Thamshavnbanen Through Løkken
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The Thamshavn Line () was
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
's first electric railway, running from 1908 to 1974 in what is now
Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...
county. Today it is operated as a
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. 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) ...
and is the world's oldest railway running on its original
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...
electrification scheme, using 6.6  kV 25  Hz AC. It was built to transport
pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...
s from the mines at
Løkken Verk Løkken Verk (or simply ''Løkken'') is a village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of the village of Svorkmo, east of the village of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal (village), Meld ...
to the port at Thamshavn, as well as passengers. There were six stations: Thamshavn, Orkanger, BÃ¥rdshaug,
Fannrem Fannrem is a village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the river Orkla (river), Orkla about south of the urban area of Orkanger, Thamshavn, and Råbygda, and about north of the village of Vormsta ...
, Solbusøy and Svorkmo. The tracks were extended to
Løkken Verk Løkken Verk (or simply ''Løkken'') is a village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of the village of Svorkmo, east of the village of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal (village), Meld ...
in 1910. It is
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
's only railway with a rail gauge of , though the nearby Trondheim Tramway also features this gauge. It is the world's only railway with this combination of gauge and electrical equipment. The total length of the railway was . The transportation of passengers ended in 1963, but the transportation of ore continued until 1974. In 1983, parts of the railway were reopened as a
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. 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) ...
.


History


Christian Thams goes electric

Mining at
Løkken Verk Løkken Verk (or simply ''Løkken'') is a village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located south of the village of Svorkmo, east of the village of Bjørnli, and north of the municipal center of Meldal (village), Meld ...
had its roots back to 1633 when King Christian IV of
Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...
had opened the mine. At this time all
mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
was a privilege of the king. Later, in the 1800s, the mine was
privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...
and owned by
Løkken Kobber og Kisværks Interessentskab Løkken may refer to the following locations: * Løkken-Vrå, a former municipality in Denmark, Now part of Hjørring. *Løkken, Denmark, a small sea side town. *Løkken Verk Løkken Verk (or simply ''Løkken'') is a village in Orkland Municipa ...
. In 1868 the local
farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...
and
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
owner Wilhelm A. Thams and his accountant
Christian Salvesen Christian Salvesen was a Scottish whaling, transport and logistics company with a long and varied history, employing 13,000 staff and operating in seven countries in western Europe. In December 2007, it was acquired by France, French listed tr ...
from
Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
founded the mining company Ørkedals Mining Company and bought a number of small mines around Løkken. In the early 1880s Wilhelm's grandson, Christian Thams returned from
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and took over the running of the mining company. He realized that to make money from mining, he had to purchase the largest mine of the all, but didn't succeed until 1896 when it no longer was feasible to manually pump out the water, and bought Løkken Mine. Christian Thams understood that for the mine to continue operation, there had to be built an electric water pump in the mines. He also understood that it would then be feasible to build an electric railway between the mine and the
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
at Thamshavn were the pyrites were shipped out, primarily to
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. While Thams went abroad to get capital for the new mining company, Norwegian law required that permits to operate railways and
power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
s only were given to Norwegians. To solve this, a separate company, Chr. Salvesen & Chr. Thams's Communications Aktieselskab (Salvesen & Thams or S&T) was established in 1898 to build the railway, operate the steam ship between Thamshavn and
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
and build the power plant at Skjenaldfossen. By 1904 the mining company had acquired the majority of stocks in S&T and soon owned the entire company. The Orkla mining company has since evolved into the Orkla Group, a Forbes 500-company. Land was, after some conflicts, acquired or expropriated and construction was started. The construction was completed in 1908 and employed between 200 and 300 people. Originally the plans were to only build the line from Thamshavn to Svorkmo while the stretch from Svorkmo to Løkken was to be operated by a cable car. But Thams soon realised that this was a mistake and decided to extend the line to Løkken. This caused some problems since he needed to get permission from the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...
and was not allowed to operate passenger traffic all the way to Løkken before 1910. The line between Thamshavn and Svorkmo was opened on 10 July 1908 by King Haakon VII while the last section to Løkken was opened on 15. August 1910 by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Wollert Konow. The railway got a unique combination of gauge and electric power. At the time of the construction
standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...
() was common in Norway, but still the most common gauge, especially on industrial and branch lines, was
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...
. But the Thamshavn Line chose to not build the normal gauge, but instead
metre gauge Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
(), a gauge only used one other place in Norway, on the Trondheim Tramway some away. Since the railway was the first to be electrified in Norway there was no standard of electric current and so Thams chose the somewhat unusual 6.6  kV 25  Hz AC, while the rest of the Norwegian (and some other Northern European) railway networks chose . Thams was venturing into an innovative area, since Benjamin G. Lamme had invented the
alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in w ...
electric locomotive in 1902 and there was no experience operating the system.Mjøen, 1983: 28


