Parc Industriel et Ferroviaire du Fond-de-Gras


Useful Information

Location: Near Pétange.
Collectrice du Sud (A13), Richtung Pétange, Niederkorn exit (sortie no 2), towards Niederkorn At the roundabout after 4 km turn right, follow signs "Fond-de-Gras".
(49.535117, 5.858525)
Open: MAY to mid-JUL Sun, Hol afternoon.
Mid-JUL to mid-AUG Thu, Sat, Sun, Hol afternoon.
Mid-AUG to SEP Sun, Hol afternoon.
[2022]
Fee: Minièresbunn: Adults EUR 7, Children (5-11) EUR 5,50, Children (0-4) free.
Train 1900: 1st class: Adults EUR 14, Children (5-11) EUR 10, Children (0-4) free.
2nd class: Adults EUR 10, Children (5-11) EUR 8, Children (0-4) free.
Museum: free.
[2022]
Classification: MineIron Mine
Light: LightIncandescent
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Minett Park Fond-de-Gras, 2, Fond-de-Gras, L-4576 Fond-de-Gras, Tel: +352-26-50-41-24. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1955 end of underground ore mining.
1964 a landslide on the Fond-de-Gras-Pétange railway line put an end to all railway activity.
1973 first tourist train with historic steam locomotives "Train 1900".
1973 old mine reopened.

Description

The Parc Industriel et Ferroviaire du Fond-de-Gras is an open air museum with the main topic industrial revolution and iron mining. It is not really a special location, it is more or less the whole area between the villages Saulnes, Rodange, and Petingen in the southwestern corner of Luxembourg. The Fond-de-Gras is a small valley whose sides were pierced by numerous mines, the railway linked this valley to the town of Pétange. The trains were essential to transport the iron ore mined in Fond-de-Gras to the steelworks in Luxembourg and abroad. Today the various locations of the parc are connected by different trains. There is a steam engine from 1900 and the Minièresbunn, the miners train. It is possible to drive by train from Petange to Fond-de-Gras, the Minièresbunn connects Fond-de-Gras with Saulnes.

The village Saulnes belongs to the French département Meurthe-et-Moselle. It has a river which is called Côte Rouge in French and Roerbach in Letzebuergsch. Both means red rivulet, obviously an allusion on the red iron ores which are found in the brook. Originally a small village with its 450 inhabitants was living on farming and wine growing, it also always had a bit of iron industry, with a smith and watermill documented since th 14th century. But the surface mining ended in the mid 19th century and around 1880 it became the location of a furnace for ores mined in the area. The number of inhabitants grows rapidly, the number of furnaces too, in 1893 the village has 2,500 inhabitants and four furnaces. The village was an important housing area for miners, but the golden days ended in 1965 with the decline of the Lothringian mining industry. In 1968 the last two furnaces were shut down.