Railway line Nora – Karlskoga (–Otterbäcken)

Nora – Karlskoga (–Otterbäcken)
Gyttorp station in 2009
Route length:	101.1 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Maximum slope :	25.5  ‰
Minimum radius :	200 m
Legend 17.6 Nora Railway line Nora – Ervalla to Ervalla 19.5 Pershyttevägen (1943–1966) Pershyttan övre (until 1975 Gbf Pershyttan) NBJV 21.0 Pershyttan nedre (until 1975 Pershytte växel) NBJV Bredsjö – Degerfors railway line from Bredsjö Striberg Åsboberget Branch line to Striberg 22.6 Gyttorp 23.4 Käppsta (former loading point) NBJV 25.8 Knappenorp 28.9 Bengtstorp (until 1951 station) Railway line Striberg – Degerfors from Striberg 30.7 Vikersvik Railway line Striberg – Degerfors to Dalkarlsberg Nya Viker NBJV 37.1 Enbergsäng 38.3 Botten (1955–1966) 39.7 Lanthöjden Svartälven Svartälvs Järnväg von Grythyttan (1889–1936) 44.4 Kortfors 39.7 Öfalla 49.7 Granbergsdal 50.5 Chapel 54.0 Length 57.2 Roast meat by Björkborn to Valåsen (from 1907) 59.2 Bofors Timsälven 60.0 Boforsverken 61.7 Karlskoga (formerly personal stop) 63.3 Ekeby marshalling yard Kilsta industrial track 64.7 Odlingen 67.5 Högåsen Värmland Railway from Laxå 74.0 Strömtorp Värmlandsbahn to Kristinehamn 76.1 Pastries Draisine 78.1 Högberg Draisine 83.5 Håkanbol Draisine 86.4 Nysund Draisine 93.9 Konsterud Draisine 100.8 Värmlands Säby Draisine 104.9 Geese Draisine 109.2 Årås Draisine Gullspångsälven Torved – Gullspång railway from Torved Draisine 113.5 Gullspång Draisine 118.7 Otterbucks Explanations: NBJV = Hp / Bf newly created by the NBJV. Draisine = Draisine traffic only Swell:

The Nora – Karlskoga railway is a former 101-kilometer standard-gauge railway in Sweden . It was built between 1871 and 1874 by the Nora-Karlskoga järnvägsaktiebolag (NKJ) company to connect the towns of Nora and Karlskoga and to connect in Strömtorp to the Nordvästra stamban , now known as Värmlandsbanan , which has existed since 1866 . In 1876 the extension beyond Strömtorp to Otterbäcken am Vänern was opened. Originally, the route was mainly used to transport iron ore and pig iron from the mines and ironworks in the Bergslagen region to the steelworks in the Karlskoga area and to the Otterbäcken port in Vänern. Passenger traffic was always of little importance and was stopped in 1966.

history

Construction and commissioning

The NKJ was founded on the initiative of the owner of the Bofors ironworks near Karlskoga, Per Erland Lagerhjelm , in February 1871. The construction of the railway was intended to ensure that the Bofors smelter and other ironworks in the area were supplied with iron ore and limestone from the region around Nora at all times of the year.

Construction of the line began at the end of June 1871. In January 1872, the Bofors – Strömtorp section was opened and the connection to the Nordvästra stamban was established.

On July 1, 1873, the Bofors − Vikersvik section was initially provisionally put into operation for freight traffic. On November 1, 1873, the Vikersvik – Nora section followed at the same time as the branch to Striberg . This branch line should not be confused with the Striberg – Degerfors line of the Vikern – Möckelns Järnväg (WMJ). The NKJ line ran on the east bank of Lake Vikern and was standard gauge, the WMJ line ran on the west bank of the Vikern and was narrow-gauge with the unusual gauge of 802 mm.

The commissioning for general traffic took place in March 1874.

Extension to Otterbäcken

Even before the construction work on the Nora – Karlskoga section was completed, the NKJ applied for a concession to continue building the line from the junction with the Nordvästra stamban to the Mälarenhafen Otterbäcken, which was then still called Torkelsvik. This section was opened on July 13, 1876.

Takeover of Nora – Ervalla Järnväg

Between the NKJ and existing since 1856, the Nora-Ervalla järnvägsaktiebolag (NEJ) belonging railway Nora-Ervalla , which began just as the main route of NKJ in Nora, a competitive situation developed. The NEJ did not have its own vehicles, but had Köping-Hults Järnväg (KHJ) carry out the operation and received a share of the income in return. From 1876 the NKJ took over the management of the KHJ, initially under unchanged conditions. In 1885 the NKJ bought all of the NEJ's shares. The NEJ was initially retained as a formally independent company, but the line has now been leased.

Takeover of Bredsjö – Degerfors Järnväg

→ Main article : Bredsjö – Degerfors railway line

Even with the narrow-gauge Vikern – Möckelns Järnväg (WMJ), which was built almost at the same time as the NKJ line, fierce competition soon developed. Both routes began in Striberg, crossed at the same level in Vikersvik and ended just a few kilometers away at Nordvästra stamban . In order to end the competition, the NKJ bought all shares in Vikern – Möckelns Järnväg in 1886. In 1893 the NKJ applied for the Striberg – Degerfors (Vikern – Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag), Striberg – Grängen (Striberg – Grängen järnvägsaktiebolag) and Bredsjö – Grängen (Bredsjö – Grängens trafikaktiebolag) lines, all of which had the same gauge of 802 mm Merge route. The merger was approved in November 1893 and on April 20, 1894 Bredsjö – Degerfors Järnväg (BDJ) was founded as a subsidiary of NKJ.