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
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
the company replaced the tracks used tracks with new track in 1915. In 1916, two new locomotives were bought. Also the passenger and cargo traffic increased in the period, and in 1910 two more
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...
s were delivered. In 1935 the new smelting plant at Thamshavn (now Elkem Thamshavn) opened. As a supplement to the steam ship and passenger rail service, Salvesen & Thams also started operating connecting bus services. The first attempts failed in 1909 to establish a route between Svorkmo and Rindal Municipality and Surnadal Municipality. In 1918, a new bus route opened between Løkken and Aune in
Oppdal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Oppdal (village), village of Oppdal. Other villages in the ...
, but shortened to
Berkåk Berkåk is the administrative centre of Rennebu Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the Orkladalen valley along the river Orkla (river), Orkla. The village lies about north of the village of Ulsberg and southeast of the ...
in 1921 when the
Dovre Line The Dovre Line () is a Norwegian railway line with three slightly different lines which all lead to the historic city of Trondheim (city), Trondheim. Definition *Dovre Line is the main line between Eidsvoll Station and Trondheim Station, used b ...
opened. During the 1920s Salvesen & Thams established Trondhjem-Orkladal Billag and started operating a bus route from Thamshavn to Trondheim.


Sabotage

After the German invasion of Norway in 1940 during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
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 Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...
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. 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 Dual gauge railroad track has three or four rails, allowing vehicles of two track gauges to run on it. Signalling and sidings are more expensive to install on dual gauge tracks than on two single gauge tracks. Dual gauge is used when there i ...
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.


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. 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. 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.


Heritage

In 1973, the Norwegian Railway Association tried to open a
heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. 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) ...
, 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 th
Orkla Industrial Museum
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 Fannrem is a village in Orkland Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located along the river Orkla (river), Orkla about south of the urban area of Orkanger, Thamshavn, and Råbygda, and about north of the village of Vormsta ...
. After 2006, it has been possible to ride the train down to BÃ¥rdshaug, and the current length of the railway is approximately . Only the last few kilometers of line have been removed. The vintage railway operates from May to September, with 11,812 passengers in 2008. 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
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
that had been bought from the Nesttun–Os Railway and converted from to the . In 1918 it was attempted to sell the locomotive to the Trondheim Tramway, the only other metre gauge railway in Scandinavia, but it is not known if the sale was successful. One more steam engine was bought from the German manufacturer
Borsig Borsig is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (1867–1897), German entrepreneur * August Borsig (1804–1854), German businessman * Conrad von Borsig (1873–1945), German mechanical engineer * Ernst Borsig (1869–1933) ...
. The line initially bought three electric locomotives from Elektrisk Bureau, who also delivered the
transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...
s and
overhead line An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...
s. The locomotives were based on a design from British Westinghouse. At the same time there was delivered a rail car named the ''King's car'' since the king had ridden in it during the opening of the line. The next order came in 1910 for two new rail cars and in 1916 for two new locomotives from ASEA at 420 kW, with an additional 12 pyrites cars in 1929-31 and 20 during the war. The company also bought a used Orenstein & Koppel steam engine from the zink mines in
Odda Odda () is a list of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Hordaland counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ullensvang Municipality i ...
in 1939 and during the war two Germany steam engines were transferred from
Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...
. 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 Skabo in 1950. The last steam engine was retired in 1953. In 1952 two diesel shunting engines were delivered from
Ruston & Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of Narrow-gauge railway, narrow and Standard-gauge railway, standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of ...
.Mjøen, 1983: 54 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.


See also

* Narrow gauge railways in Norway


Notes


References

* *


External links


Orkla Industrial Museum on Thamshavn LineFriends of the Thamshavn Line

Norsk Jernbaneklubb entry
{{coord, 63.3118, N, 9.8637, E, source:wikidata-and-enwiki-cat-tree_region:NO, display=title Orkland Railway lines in Trøndelag Railway lines in Norway Heritage railways in Norway Metre-gauge railways in Norway Orkla ASA Railway lines opened in 1908 1908 establishments in Norway Railway lines closed in 1974 Museums established in 1983 1983 establishments in Norway Electric railways in Norway Private railway lines in Norway