Spliethoff transports historic locomotive to Euroports

A historic diesel engine locomotive was discharged from Spliethoff’s vessel Floragracht by Euroports Belgium in Antwerp.

Transported from Milwaukee on Lake Michigan in the United States an historic NS 2000 diesel locomotive is being transported to the port of Antwerp for final destination The Netherlands. Here the locomotive will be restored by a museum. The NS-locomotive 2000 is a diesel-electric locomotive that was deployed by the Dutch Railways between 1946 and 1960. “It is not often that a train rides on a vessel”, says Joost Dobbe vessel operator of Spliethoff, “The train was safely stowed in the hold of the Floragracht at Milwaukee for the long journey across the great Lakes, The Saint Lawrence Seaway, the Atlantic Ocean and finally the North Sea to Euroports Belgium. We thank Euroports for its support to ensure the save transport of this historic value.” Bert Smet, account manager from Euroports adds, “We are specialized in handling many different types of extraordinary cargo but a historical train is another unique project and we are proud to be able to show Euroports’ operational excellence in co-operation with Spliethoff and at the same time to support the preservation of heritage.” The locomotive will eventually be part of the museum that is called ‘the mobile museum’ which is a steam train between the city of Goes and Borsele, a municipality in the southwestern Netherlands on Zuid-Beveland. The railway of the steam train Goes-Borsele crosses the beautiful landscape of the province of Zeeland. The shipment is carried out by the Cleveland Europe Express operated by Spliethoff in Amsterdam. The service, now in its fourth year, is bringing line containers, bulk and breakbulk project cargo to and from Europe to The Great Lakes. This is the only direct container service to and from the Great Lakes. Next year the service will celebrate its 5th anniversary.