Of Rails, Mines, Horses, and Trains
The Steampunk Festival “Anno 1900” traditionally marks the end of the season at Minett Park Fond-de-Gras. It always takes place on the last weekend of September. After visiting the director of Minett Park in January, this was reason enough for us to return in September.
During our second visit, we had an appointment with the president of “Minièresbunn Doihl”, a non-profit association that runs its vintage mine trains from Fond-de-Gras to Lasauvage during the summer, and runs two additional lines in Lasauvage on old tracks that were once used to transport iron ore.
Our “Minett-Location” of the month: Minièresbunn Doihl
The Doihl mine, stretching from Rodange to Lasauvage, was formed in 1930 from the merger of the Rodange and Lasauvage mines and is the headquarters of the non-profit association, founded in 1990. From May to September, old mine trains operate on a 1.4-kilometre route through the main tunnel between Doihl in Rodange and the former Carreau Minier in Lasauvage. These trains are easily accessible from Fond-de-Gras, allowing you to travel through the old mine tunnel to the small mining village on the French border.
In 1990, some members of the Train1900 association, which was founded in the 1970s, had the idea of extending the offer for visitors to the historic railway. After extensive work in the mine, trains have been running underground between the two stations since 1994. Today, the Doihl Mine Railway has 51 different locomotives and around 25 volunteers who not only run the trains, but also maintain and restore them, as well as preserving the railway network and the former iron ore mine.
Our Guest: Joël Miltgen
To find out more about the non-profit Minièresbunn organisation, we arranged to meet its president, Joël Miltgen, this month. For this episode of Minett Mash-Up, he invited us to “his” mine, where we learned more about the former horse stable, now used as a venue, and the working conditions in the mine.
We also spoke to Joël Miltgen, who maintains old trains in his spare time and works as a trainer for the state-owned railway company CFL, about the challenges of being a non-profit organisation dedicated to preserving historical heritage for the future. Other topics include future plans for the mining train and the results of the 2024 season, some of which can already be judged before the big steampunk finale weekend.
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© Minett UNESCO Biosphere / CNCI
Our quiz:
What was the maximum iron content of the minette extracted from the Doihl mine?
- 10%
- 35%*
- 80%
How many kilometers of tunnels are there (in total) in the Doihl mine between Rodange and Lasauvage?
- 20 km
- 100 km*
- 850 km
Links to the topics of this episod:
- Minièresbunn Doihl: Official website of the association
- Lasauvage: Small mining village on the border with France
- Anno1900: Steampunk Festival in Fond-de-Gras, held every year at the end of the tourist season
- INPA: State agency responsible for the protection and conservation of historical heritage
- Minett Park: Open-air museum in Fond-de-Gras focusing on the industrial history of the region
- Ville de Differdange: Municipality in southern Luxembourg, in which the village of Lasauvage is located
- Commune de Pétange: Municipality in southern Luxembourg, from where the historical Train1900 starts to Fond-de-Gras
- Train 1900: Historical railway that has been operating in the south of the Grand Duchy for over 50 years
- MMRA – Métallurgique et Minière de Rodange-Athus: Former operator of the mine through which the Minièresbunn runs today
- Bärbelendag: Commemoration Day in honor of Saint Barbara, the patron saint of miners
- Eglise Ste Barbe: Former church in Lasauvage, which has since been converted into a place for cultural encounters
- Saintignion-Family: Noble family that, at the beginning of the iron industry, influenced and helped shape the village of Lasauvage in many ways
- CFL: State-owned company that operates train services and railway infrastructure in Luxembourg
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