Engelsberg–Norbergs Järnväg, the Engelsberg–Norberg Railway, is a railway between

Ängelsberg Ängelsberg () is a village situated in Fagersta Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden with 144 inhabitants in 2005. It is famous for the Engelsberg Ironworks Engelsberg Ironworks ( sv, Engelsbergs bruk) is an ironworks in ''Ängelsberg'', a ...

and Kärrgruvan in the province of

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ), is a historical Swedish province, or ''landskap'', in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "(The) Land of the Western Men", where the "western men" (''västerm ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, now being used by the ''Engelsbergs Norberg Järnvägshistoriska förening'' (ENJ), a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

association.

History

The long railway line was built in the 1850s with the purpose of transporting

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

between the Norberg mining area and the lake Åmänningen, for further transport on

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

s on the

Strömsholm Canal The Strömsholm Canal ( sv, Strömsholms kanal) runs from Smedjebacken to Lake Mälaren near Strömsholm Strömsholm () is a locality situated, in the vicinity of Herrskogen, in Hallstahammar Municipality, Västmanland County, Sweden with 664 inh ...

. Transport of goods on the first part of the line, Kärrgruvan – Trättbo begun in December 1853 with the first steam engine built in Sweden, ''Förstlingen'' (''the First One''), constructed by the Munktell Mechanical Workshops in Eskilstuna. A reconstructed company, ''Norbergs Nya Järnvägs AB'' was formed in 1855 and finished the whole line to Ängelsberg at the lake of Åmänningen in 1856. At that time the railway had a Ängelsberg-Snyten-Kärrgruvan
/ref> gauge, widened to the Swedish in 1876. In 1962 passenger service was discontinued, followed by freight services in the mid 1990s.

The Heritage Railway Association

Engelsbergs Norberg Järnvägshistoriska förening (ENJ), the Engelsberg-Norberg Heritage Railway Association, started in 1999, aims to organize regular traffic for tourists with diesel railcars between Ängelsberg and Kärrgruvan. The association has two locomotive sheds, including a roundhouse and

turntable A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

at Ängelsberg and a shed at Kärrgruvan. The latter was built in 1857 and is the oldest preserved

locomotive shed The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...

in Sweden. ENJ uses three 1950s railcars for regular traffic: *The

Multiple Unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

YBo7 No 1156, constructed 1957 by ASJ, Östersund *The Multiple Unit YBo7 No 1255, constructed 1959 by Eksjö-verken, Eksjö *The

Control Unit The control unit (CU) is a component of a computer's central processing unit (CPU) that directs the operation of the processor. A CU typically uses a binary decoder to convert coded instructions into timing and control signals that direct the ope ...

Ybfoby No 2076 ENJ also has other stock for permanent way and maintenance use, including: *0-4-0DM Deutz 'Grodan' (Frog), in green As well as various coaching stock awaiting restoration in the sidings at Kärrgruvan. ENJ's long term hopes are to run a summer steam service on the line, and has secured these coaches to be used when appropriate motive power becomes available. For now, the railcars provide the backbone of the service.

Photo gallery

File:Ängelsberg_Lokstallet_01.JPG, The Roundhouse at Engelsberg File:Norbergs_station.jpg, Norberg Station building, now a garage File:Lokstallet_i_Kärrgruvan.jpg, Former rail shed, Kärrgruvan File:ENJ%27s_locomotive_shed_at_Kärrgruvan.jpg, The locomotive shed at Kärrgruvan File:Kärrgruvan_Station_and_Yard.jpg, The former station building at Kärrgruvan, now a hostel File:%27Grodan%27_and_railbuses_in_Kärrgruvan_yard_on_the_Engelsberg-Norberg_Historic_Railway.jpg, 'Grodan' and railbuses stabled outside the shed at Kärrgruvan File:Stored_stock,_Kärrgruvan_yard_on_the_Engelsberg-Norberg_Historic_Railway.jpg, Rolling stock awaiting restoration in Kärrgruvan yard

References

Note

This article is based on the article about the Engelsberg-Norbergs Järnväg in the Swedish language Wikipedia.

External links

* http://www.enj.se Officiell hemsida för Engelsbergs Norberg Järnvägshistoriska förening (in Swedish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Engelsberg-Norberg Railway Heritage railways in Sweden Railway museums in Sweden Museums in Västmanland County Narrow gauge railways in Sweden