Koekblik SSC218

This carriage is the oldest preserved passenger carriage in the Netherlands and still closely resembles its predecessor, the mail carriage. It is not terrible comfortable, as transportation was the top priority. The carriage is not heated and the seats are made of wood. It is divided into compartments by doors that can only be opened from outside and there is a running board on the outside of the carriage for the conductor. Each compartment seats ten passengers. There is also a separate ladies’ compartment for women travelling alone. At the top of the carriage are so-called ‘pigtail screws’: open hooks through which a rope was threaded, the end of which was attached to a bell on the tender of the locomotive. By tugging on the rope, the conductor could warn the engine driver in case of emergencies. This series of carriages was scrapped in the early 1930s. This SS C 218 was then briefly used by the Roads and Public Works Department, which is why it is the only remaining example of this type. In the museum, its shape and the metal cladding on the exterior earned this carriage its nickname: Koekblik, or ‘Biscuit Tin’.