Station De Klinge

The Klinge already had its own station in the early days of railway line (54) Mechelen-Terneuzen (1871). However, the railway ran outside the bowl of the municipality and right through the forest. The municipality quickly took the initiative to build a new stone road from the village center to the station. In 1901 the station was completely rebuilt and enlarged and the customs post De Klinge Statie was established. In 1906 the water supply was significantly improved and expanded. Due to its location on the border, the station of De Klinge grew over the years into a considerable complex with facilities for customs, a repair hall and no less than seven tracks. In the vicinity of the station there were some inns and hotels for thirsty travelers and traders in transit.

In the early seventies, two freight trains a week brought one wagon to De Klinge. The last official ride on this part of the old railway line dates from 2 October 1975 when the last departed wagons were picked up in De Klinge. The station of De Klinge with all its associated buildings had already been demolished for five years.

There are still many relics in the vicinity of KLINGSPOOR that refer to this railway past. During the construction of KLINGSPOOR, an agreement was entered into with the SNCB holding company so that a real steam locomotive and a freight wagon could be placed on the tracks here. The water pump was also included in the loan agreement. This pump is in the same place as before and of course served to provide the steam trains with the necessary water. Furthermore, there is a peculiar iron gate on KLINGSPOOR. This is a mold that served to see if the wagons were not loaded too high. They had to be able to drive through the mold without ringing the iron. Further along the route, the trains had to go through a tunnel at Schapenbout between Axel and Terneuzen, otherwise this caused problems. This mould has been on the site for a long time and has been preserved together with the railway tracks on the initiative of the Heemkundige Kring De Kluize. Together with folklore group De Klomp, they worked to ensure that these relics of the railway past were preserved when the tracks were dismantled in 1981.

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