Industrial Narrow Gauge Museum - Erica

The top layer of peat was also called 'bolster'. Bolster is very suitable for manufacturing peat litter. A lot of bolster was extracted from the peat of the Amsterdamscheveld and so the area became an important production site. Three peat litter factories, a power station and several workshops were built.

One of the peat litter factories is open to the public. You can still see the original production machines here. On the museum grounds you can also see the 1910 narrow gauge tracks, on which you can take a ride in an old-fashioned train. Check the website for train departure times.

It was this landscape that inspired the world-famous painter Vincent van Gogh to come to Drenthe. In this area, he captured an old farmhouse in one of his paintings.

He wrote to his brother about this: "And now, moreover, here is a region where there are large, very old sod chains where there is not even a middle partition between the stable and the living quarters."

A little further on, on the Berkenlaan, you will find a Van Gogh See-through panel.

Photo: ©Drents Archief