on January 8, 1900 after which the construction could begin.In October 1901 the track Leeuwarden - Dokkum/Aalsum - Metslawier was finished. At Stiens the track split up in an eastern and western line of which the western line, to Tzummarum and on to Harlingen and Franeker, goes beyond the purpose of this description. On April 20, 1901 the first official train left Leeuwarden on its way to Ferwerd, loaded with VIP’s, brass bands at each stop, speeches of respectable local gentlemen in their best suit and choirs treating the VIP’s to the best of their songs. All this to the honor of the "new wheels".
Over the years the NFLS expanded the railway tracks to a length of 85 kilometers. From Leeuwarden it went north to Stiens. Already at that time this town, not entirely in the last place owing to the train, was considered to be the porch of Leeuwarden. Both the station and the railway yard was much more impressive than those along the rest of the track. The station in Stiens was the only one that had an awning covering the platform in order to protect the passengers from rain. Many townfolks travelling to Leeuwarden were impressed by the station in Stiens which gave them some idea what Leeuwarden would be like. From Stiens the line went up north passing towns like Hallum, Marrum, Ferwerd, Blija, through Ternaard to Dokkum and further on to Metslawier. Latter town was the end of the track in 1901 but later on the track was extended to Anjum.Soon after the trains of the Dockumer Lokaeltsje began to ride, the Classis of Leeuwarden, Franeker and Dokkum of the Christian Reformed churches opposed to the NFLS and demanded that the company would not have trains ride on Sunday. The NFLS partly gave way and skipped a number of rides on the line Leeuwarden - Metslawier, this time resulting in protests of the Postal service which now could not meet their obligation to deliver the mail in time. As a compromise the management of the railway company decided to give the new time-table a try.
At first the NFLS was a small but independent railway company which owned 10 locomotives, 10 second class and 10 third class coaches. First class was not available. Furthermore they had 78 freight wagons and 3 bagage wagons. Also there was a "schoolwagon" to the benefit of kids going to school. However, it was only available on the track Leeuwarden-Anjum. The second class coaches were quite comfortable and included draught-free windows, linoleum on the floor, gas-lights, plush seats and even cushions that could be turned upside down: one side for summer, the other for winter-time. The locomotives were so-called tender-machines (tank-engines) carrying along coal and water. They could pull the coaches and wagons back and forth and didn’t have to use the turn-tables which were common practise at the time.The NFLS stopped at each station every two hours in both directions. Besides some extra trains rode on Friday to and from Leeuwarden in view of the market. The local railway was in between a train and a streetcar. At first the speed was 40 kilometers per hour but later this was increased to 50 km. There was a friendly and cosy atmosphere on board, everybody knew everybody. Kind of like a local pub with a lot of regular visitors.
The first couple of years the NFLS did well but then things turned around. The annual report of 1903 shows a gloomy future. Transportation of freight did not meet the expectations, in particular due to crop failure of potatoes in that year as a consequence of which there was hardly any trade with England. Also the number of passengers was considerably below expectation. The situation appeared to be so hopeless that the management of the NFLS was forced to seek the help of a larger railway company: De Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorwegmaatschappij (HSM) which may be translated as "The Dutch Iron Railwaycompany". The HSM was battling strong competition with the National Railway and was willing to take over control of the NFLS. According to several calculations this would save dfl. 50,000 per year and indeed, slowly but surely, the loss was decreasing.Just in time the NFLS had had the satisfaction to welcome queen Wilhelmina and her husband prince Hendrik on board of one of their trains. A few months before the NFLS was taken over by the HSM the Royal couple paid a visit to Leeuwarden and Harlingen at which occasion they made use of the railway to travel from one place to the other.
After 1910 things went well for the new owner thanks to an increasing number of passengers with 1921 as top of the bill because profits broke all records. That same year HSM merged with the State Railway but that didn’t help much. Soon the number of passengers decreased, in particular after 1925. A new way of public transportation appeared to be very competitive: the autobus. These so-called "wild autobus services" were cheaper and stopped at many more places, even right in the center of the towns. Thus one didn’t have to walk all the way to the station anymore. Even though at some locations these busses were not allowed, the owners/drivers couldn’t care less!The year 1928 was the last one for the local railway to make profit. That year the depot in Stiens was closed which was the beginning of crumbling off.. The decrease of the number of passengers continued and the infamous crisis in the 1930’s was felt by the local railway too. Also new competition showed up: the bicycle and the automobile were taking over rapidly. Various attempts were made to keep the railway going, one of the last being to have it operated by the Nederlandse Tramweg Maatschappij (the Dutch Streetcar Company) which attempt failed due to the high operating costs. In 1935 the track Dokkum - Anjum was closed for passenger traffic whereas it only lasted another year before the same happened to the track Leeuwarden - Dokkum which gave up on carrying passengers as per June 30, 1936. That evening, at 21.18 hours to be precise, the last train departed from the station of Leeuwarden. The flag was at half-mast. In particular young people were interested to make the trip with the train for the last time. In Dokkum a large crowd had gathered and, accompanied by loud cheering, the Dockumer Lokaeltsje returned to Leeuwarden.
The train would ride one more time. This was on May 5, 1970 when two trips Leeuwarden - Dokkum were organized thus adding a very special attraction to a week of festivities which was held from April 30 - May 5. Unfortunately it was not allowed to use a steamlocomotive so the wagons were pulled by a dieselloc. On the other hand both wagons were brought in from the museum at Hoorn.
Many people were alongside the track and bands at each station accompanied this very, very last trip of the famous Dockumer Lokaeltsje.
