Mouburg (2004)

Jan van Mourik

In 2004, the Regionale Tram Mouburg or Mouburg Tramway had become a well-known exhibit at the Valkenburg shows, using a theme taken from the old Rotterdam Tramway system (RTM). This company had a network of 3'6" gauge lines on the former islands (now all connected with sea walls) to the south of Rotterdam including ferry services. The new harbour station which is being added to Mouburg includes a river ferry terminal and a jetty where a railway transport barge will take on board goods vehicles.

The original part of the layout (Mouburg Town station) includes many kitbashed or scratchbuilt buildings. Jan uses plastic parts for much of his building construction work and has created a faithful representation of a 1950s or early 1960s Dutch small town scene. The layout has become a favourite during exhibitions with a train crawling round the continuous run whilst Jan talks to his spectators about his prototype theme and his modelling.

Jan built all his own locomotives and rolling stock, freelance although with a clear parentage in RTM prototypes. He uses 9mm gauge and H0 scale.

The town unit of the layout had recently been completed by filling in the area in front of the tracks and adding low relief buildings at the rear of the station. In 2004, the harbour unit had also made a lot of progress evident when the photos of 2003 are compared with more recent ones:

More photos (2004)