A piece of Belgian infrastructure

[Figleaf]

Around 1848, railway construction in Belgium had practically come to a stand-still. The government had given concessions to two British companies, that by 1848 were frantically trying to sell those concessions and their investments. The revolutions of 1848 had shrunk their prospective market and the unstable political environment threatened their investments. In the end, the concessions were bought back by the Belgian state, in recognition that its pockets were deep enough to make the necessary long term investments. This made possible a very expensive (because of established industry, therefore expensive expropriations) 44 kilometre line from Ans, near Liège/Luik to the Prussian border, presumable near Aachen, where it would have found a connection to Cologne and from there towards Basel.

My medal commemorates this railway construction with the somewhat presumptious legend: INAUGURATION DU CHEMIN DE FER INTERNATIONAL BELGE-RHÉNAN, inauguration of the international railway Belgium-Rhine, with 15 OCTOBRE 1848 in the exergue. The reverse shows two arms in what looks like bolted train car windows. The left is undoubtedly Belgium, but the right one is worn away completely. The motto L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE is Belgian and can also be found on Belgian coins.

Brass, 27 mm, 6.7 grams. The text in small letters in the exergue is HART FACIT, referring to Laurent Joseph Hart (1810-1860), a Belgian medallist who, in 1846, had done a medal on the inauguration of the all-important Brussels to Paris railroad.

Ironically, I haven't figured out the type of locomotive, the reason I bought this medal.

Peter

[chrisild]

Just did an image search for "Chemin de Fer International Belge-Rhénan", and that worn CoA seems to be the Prussian eagle. Makes sense as Rhineland had been annexed by Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars ...

Christian

[constanius]

Appears to be the same as this German(Prussian) locomotive  https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_der_Eisenbahn_in_Deutschland#/media/File:F%C3%BCrther_Kreuzung2.jpg   

Same one on a stamp
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_der_Eisenbahn_in_Deutschland#/media/File:DPAG_2010_54_Eisenbahn.jpg   

[constanius]

The Royal Privileged Ludwigs-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Ludwigsbahn) Locomotive
LB "Adler" is a pretty close match   http://trains.manvell.org.uk/n-scale/locos-ep1/LB-Adler-MTR1010-MTR1028.jpg 

On 7 December 1835 the company opened the first German steam-powered railway line for passenger and freight traffic before a large public gathering. The steam locomotive Adler ("eagle") had been supplied with its driver by Stephenson's company from Newcastle.

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Ludwig_Railway#/media/File:Adler_May_2008_Fuerth_3.jpg 

A short video of the replica   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh5E4btQ7iI 
So it appears to be a British locomotive on the medal.

From https://books.google.ca/books?pg=PA97&dq=railway+belgium-rhine+1848&id=DgNXAAAAcAAJ&ots=ATLFYPX4MO#v=onepage&q&f=false
"Liege to Aix-la-Chapelle"(Aarchen)
"The railway on leaving Dolhain quits the valley of the Vesdre.
The first Prussian station is Herbesthal Stat, where passports are called for and taken away, and, if not vised and returned at once, they must be reclaimed at the Bureau des Passeports, at the Aix-la-Chapelle station"

[Figleaf]

A close match indeed. Using the name of the Belgian constructor Cockerill, I got an even closer match (note the two small funnels): Le Belge, the loc that plied the route from Brussels to Mechelen (halfway to Antwerp). It was built under a Stephenson license. The pic was borrowed from this site.

Peter

[Figleaf]

Thanks, chrisild. Adjusted the reverse pic above, so it makes more sense. Here is an unworn specimen that explains the arms, what's in the wreath and the handshake.

Peter