Train 1900
A ride on the old mining line.
Leonhard. 628 — CC BY 4.0 · Leonhard. 628 — CC BY 4.0 · Leonhard. 628 — CC BY 4.0 · Alain meier — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alain meier — CC BY-SA 4.0
Fond-de-Gras is an old industrial site in southern Luxembourg and the heart of Minett Park, an open-air museum linking several sites through the common thread of iron ore. Once one of the country's most important mining centres, it now welcomes visitors with vintage steam trains on the old mining lines. The iron ore here is part of Europe's largest deposit, covering about 110,000 hectares, of which only some 3,700 lie in Luxembourg, with most extending into French Lorraine. A few years after the last mine at Fond-de-Gras closed in 1964, volunteers worked to preserve part of the railway for a tourist train, and the first one ran in 1973. Preserved buildings include an electric power station, an old grocery store, a railway station, a rolling mill and railway sheds. Train 1900 runs between Pétange and Fond-de-Gras on the mining line opened in 1874, and a smaller mine train runs through the forest and tunnels. You see colourful carriages and locomotives among the trees, and old stone tunnel mouths in the grass. The site lies about 21.3 km from Luxembourg City and 7.3 km from the Belval Blast Furnaces in a straight line. Trains run on set days in season, often weekends from spring to autumn, so check the timetable before coming. Wear closed shoes, watch children near the tracks and cross only at designated spots.
A ride on the old mining line.
Colourful locomotives among the trees.
Old stone openings in the forest.
Minett Park, Pétange, south Luxembourg
On set days in season, often weekends, so check the timetable.
Yes, the trains appeal to them, but watch them near the tracks.