Thamshavn Line
Thamshavn Line | |
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metre gauge | |
Original electrification | 6.6 kV 25 Hz AC |
Preserved operations | |
Owned by | Salvesen & Thams |
Operated by | Salvesen & Thams |
Preserved gauge | 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) |
Preserved electrification | 6.6 kV 25 Hz AC |
Commercial history | |
Opened | 1908 |
Closed | 1974 |
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The Thamshavn Line (Norwegian: Thamshavnbanen) was Norway's first electric railway, running from 1908 to 1974 in what is now Trøndelag county. Today it is operated as a heritage railway and is the world's oldest railway running on its original alternating current electrification scheme,[1] using 6.6 kV 25 Hz AC. It was built to transport pyrites from the mines at Løkken Verk to the port at Thamshavn, as well as passengers. There were six stations: Thamshavn, Orkanger, Bårdshaug, Fannrem, Solbusøy and Svorkmo. The tracks were extended to Løkken Verk in 1910.
It is
History
Christian Thams goes electric
Mining at
Christian Thams understood that for the mine to continue operation, there had to be built an
Land was, after some conflicts, acquired or
The railway got a unique combination of gauge and electric power. At the time of the construction
Growth 1910-1940
The export of pyrites was a gigantic success for Orkla, with both production and prices exceeding the estimates. During the economic difficult
Sabotage
After the German invasion of Norway in 1940 during World War II the mines at Løkken became an important resource for the Germans. To avoid having to bomb the entire Thamshavn and Løkken areas, the Norwegian government-in-exile chose instead to sabotage key areas instead of large areas, of consideration the civilian population. While the mining company chose to cooperate with the Germans, but secretly not performed planned production increases, Company Linge performed a total of four sabotage actions against the Thamshavn Line, led by Peter Deinboll. The first targeted the transformer station that was successfully blown up on 4 May 1942. But it was quickly rebuilt by the Germans and a new sabotage was necessary. In the fall of 1943 the idea was to blow up the lift in the mine, but instead the group decided to blow up the locomotives on the railway. On 31 October, four locomotives and one rail car was blown up. This was not enough for the Deinboll, and an attempt to hijack a train at Klingliene and blow up part of the rail at the same stop failed, killing the saboteur Odd Nilsen.[7]
In the spring of 1944 the saboteurs returned and on 9 May blew up a train at Hongslomælen and again on 31 May at the same place when the last rail car was blown up. In response to this the Germans acquired two steam engines from Germany with the right gauge, but the saboteurs didn't succeed at blowing them up. To avoid a shortage of rolling stock, the Germans used slave labour from Fannrem concentration camp to rebuild the system to a dual gauge with both standard and meter gauge, in an attempt to use rolling stock from the Dovre Line (that used standard gauge) while keeping the cars that used meter gauge. Though the entire line was rebuilt, no standard gauge locomotives were acquired and the third rail was taken away after the war.[8]
The end of an era
The first part of the closing of the line was the attempt to get rid of the requirement to operate passenger trains. The original permit to operate the line included a requirement to operate passenger transport on the line, but as early as in the 1930s the company tried to get rid of this obligation. But it was not until 1963 that the passenger traffic was terminated. By then the company had managed to convince the authorities that a bus route would be more suitable on the stretch between Orkanger and Løkken.[9]
By the 1970s the production at the mine was falling so much that it had become uneconomical to operate the railway, and on 29 May 1974 the railway was taken out of service. Part of the reason was the need for new locomotives, but the small production at the mine couldn't defend the necessary investments.[10] In the 66 years of operation the Thamshavn Line carried 7,441,012 passengers, 1,069,750 tonnes of freight and 16,720,047 tonnes of ore.[11]
Heritage
In 1973, the Norwegian Railway Association tried to open a heritage railway, but failed as Orkla wanted to keep the railway in case of future reopening for industrial transportation; as a compromise the association was given one of the railcars. No reopening occurred, and in 1983 the Orkla Industrial Museum Archived 2012-06-08 at the Wayback Machine and local enthusiasts opened the heritage railway, at first between Løkken and Svorkmo. In 1986, the trains were extended to Solbusøy, and four years later Fannrem. After 2006, it has been possible to ride the train down to Bårdshaug, and the current length of the railway is approximately 22 kilometres (14 mi). Only the last few kilometers of line have been removed. The vintage railway operates from May to September, with 11,812 passengers in 2008.[12]
Representatives for every locomotive generation are preserved on the heritage railway. Currently locomotive 2 (1908), 4 (1908), 5II (1950), 8 (1917) and 10II (1952) are in serviceable condition. The passenger car fleet consists of three of the four original carriages (9, 10 and 11) and one dinner car (built 1995).