Restructuring

At the beginning of the 20th century, the NKJ ran into significant financial difficulties. In particular, the simultaneous operation of standard and narrow-gauge railways on lines that in some cases almost ran parallel was very uneconomical. In order to ensure the survival of the railway, radical measures had to be taken. Therefore, on November 29, 1904, the leadership of the NKJ applied for approval for the following measures:

• Closure of the narrow-gauge Striberg – Degerfors line, with the exception of the four-kilometer section Vikersvik – Dalkarlsberg
• Conversion of the narrow-gauge route Bredsjö – Striberg to standard gauge
• New construction of a four-kilometer, standard-gauge branch line Bofors – Valåsen as a replacement for the narrow-gauge section Degerfors – Valåsen, which is to be closed.

The operating company itself was restructured and re-established on August 1, 1905 under the name Nora Bergslags Järnvägsaktiebolag (NBsJ). The abbreviation NBJ, which was actually intended, could not initially be used because it was already in use by Norsholm – Bersbo Järnväg . It was only when this line was merged with other lines to form Norsholm – Västervik – Hultsfreds Järnvägar that the abbreviation became free.

The renovation work was completed in the course of 1907 and the narrow-gauge sections concerned were then shut down and dismantled.

Decline and cessation of passenger traffic

While freight traffic experienced an upswing after the restructuring, the competition from road traffic became more and more noticeable from the 1940s onwards, which was never very important passenger traffic on the NBsJ routes. Initially, the NBsJ tried to counteract this by using multiple units instead of locomotive-hauled trains. But from 1957 passenger traffic was gradually reduced. After all, only the Nora – Ervalla route was operated by schoolchildren on weekdays. In May 1967 the passenger traffic was completely stopped.

Shutdowns

In 1967 the iron ore mines in Pershyttan and Striberg, which had previously taken care of most of the freight traffic, were closed. It is true that ore trains were still running until 1974 to dismantle the ore dumps near the pits. After that, most of the route sections were shut down in a short time:

date	Route section	length	Remarks
05/03/1974	Gyttorp - Pershyttan	2 km	Dismantled in 1975, rebuilt in 1988 for museum traffic
05/03/1977	Bredsjö - Grängen	15 km	1979 - 1980 dismantled
06/11/1979	Gyttorp - Grängen	30 km	1979 - 1980 dismantled
06/11/1979	Gyttorp - Nora	5 km	Preserved as a museum railway
06/11/1979	Nora - Ervalla	18 km	Preserved as a museum railway
10/01/1989	Gyttorp - Bofors	37 km	Preserved as a museum railway
December 31, 1994	Strömtorp - Otterbäcken	45 km	partially dismantled, partially preserved for trolley trips

On January 1, 1979, the company NBJ was taken over by the Swedish national railway company Statens Järnvägar (SJ) and dissolved on January 1, 1985.

Today's operation

Today, regular rail operations (freight traffic only) only take place on the Strömtorp – Karlskoga section . Museum trains run by the Nora Bergslag Veteran-Jernväg Association (NBJV) run on the Nora – Käppsta section in the summer months and at certain events . The museum trains also ran to Bofors until 2010, but the association lacked the resources to continue operating this section after an EU-funded project had expired. From the spring of 2018, however, clearing work took place on the Käppsta – Vikersvik section, which should, if possible, go back into operation in summer 2019.

Also during the summer months, the section Gullspång Ängebäck can with Handcars be driven, which can be rented in the former station Gullspång. In order to prevent the draisines from approaching the Värmlandsbahn, which is still in operation, the connecting curve between Ängebäck and Strömtorp was dismantled.

The Gullspång – Otterbäcken section was dismantled and a cycle path was laid out on the embankment.

Web links

Commons : Nora Bergslag's Veteran-Jernväg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Gullspång-Strömtorp-Nora-Ervalla. In: järnväg.net. Retrieved January 11, 2019 (Swedish). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rolf Sten: Ervalla - Nora Otterbäcken. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish).  | Nora – Gyttorp – Vikersvik – Kortfors – Bofors – Strömtorp. Bandel 275. banvakt.se, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish).  | Strömtorp – Högberg – Gullspång – Otterbäcken. Bandel 277. banvakt.se, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish).  | Trafikplatser on line Nora - Bofors. Nora Bergslag's Veteran-Jernväg, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish). 
2. ↑ Rolf Sten: History NKJ, Nora - Karlskoga Järnväg. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish). 
3. ^ Rolf Sten: BDJ, Bredsjö - Degerfors Järnväg. In: historiskt.nu. February 21, 2004, accessed January 10, 2019 (Swedish). 
4. ↑ Rolf Sten: History NBsJ, NBY, Nora - Bergslags Järnväg. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, Retrieved January 10, 2019 (Swedish). 
5. ↑ Rolf Sten: History NBsJ, NBY, Nora - Bergslags Järnväg. Person graphics läggs ned. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, Retrieved January 10, 2019 (Swedish). 
6. ↑ Rolf Sten: History NBsJ, NBY, Nora - Bergslags Järnväg. Godstrafik upphör Nästan helt. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, Retrieved January 10, 2019 (Swedish). 
7. ↑ Rolf Sten: History NBsJ, NBY, Nora - Bergslags Järnväg. NBJ avvecklas. In: historiskt.nu. January 26, 2001, Retrieved January 10, 2019 (Swedish). 
8. ↑ Vad handler på Boforsbanan? Nora Bergslag's Veteran-Jernväg, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish). 
9. ↑ Summering av sommarens trafik. Nora Bergslag's Veteran-Jernväg, August 29, 2018, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish). 
10. ↑ Trampa dressin Gullspång. In: vastsverige.com. Turistrådet Västsverige, accessed January 8, 2019 (Swedish).