2019 will be a very special year for Fedecrail marking the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the Federation on 16th April 1994 in Belgium. Each year since 1994 FEDECRAIL has organised a combined conference and visit programme to member railways, tramways and museums in a different country annually in collaboration with one of our national umbrella organisation members. The Jubilee Conference 2019 will be held in collaboration with VDMT (Verband Deutscher Museums und Touristikbahnen) at Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains of Germany. This is the home of a remarkable steam train operation in Europe, HSB (Harzer Schmalspurbahnen) who will be the local host.
The programme will feature a Business Conference (Mon 15.04) with a wide range of speakers and other elements; General Assembly (Sun 14.04); sessions of our specialist Working Groups (Fri 12.04) and of course useful study visits (Sat 12.04 – Wed 17.04) to see how heritage railways, tramways, museums are flourishing in this part of Germany. The “Jubilee Day” Tue 16.04 will be marked by a special HSB steam train to see the dawn rise on the summit of the Brocken Mountain.
This year FEDECRAIL will be offering a wide range of ‘Flexi Options’ for participation, ranging from just a single day to the full programme – aiming to match participation to both budgets and diary pressures of potential delegates. A special invitation is extended to younger active members of rail and tram heritage organisations for whom a number of places will be available at special discount prices.
A series of special Jubilee Newsletters will be published over the five months leading up to the conference date giving latest news on the conference business, visits programme, booking arrangements and other useful information.