Rolling stock
The first locomotive that was used on the line was Kvenna (the Coffee Grinder), a
The next order came in 1910 for two new rail cars and in 1916 for two new locomotives from
During and after the war there was used a lot of energy on rebuilding the locomotives that had been sabotaged. The three Westinghouse locomotives were rebuilt to two. In addition three new locomotives were delivered from
Three of the original passenger cars delivered to the opening in 1908 are still in use on the heritage railway. The last one, nr. 12, has been regauged and used on the heritage Setesdal Line since the 1970s. Some freightcars are still existing, including a dozen ore cars, but none are in serviceable condition.
No. | Built | Delivered | Retired | Type | Factory | Axel |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kvenna | 1893 | 1907 | 1917 | Steam | ? | B 1'Tn2 |
1 | 1908 | 1908 | 1943 | Electric | British Westinghouse | Bo' Bo' |
2 | 1908 | 1908 | 1963 | Electric | British Westinghouse | Bo' Bo' |
3 | 1908 | 1908 | 1963 | Electric | British Westinghouse | Bo' Bo' |
4 | 1908 | 1908 | Rail car | United Electric | Bo' 2' | |
9 | 1909 | 1909 | 1947 | Steam | Borsig | C Tn2 |
5 | 1910 | 1910 | 1943 | Rail car | AEG/Skabo | Bo' Bo' |
6 | 1910 | 1910 | 1944 | Rail car | AEG/Skabo | Bo' Bo' |
7 | 1918 | 1918 | Electric | ASEA
|
B' B' | |
8 | 1918 | 1918 | Electric | ASEA | B' B' | |
10 | 1928 | 1939 | 1943 | Steam | Orenstein & Koppel | B Tn2 |
11 | 1921 | 1942 | 1947 | Steam | Corpet-Louvet | B Tn2 |
12 | 1921 | 1942 | 1947 | Steam | Corpet-Louvet | B Tn2 |
13 | 1921 | 1942 | 1947 | Steam | Corpet-Louvet | B Tn2 |
14 | 1921 | 1942 | 1947 | Steam | Corpet-Louvet | B Tn2 |
15 | 1921 | 1942 | 1950 | Steam | Corpet-Louvet | B Tn2 |
99.221 | 1930 | 1944 | 1953 | Steam | BMAG (Schwartzkopff) | 1'E1'Th2 |
99.223 | 1930 | 1944 | 1947 | Steam | BMAG (Schwartzkopff) | 1'E1'Th2 |
1 II | 1950 | 1950 | Electric | Brown Boveri/Skabo | Bo' Bo' | |
5 II | 1950 | 1950 | Electric | Brown Boveri/Skabo | Bo | |
6 II | 1950 | 1950 | Electric | Brown Boveri/Skabo | Bo | |
9 II | 1952 | 1952 | Diesel | Ruston & Hornsby
|
Cmd | |
10 II | 1952 | 1952 | Diesel | Ruston & Hornsby | Cmd |
See also
- Narrow gauge railways in Norway
Notes
- ^ Norsk Kulturarv. "Thamshavnbanen Railway". Archived from the original on 2004-09-18. Retrieved October 27, 2006.
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 8
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 13
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 20-26
- ^ a b c Mjøen, 1983: 28
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 32
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 48
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 51
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 62
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 69
- ^ Orkla Industrimuseum. "Technical details". Retrieved 2008-06-02.
- ^ Thamshavnbanens Venner (2009). "Metersporet" (PDF) (in Norwegian).
- ^ Mjøen, 1983: 54
References
- Mjøen, Marit (1983). Thamshavnbanen (in Norwegian). Orkanger: Kaare Grytten / Thamshavnbanens Venner.
- ISBN 82-90286-15-5.