The Railway Museum (Dutch: Het Spoorwegmuseum) in Utrecht is the Dutch National Railway Museum.
It was established in 1927 and since 1954 has been housed in the former Maliebaan station. The museum currently owns a large and varied collection of rolling stock.

Electric Motor Unit NS BD 9107 built i n1927 by Fa J.J. Beijnes, Koninklijke Fabriek van Rijtuigen en Spoorwagens, Haarlem as part of the Mat '24 / mBD / type 1 / serie BD 9101 - 9130 Class preserved at the Het Spoorwegmuseum / Railway Museum in Utecht Maliebaan former Station. July 15th, 2022.

In 1924 a prototype train of the main electric line material appeared on the test section Leiden - The Hague HS, in anticipation of the electrification in 1927 of the route Amsterdam CS - Haarlem - The Hague HS - Rotterdam DP and of the branch line Haarlem - IJmuiden. Two-car trains ran on the latter route, while longer trains ran with a maximum of 12 carriages in the Amsterdam - Rotterdam express train service.

In 1931, the Amsterdam CS - Alkmaar line was also electrified.
A total of 259 coaches were purchased for the three lines mentioned, about half of which were motor vehicles. This equipment had a square, robust appearance. In the thirties of the last century this equipment was nicknamed 'Bokkendozen', not only because of this appearance, but also because of the possibility to easily adapt the trains to the transport demand, for example only 3rd class for workmen's trains, only 1st and 2nd class for boat trains to/from Hoek van Holland, no 1st class in local trains. The new streamlined trains from 1934 did not have these possibilities: they only had 2nd and 3rd class in a fixed ratio of about 1:4. In contrast to the modern trains with automatic couplings, the block boxes had 'normal' draw gear and side buffers, hence the official nickname 'Buffer equipment'.

In 1944/45 the occupying forces transported 158 electric carriages to Germany, of which 23 did not return. As a result of the war, a total of 56 boxcars were removed.

From 1956 new electric trains of the 1954 type were put into service, the so-called Hondekoppen. This meant that Mat '24 became a bit redundant. But it was still considered suitable to be converted into a towed carriage (140 pcs), motor mail coach (25 pcs) or motor convoy wagon (5 pcs). The rest was equipped as catenary assembly car, work car, classroom or exhibition car (33 pcs).

The last electric Block Box ran on May 31, 1959. The drawn carriages were still in service until 1973, including in the then military trains and as rush hour reinforcements.

After 1970, the type 1924 drawn carriages were also taken out of service. A number of them were acquired by museum train organisations, viz.: Stoomtrein Goes - Borsele (8 pcs), Veluwsche Stoomtrein-Maatschappij (7 pcs) and Hoogovens Excursietrein (now Corus Stoom IJmuiden - Tata Steel , 5 st) to serve behind their steam locomotives. Finally, 4 carriages were restored and refurbished for electric traction, viz.: the Spoorwegmuseum (3 pcs) and the Hobbyclub of the NedTrain overhaul company in Haarlem (1 pcs).

Motor carriage BD 9107 (mBD) was built in 1927 by the fa J.J. Beijnes in Haarlem with an electrical installation of Metropolitan Vickers, 40 seats 2nd class and a luggage department. It was destined for the main line Amsterdam - Rotterdam, and then carried the number BD 9007.

At the end of 1945 the carriage returned from Germany damaged. In 1947 it was repaired and put back into service as CD 9107 (mCD, so 3rd class).

In 1957/58 it was converted into the BD 5902 (BDz) trailer, 2nd class new style and still with 40 seats. The electrical installation, including the pantographs, was removed, the cabin was replaced by a bellows balcony and the baggage area was given a side corridor.
Already 4 years later the carriage was redundant and it was converted into an instruction carriage for the Road & Works Department with the number 159016.
A permanent instruction room was completed in 1987, after which the carriage was given a museum destination.

Restoration and reconstruction into electric motor vehicle BD 9107 took place in the Wagenwerkplaats in Amersfoort in the years 1987 - 1989, almost entirely in accordance with the implementation of the 1930s. However, it now received an electrical installation from Heemaf.

In May and June of 2010, the BD 9107 was fitted with a simplified version of automatic train influence (ATBe) at Strukton in Zutphen, and was tested. The deployment certificate was not received until September, after which a first ride for volunteers from the Railway Museum took place on 9 October.

In November 2011, the BD 9107 and bar carriage C 8553 went to the workshop of NedTrain in Haarlem for a running gear overhaul. The actual overhaul of the bogies took place at Reuschling in Hattingen (Germany), where, among other things, all suspension springs were replaced by new ones. In December 2012, the complete train was re-approved for service after a successful test run on the public rail network.

The block train is temporarily out of service due to major maintenance.

abbreviations:

B = 2nd class
C = 3rd class
D = baggage car, or carriage with a baggage compartment
m = motor vehicle
z = without closet

Photo by Guido Allieri (guido@allieri.com)