The track through Rotterdam
In 1847 the railway from Amsterdam reached Rotterdam. The terminal station was named the “Delftsche Poort”. In 1872 the railway from the south reached the south side of the river Maas at Feyenoord.
Map 1. Here we see the railway track through Rotterdam. The numbers 1 - 13 on the map refers to views of the track in the form of old post cards. See below for these views.
The track was finished in 1877. The main obstacles had been the river Maas and that a track through the densely populated town would have stopped the traffic too often. Therefore the railway was built on a kind of bridge several meters over the surface (Luchtspoor). The channel of Binnenrotte was dried out and filled up.
Figure 1. The station “Delftsche Poort” in the north ends of Rotterdam. Opened 1847, closed and dislocated in 1877.
In the years around 1902 many people were collecting post cards, and a lot was exchanged between them. This has favoured us to day. It is easy to find the cards at the internet. I used for example the site of delcampe.net
Map 02. Here we see how the station of the”Delftsche Poort” was moved 500 m to the North West.
The lines meeting there were the “Hollandsche IJzeren Maatschappij” and the “Staatsspoorweg”
Figure 2. In 1877 the”Delftsche Poort” was moved 500 m towards North West. It became a central station, because tracks of two different companies met there, but the old name of”Delftsche Poort” was continued. Yet, on the maps by the German company of Baedeker they used the term of “Central Station”. The tracks were here at ground level.
Figure 3. In the background we see the railway bridge over the “Rotterdamse Schie”. The track seems to be some two meters over the street.
Figure 4. The “Hoofplein”. To the right we see the Rotterdam Northern Gate of”Delftsche Poort”, which gave name to the station. Far to the left we see the “Luchtspoor”. The water in the front is the Schie kanaal.
Figure 5. The Strooveer. We cannot see the street, but the houses in the background are located there. The water comes from “De Rotte” and “Goudse Vest”. The tram is drawn by horses.
Figure 6. The gedempte Binnenrotte. To the left we see a little part of the Groote Kerk.
Figure 7. The Groote Markt with the Erasmus Statue. The railway in the background.
Figure 8. The kanaal of Kolk is now gedempt. In the background: the Beurs Station.
Figure 9. The Beurs Station. Nowadays it’s underground.
Figure 10. A closer look at the Beurs Station. The name is now changed to “Blaak”
Figure 11. The railway bridge over the Wijnhaven and the Scheepmakerhaven, locations which we nowadays still can find.
Figure 12. The bridge over the river Maas. The railway bridge is in the foreground. Some twenty years ago the Luchtspoor and the Bridge was closed and rebuilt in the underground.
Figure 13. To the right: The railway bridge over the Koningshaven. The track is now located underground.
Even if a lot of post cards from the old Rotterdam are floating around it’s important to preserve them because most of the buildings disappeared by the 1940-bombardment.
Figure 14. As from 1882 train post offices were rolling between Amsterdam and Antwerp. This card was posted in The Hague and stamped in the train office. In Breda it was transferred to another train heading east.
The end 20 Feb.2012
- Erling Berger
Centrum Philatelisten Vereniging Groningen Emmastraat 5
9722 EW Groningen
Tel: 050 - 525 96 10 info@philatelist.nl