The Transvaal Neighborhood Bordered by Train Tracks

One border of the Transvaal neighborhood that has not changed in the past century and a half, is marked by the train tracks between Leiden and Woerden. The tracks are visible on the map, sloping to the east. They have been running through the Transvaal neighborhood since 1878, and have acted as a border of the neighborhood for almost 150 years. Although the train tracks were beneficial for the scope of companies in Leiden and created economical opportunities for the Transvaal neighborhood (fig. 1), not everyone was happy with the train tracks. Tensions arose in 1856 already, when the first plans for the tracks were made. After multiple failed attempts, it seemed that 1872 would be the year that the tracks would definitely be laid. It was in that year that Mr. Jan Philip de Bordes and Mr. Ludolph Anne Jan Wilt Baron Sloet, experienced in the world of train tracks, acquired a permit to build and exploit the train tracks.Utrechts Archief, 934 Spoorweg-maatschappij Leiden-Woerden, inv.nr. 2, Stukken betreffende vaststelling en wijziging van de concessievoorwaarden, 1873-1876.

Land owners were fearful of the consequences of this permit. Eventually, precious plots had to be split or disowned in Oegstgeest, Zouterwoude, Hazerswoude, Alphen, Zwammerdam, Bodegraven, Barwoutswaarder, Waarder and Woerden. Naturally, many landowners were upset, and there were protests in the Transvaal neighborhood as well. Isaac Imans, for example, resident of Bloemlust villa in the Transvaal neighborhood, had to discover for himself that the train tracks would run right through the middle of his land when he read the newspaper about disownment of plots of land (fig. 2).P.J.M. de Baar, Wonen aan het Galgewater (Utrecht 1988) 59; en zie: krantenstuk. He protested adamantly and did not budge easily when he was offered compensation. In the end, Imans got a higher compensation, but he still lost his garden and shed to the new tracks.

After multiple expropriations, the train tracks between Leiden and Woerden were finally opened on 15th of October 1878, and trains would regularly traverse the area of the Transvaal neighborhood. An old resident told us that there was a rumor: the train would often stop at one certain house on the Morsweg so that the resident there could give the engineer some food. Whether this is true, is unknown, but even without the prospect of a delicious meal, the train still crosses the neighborhood multiple times a day. And the train tracks will also take us far beyond the borders of Leiden and the Transvaal neighborhood in the next step!