The Myllymäki railway station ( fi, Myllymäen rautatieasema, sv, Myllymäki järnvägsstation) is located in the town of

Ähtäri Ähtäri ( sv, Etseri) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ähtäri is located southeast of ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, in the village of Myllymäki. It is located along the

Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway The Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway is a railway running between the Haapamäki railway station and the Seinäjoki railway station in Finland. It is part of the historical Tampere–Vaasa railway; its other segments as known today include Tampere� ...

, and its neighboring stations are Pihlajavesi in the south and Eläinpuisto-Zoo in the north. The

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency ( fi, Museovirasto, sv, Museiverket), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a ...

has proclaimed the Myllymäki station as a built cultural environment of national significance.

History

Myllymäki was originally planned to become an important junction station: the

diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the Swedish Riksda ...

during its 1877 session discussed plans to build two "trunk line" railways in the country, which were to intersect in Myllymäki. The first would diverge from the

Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway The Riihimäki–Saint Petersburg railway is a long segment of the Helsinki–Saint Petersburg connection, which is divided between Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast in Russia and the province of Southern Finland in Finland. History It was co ...

Taavetti Taavetti (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Taavetti'', also ''Davidstad'') is a village and administrative center of the Luumäki municipality in South Karelia, Finland. It has a population of 2,084. It is located along Finnish national road 6, Highw ...

and proceed towards Vaasa via

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34,000 i ...

and

Jyväskylä railway station Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

, and the other was to run from Tampere to

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

via

Kärsämäki Kärsämäki (; literally meaning "snout hill") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water ...

. These plans ended up changing significantly with time, as the Jyväskylä line was to be built beginning from

Haapamäki Haapamäki is a village in the municipality of Keuruu, Finland. It is historically an important meeting point of major railway lines, which converge at Haapamäki railway station. It is from Haapamäki to the center of Keuruu and to the city of ...

, and that of Oulu from

Seinäjoki Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...

. Myllymäki became one of original stations of the Tampere–Vaasa railway, being officially opened on 29 September 1883 as the only class III station on the line. The station housed a restaurant, whose owner resided in a house on-site. The station also housed a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

from 1888 on. In spite of its status as a junction station never being realized, Myllymäki became an important intermediate station in its region. This stemmed in part from its location approximately halfway between Tampere and Vaasa, making it a frequent meeting point for trains traversing the line. It was also significant as a cargo station; it came to handle one of the largest volumes of loaded

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

in the country.

Tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

also became a notable type of commodity transported from Myllymäki.

Architecture

The station building in Myllymäki was constructed according to blueprints approved for class III stations in 1881, being presumably designed by

Knut Nylander Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

. The distinctively large building stays as a remnant of the station's status as a junction station from the Finnish railway plans of the late 1800s.

Services

VR Group VR-Group Plc ( fi, VR-Yhtymä Oyj, sv, VR-Group Abp), commonly known as VR, is a government-owned railway company in Finland. VR's most important function is the operation of Finland's passenger rail services with 250 long-distance and 800 co ...

operates two daily regional train services in each direction on the route

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

–

, all of which call in Myllymäki. These services are operated with Dm12 railbuses. The station does not have ticketing services nor a VR ticket vending machine, and has a low, inaccessible high platform. The station building is not open for use by passengers.

References

External links

Train departures and arrivals at Myllymäki
on Finrail {{Railway stations in South Ostrobothnia Ähtäri Railway stations opened in 1883 Railway stations in South Ostrobothnia Railway stations in Finland opened in the 19th century