Olland halt On the trail of The Duits Lijntje

In the old days the steam train used to stop in Olland as well. Olland halt was probably situated at this very spot, near watchpost 6 at this railway crossing. Every day eight trains used to stop here, as the timetable from 1887 shows us. Passengers had to ring the bell in time. The stops were optional. Olland halt has only been used for a few years. The halt was closed in 1893. But years later, one more train came to a halt here. This time it was an emergency stop.

Belgian refugees

They are on the run for the acts of war in Belgium: 54-year-old Tobiaas van Vornevaaik and his family. During World War I about one million Belgian refugees are seeking a safe shelter in The Netherlands, which was neutral. Tobias, from Antwerp, is one of them. His city has been completely destroyed and deserted after the German bombings. Together with his wife and daughters Tobias reached Boxtel. On Sunday 11 October 1914 they get on board a train from the Noord-Brabantsch Duitsche Spoorwegmaatschappij, the NBDS. They are desperate for a safe place.

Overcome with fear

This train had only just left Boxtel, when the name of the railway company confused Tobias. They weren’t transported to Germany, were they? They had just fled the advancing German army! The man is overcome with fear. Just about here, somewhere between Liempde and Schijndel, Tobias opens the door and jumps from the moving train. Immediately his fellow-passengers pull the emergemcy break. Stop stop! A few days later “The Rotterdam Nieuwsblad” writes: ‘The poor fellow was found, wounded at the back of his head, in a ditch next to the railway line. He was transported to Schijndel Station and was treated  by Doctor koolen. The wound wasn’t severe, yet the man was in a nevous state, bordering insanity, because of fear for the Germans’. Tobias and his family were given shelter in Schijndel. After a journey on the Duits Lijntje a lot of Belgian refugees found shelter in a big Uden refugee camp which was opened in 1915. Om the picture, a group is ready for registration in Vluchtoord, Uden.