Holmestrand – Vittingfoss railway line

Holmestrand – Vittingfoss
Sundbyfoss Bridge over the Sundbyelva 2011
Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen on a map from 1910
Route length:	29.8 km
Gauge :	1067 mm ( cape track )
Maximum slope :	28.6  ‰
Minimum radius :	100 m
Legend 29.80 Hvittingfoss (from October 1, 1902), before January 1, 1922: Vittingfoss 39  moh. Mossåsen 22.74 Kleppan (from Oct. 1, 1902) 120  moh. 20.72 Haslestad (from October 1, 1902) 70  moh. 20.55 Lianelven (17 m) Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen from Eidsfoss 19.40 court 68  moh. 17.10 Sundbyfoss 58  moh. Sundbyfoss bru (20 m) 13.40 Hildestad (until 1926 Hillestad ) 44  moh. Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen to Tønsberg 12.04 Hillestad platform (1903, from 1926 Hildestad platform) 64  moh. 9.80 Iceland, from 1921 Hynnås (from October 1, 1902) 95  moh. 7.50 Guldhaug (from October 1, 1902) 133  moh. 5.10 Ramberg (from 1903) 110  moh. Vestfoldbanen by Drammen (from 1910) Holmestrand 1  moh. 0.00 Holmestrand privatbanestasjon 2.38 Innlofjellet tunnel (1902, 342 m) 1.27 Gausen depot 1.53 1.63 Reverses (no official stop) Vestfoldbanen to Tønsberg Swell:

The railway line Holmestrand-Vittingfoss ( Norwegian Holmestrand-Vittingfossbanen (HVB) ) was a narrow-gauge railway line in Norway . The line, opened on September 30, 1902 and closed on June 1, 1938, led from Holmestrand in Vestfold og Telemark to Hvittingfoss in Viken .

The basis for the line was the Vittingfos Træsliberi pulp mill (Vittingfos Brug) in Hvittingfoss. The pulp produced from the wood rafted over the Numedalslågen was removed there .

Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen

Holmestrand privatbanestasjon 1910

The construction of the line by the private joint-stock company Holmestrand-Vittingfossbanen was decided on July 23, 1886 by the Storting . The concession to build the line was granted on February 6, 1899. The company's share capital was 684,788 crowns , the construction of the route cost 1.06 million crowns. The state granted an interest-free loan for this.

The route was very profitable in the first ten years and in 1910/1911 the surplus was 29,713.29 kroner, or 21.75% of the income.

From 1927 there was a joint operations manager for this route and for the also private Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen .

Vestfold private banker

In 1934 the two companies Holmestrand-Vittingfossbanen and Tønsberg-Eidsfossbanen merged to form A / S Vestfold Privatbaner . Passenger traffic on the HVB ceased on September 27, 1931. Freight traffic was temporarily suspended from 1935 due to the closure of Vittingfos Brug , as no goods were to be transported.

The line was taken over by the state in 1938 and closed on June 1, 1938. All rails have been removed.

Routing

The route was built in two parts. One section of the route led from Holmestrand to Hillestad, the second from Hof to Hvittingfoss. The connection between Hillestad and Hof was made by the Tønsberg – Eidsfoss railway line , which was opened a year earlier . Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen paid rent to use the route .

The stretch between Holmestrand and Hvittingfoss is characterized by great differences in altitude. The route was built with an increase of 25 per thousand and a curve radius of 100 meters. This was not enough to overcome the altitude. So the route was only led to Reversen. There the trains were turned to gain further height. Reversen was a stop and was also used for loading and unloading for the dairy factory there.

Down to Hvittingfoss the route ran in a large loop. In Holmestrand, the railway had its own station in Havnegate at Dr. Graaruds plass.

The route to Holmestrand met the Vestfoldbane north of the Holmestrand train station, continued along the coast and reached Holmestrand privatbanestasjon at the Havnegate . From there it went on via today's industrial area, along Backers gate and Hagemannsveien to Gausen, where the depot was located. In Gausen the route crossed the Vestfoldbane and ends in Reversen holdeplass in Vestfoldgate, where the train had to change its direction.

The travel time between the stations was over 90 minutes for a distance of 31 kilometers. The distance on the road was only 23 kilometers, with the train having to overcome smaller gradients.

Locomotives

Several steam locomotives were procured for the operation of the line . Some of them are mentioned here:

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
	HOLMESTRAND	Tank locomotive	1 D 1	Krauss & Cie , Munich	4630/ 1901	retired around 1935
	HVITTINGFOSS	Tank locomotive	1 D 1	Krauss & Cie, Munich	4647/ 1901	retired around 1935

In 1931 there were a tank locomotive with three coupled axles, a tender locomotive with three coupled axles and the two tank locomotives listed above with the wheel arrangement 1 D 1.

