AT A GLANCE
Why go?
On the edge of Asse, between warehouse estates and a strip of wild greenery, an old diesel shunting locomotive sits where it was abandoned decades ago, slowly surrendering to rust and ivy. The "Oude locomotief" (Old Locomotive) is not a restored exhibit or a museum piece: it is a weathered, authentic relic that became a cult roadside curiosity after construction of a bicycle highway cut it free from the bushes that had hidden it for years. It is a quick, free, photogenic stop for anyone who likes found objects and industrial ghosts.↗
Built in England by Ruston & Hornsby, the locomotive once worked for the GIB Group (GB-INNO-BM nv), at one point Belgium's biggest distribution company, shunting wagons between a warehouse and a private siding on the Dendermonde–Brussels railway line. When that business fragmented and the site fell idle, the machine was simply left in place and the surrounding land reverted to scrub. Most locals had forgotten it was there—until, in early 2022, the clearing of the F212 cycle path between the Brusselsesteenweg and the Ringlaan revealed it to astonished passers-by.
Today it is a piece of spontaneous, open-air heritage: easy to combine with a bike ride or walk along the new cycle highway, but with an uncertain future, since the land it stands on is owned by a property company weighing redevelopment. If you are tempted by the story, the consensus among visitors is to go and see it while it is still there.
