The Flåm Railway

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Johs. B. Thue

Thomas Morel (photos)

The flåm ­r a i l w a y

skald 2015


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Contents towards the west p. 8 I n t r o d u cti o n p. 1 7 a b r e at h -ta k i n g e x p e r i e n c e p. 2 5 Huldra – The wood nymph p. 3 8 salmon p. 5 7 history p. 6 5 flåm utvikling & t h e f l å m r a i lway m u s e u m p. 8 5 T h e f l å m r a i lway m a p a n d t e c h n ic a l i n f o p. 8 6


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defied politicians and survived the threat of closure, it has gone its own ways. It lives like an obstinate fjord pony, and negotiates the terrain like the fjording, the very symbol of power and ability to survive. It m ­ eanders easily and quietly up from Fretheim, then starts climbing up the screes and steep mountainsides, all the way up to the mountain plateau with its pack-load. And like the fjord pony, it gets its nourishment from its own valley, powered by the electricity gene­ rated by Kjosfossen Waterfall. There are about 140 railway lines in Western Europe, and these have been evaluated in terms of adventure. Three stars, which is the top mark, have been awarded to 19 of the mountain lines. Two of these three-star lines are to be found in Norway, the Bergen Railway and the Flåm Railway. According to the reference book Gebirgsbanen Europas, ‘Die Flåm-bahn ist ohne Zweifel eine der imponierendsten Gebirgsbanen der Welt’ – without any doubt the Flåm Railway is one of the most impressive mountain lines in the world. Why is this railway line described in such a favourable way? Part of the answer


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mountains when he lost his way on a late winter’s evening in 1884: “I was looking down a precipice of several hundred feet and saw the dark abyss of a narrow valley – the Flåmsdalen Valley.” He was standing on top of the cliff of Myr­ dals­berget. These precipices and cliffs were later to be conquered by a masterpiece of Norwegian engineering and construction. Myrdal owes its very existence to the railway. Everything was focussed on the railway. When the Bergen Railway was under construction, a transport road was built up the valley from Flåm to Myrdal, the so-called ‘Rallarvegen’ or ‘Navvies’ Road’, to access the line up in the mountains. This road continued from Myrdal to Finse/ Haugastøl. In the summer months after the Bergen Railway opened, there was heavy traffic between Flåm and Myrdal station by horse and chaise. On the busiest days, there could be between 30 and 40 of these one-horse chaises in use at any one time. At the bottom of the steep rocky ascent known as Myrdalskleivene with its 21 hairpin bends and a gradient of one in five, the horses were only allowed to pull one passenger at a time. The following sign was put up on the lower hairpin bend: ‘Be gentle against the horse and walk the hill up (sic)’.


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Down in the valley we smell a spicy aroma of hay, unlike anywhere else in this world. Like the first man on his way towards the ocean, across the mountains, we hear the ringing and gurgling sound from the summer fjord licking the salty slopes of naked rock. Nobody travels the Fl책msdalen Valley. It is rather an encounter with smells, mountains, and visions. A journey within ourselves where instinct creates all the images for our inner eye.


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Hi s t o r y

The history of railway development in Western Norway is long and slow. The Bergen–Voss line was completed in 1883, and in the 1890s there was a general consensus that the so-called Lærdal line was the most favourable gateway to Sognefjord. The intention was that this line should be extended to Gudvangen and Voss. In other words, the railway line would more or less follow the same line as the present trunk road between Bergen and Oslo. There was no alternative. However, the Norwegian Parliament ­decided to extend the railway line from Voss to Tauge­vatn. The County Council of Sogn & Fjordane put forward the idea of the Flåm Railway for the very first time in 1895. However, this idea was also opposed locally. Aurland Council wanted the line to go to Vangen. According to

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T h e f l å m r a i lway Length of the railway line: 20.2 km • Height difference: 863.6 m Maximum gradient: 55 ‰ – 1:18 • Stretch > 28 ‰: 16 km – 79.3 ‰ Minimum curve radius: 130 m • Driving time: 55 mins • Tunnels: 20 • Bridges: 1 • Water tunnels: 4 Gauge: 1435 mm • Voltage: 15 000 V – 16 2/3 Hz • Maximum speed: 30 km/h • Brake systems: 5 Dalsbotn Lunden

16 mamsl

Flåm

2 mamsl

1,60

km

200 mamsl

m 2,90 k

6,30 km

Håreina

48 mamsl

Rjoandefossen

9,69 km

bm 64 3 built 1934 • 38.1 tonnes 16.3 m • 38 seats • 50 km/h 968 hp/ 712 kW 4 x NEBB EDTM384 motors Manufacturer: Strømmen

nsb type 25 42 built 1901 – 1922 33.2–36.2 tonnes • 8.67 m 40/40 km/h • 44 hp/ 32 kW Axle arrangement: C Manufacturer: Hamar (19), Thune (3), B ­ aldwin (9), NMI (6), SLM (5)

ska 207.3 2 built 1932 (rebuilt to standard gauge in 1946 by NEBB/Skabo) • 11.6 tonnes • 5.1 m 35 km/h • 632 hp/464 kW • Axle arrangement: Bo • 2 x NEBB GGMO22 motors • Manufacturer: NEBB, Thune (750 mm gauge)

el 11 17 built 1977 –1984 61.3 tonnes • 12.7 m 70 km/h • 1280 kW Starting tractive force: 157 kN Axle arrangement: B’ B’ 2 x ASEA SJ1103 motors Flåm Railway: 2110, 2092, 2098 Manufacturers: Per Kure /Thune

el 9 3 built 1944 • 48 tonnes • 10.2 m 60 km/h • 940 hp/ 690 kW • Axle arrangement: Bo’Bo’ • 4x NEBB EDTM423 • Starting tractive force: 108 kN • Manufacturer: Per Kure / Thune / NEBB


All photos by Thomas Morel, except: p. 52: Visit Flåm, photographer Rolf M. Sørensen p. 64, 70, 72a, 74–75, 80: The Flåm Railway Museum p. 68, 72b, 72c, 72d, 77: The Flåm Railway Museum / Jan Kirby English translations: Jan Talsethagen and Angela Shury-Smith Graphic design: Noko Lab Print: Spindulys © SKALD AS 2015 Tlf. 57654155 email: forlag@skald.no www.skald.no ISBN 82-7959-229-7



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