The Vehnbahn near Sourbrodt: old railroad glory

Since Kabouter can ride his bike, Jan's been practising with him in the Ardennes.  He's been taking him to the nearest crossing of the Ravel.  

Previous Sunday we put both boy's bikes in the trunk of the car and drove a little further to the Ravel crossing in Sourbrodt. We are lucky to have the beautiful Vehnbahn passing nearby which is full of reminders to the once economical important railroad between Aachen and Luxembourg.  The Ravel is mostly converted from that Vehnbahn but between Sourbrodt and the German border, the Ravel is side by side the old railroad.  At the station of Sourbrodt you can ride railbike trips on that. 

We often see them coming by when we go walking closer to the German border eg on this walk or this one. 

But the part of the Ravel in Sourbrodt was still unknown to us for some odd reason. We changed that now:  Kabouter could bike up and down while Jan and I were walking and trying to encourage our little Beertje to follow us on his tiny bicycle.  Soon enough I ended up carrying him, so we didn't cover much distance.  But it was enough to enjoy the scenery, the wildflowers along the railroad tracks, the old discarted rail wagons, the railroad houses in ruins ... and the old fashioned (empty) hotels next to the former train station in Sourbrodt. 

The RAVeL along the Vehnbahn, a biking paradise

The Railbike on the old Vehnbahn

Pittoresque railroad ruins 

The (old) hotels near the old train station in Sourbrodt