Remnants of the railway line

The railway station and the goods shed in Hvittingfoss and the locomotive shed in Holmestrand were preserved from the line and the buildings. However, on April 27, 2013, the train station in Hvittingfoss burned down.

The Gausen locomotive shed is intact and used as a garage.

Museumsforeningen Vestfold Privatbaner

To the south of the Hillestad School in Hynnås, the association Museumsforeningen Vestfold Privatbaner has rebuilt 150 meters of track. A copy of the Ramnes station building on the former Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen was rebuilt, and in 2013 the construction of a small locomotive shed began. There is also a Narvesen kiosk. The track section is used for trolley trips.

literature

• Asbjørn N. Jakobsen: Små-tog på spinkle skinner gjennem det inre av Vestfold . 1993, ISBN 82-992914-0-2 (Norwegian).
• Asbjørn N. Jakobsen: Jernbaneminner from Vestfold . 1996 (Norwegian).
• Håkon Westby: Holmestrand – Hvittingfossbanen - Den postale historien . Ramnes, Norway 2002 (Norwegian, 100-års jubileumshefte).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Thor Bjerke, Finn Holom: Banedata 2004 . Data from infrastructures to the railroad in Norway. Ed .: Jernbaneverket, Norsk Jernbanemuseum and Norsk Jernbaneklubb Forskningsavdelingen. NJK Forskningsavdelingen, Hamar / Oslo 2004, ISBN 82-90286-28-7 , urn : nbn: no-nb_digibok_2011040708010 (Norwegian).
2. ↑ Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen. geocaching.com, June 14, 2013, accessed February 24, 2014 (Swedish). 
3. ↑ Aktiebrev Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen. Retrieved February 23, 2014 (Norwegian). 
4. ↑ NORGES JERNBANER. (PDF) BERETNING FOR ÅRET 1 JULY 1922–30 JUNE 1923. HOVEDSTYRET FOR STATSBANENE, 1924, p. 5 , accessed on February 23, 2014 (Norwegian). 
5. ↑ Tillæg 3 til indst. S. XIV. Indstilling fra jernbanekomiteen announced bevilgning af yderligere statsbidrag til Holmestrand-Vittingfosbanen including tilladelse til optagelse af et laan for banens regning mv (St. prp. No. 81). stortinget.no, accessed February 23, 2014 (Norwegian). 
6. ↑ ^{a b} NORGES JERNBANER. (PDF) BERETNING FOR ÅRET 1 JUL! 1930–30 JUNE 1931. HOVEDSTYRET FOR STATSBANENE, 1932, accessed February 23, 2014 (Norwegian). 
7. ↑ Holmestrand (HVB) stasjon with banens personal and ledelse on platforms. Digitalt Museum , accessed February 23, 2014 (Norwegian). 
8. ↑ Kartanimasjon fra Holmestrand. Museumsforeningen Vestfold Privatbaner, 2009, accessed on 23 February 2014 (Norwegian, map animation of the route). 
9. ↑ Lok HOLMESTRAND . Retrieved February 24, 2014 (Danish). 
10. ↑ Lok Hvittingfoss . Retrieved February 24, 2014 (Danish). 
11. ↑ Mona Sandviken: Ingen mistanke om at burn he påtent. The gamle stasjonsbygningen i Hvittingfoss brant ned i går kveld. laagendalsposten.no, April 27, 2013, accessed on February 24, 2014 . 
12. ↑ Brann i stasjonsbygning i Hvittingfoss April 27, 2013. Accessed February 24, 2014 (video). 
13. ↑ Nils Carl Aspen Mountain: Glemte spor: boken om sidebanenes tragiske live . Baneforlaget, Oslo 1994, ISBN 82-91448-00-0 .
14. ^ Tønsberg – Eidsfossbanen og Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen. (No longer available online.) Norske jernbanestasjoner, archived from the original on April 12, 2012 ; Retrieved August 26, 2019 (Norwegian). 
15. ↑ Museumsforeningen Vestfold Privatbaner . Norske jernbanestasjoner, accessed August 26, 2019 (Norwegian). 

Web links

Commons : Holmestrand – Vittingfossbanen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Photos of the construction of the route and vehicles. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on February 24, 2014 ; accessed on February 23, 2014 . 
• Description and historical photos. jernbane.origo.no, accessed February 24, 2014 (Norwegian). 
• Historiske Holmestrand. Retrieved February 24, 2014 (Norwegian). 
• Routing. In: openstreetmap.org. Retrieved February 24, 2014 (Norwegian).