VB 205

Current state: drivable, restored.

The VB 205 is a unique piece in SDP's collection. Literally, as she is the only such model ever built. She represents a group of little-known railway vehicles: draisines and tractors. The service track of the SNCB (predecessor of today's Infrabel) had an arsenal of small diesel vehicles that served for inspecting the railway line and transporting shifts of railway workers. A distinction was made between the vehicles that could only drive on their own, the draisines, and the tractors that, as the name bears out, could also pull wagons. 

This tractor is mainly for inspecting the track. To see if repairs need to be made to the infrastructure somewhere. It was also frequently used by the directors of SNCB to go and inspect them after major works, for example an electrification of a line. The large windows on both sides of the tractor are therefore not for the driver, but for the inspection staff who sit there on a 2nd-class bench. The driver sits in a raised steering position on the roof. 

The history of the VB 205 begins in the 1930s. Due to the economic crisis and increasing competition from road traffic, SNCB was looking for a cheaper way to operate rural railway lines. The solution was the railcar, a kind of bus on rails. After some experiments with prototypes, a large order was placed in 1939 with the Anderlecht company Brossel, which was best known for its trucks. 56 light motor cars entered service as the type 622, later type 551. 

So what does all this have to do with the VB 205? Well, in 1961, a large chunk of these ageing power cars went out of service. SNCB decided to reuse the chassis of the 551.30 for a new tractor for the service track. At the Luttre central workshop, they extended the chassis and picked the engine from another type 551 to build this new tractor. On 22 August 1963, she entered service with the number 901. She was assigned to Vorst-Zuid, which classified her as a type 2 tractor with the number 38.025.205.60.In 1973, the VB 205 went to the central workshop in Mechelen for a major overhaul. A new engine was fitted, raising the speed to 80 km/h. 

In the early 21st century, the tractor went out of service and this unique vehicle was fortunately preserved by SNCB's heritage service. Due to a reorganisation of SNCB's heritage, the VB 205 then ended up at Stoomtrein Dendermonde Puurs in 2015. Immediately, repair work was carried out on the roof, which was in poor condition. However, plans to fully restore the tractor and make it roadworthy again had to be shelved due to a lack of manpower and time.

In 2021, the VB 205 came back to the association's attention. This time, the restoration could go ahead. The cabinet was completely sanded down and repainted in the livery it received at the CW Mechelen in 1973. Some repairs were also made to the electrical components and the compressed air system. All this in cooperation with Dijk 92, the local heritage cell. On 28 May 2022, the first test drive could be made. Since then, the VB 205 has been fine-tuned in order to use it in the near future for special rides with a unique view of our railway line.