Rjukanbanen

Mæl – Rjukan
Route length:	16 km Vemorksporet: 5.22 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	1911–1966: 10 kV, 16 2/3 Hz ~ from 1966: 15 kV, 16.7 Hz  ~
Maximum slope :	18 ‰ Vemorksporet: 55.6  ‰
Minimum radius :	180 m Vemorksporet: 56 m
Operating points and routes
Legend 21.22 Vemork 560  moh. 20.08 Rasoverbygg (77 m) Rjukan Saltpeter Factory 15.95 Rjukan (until Nov. 15, 1912 Saaheim ) 303  moh. 15.23 Saaheim tunnel (242 m, since 1912) 14.63 Mæland overgang (July 10, 1928 to November 24, 1941) 14.44 Måna (Mæland bru, 41 m) 14.63 Øvre platform (also "blindtarmen" , until Nov. 24, 1941) 13.81 Ingolfsland (station until May 1, 1969) 277  moh. 13.35 Tveito (March 13, 1916–1924 November 1941, from 1945–1 Aug 1960) 12.60 Bjørkhaug (from Aug. 1, 1960) 11.43 Øverland (until Nov. 11, 1942) 1 Svadde industriområde (from 1981) 0 10.38 Øverland sidespor to the Moflat power station 10.34 Mår Kraftverkskanal (11 m) 10.11 Øverland (from November 11, 1942) 254  moh. 6.55 Skeie (Nov. 1953 – June 1959 Gaustadjordet ) 4.44 Miland (May 1, 1917 to April 14, 1969) 208  moh. 4.48 Måna (41 m) 2.39 Canal (about 18 m) 1.10 Buslåtten (October 1953 – June 1959 platform km 1.1 ) 0.70 Rollagåna (11 m) 0.39 Mæl (until February 15, 1921 Rollag ) 192  moh. to Tinnoset on the Tinnosbane

Rjukanbanen (until 1920 RB , then Rj.B. ) is part of a former transport connection in southern Norway ( Vestfold and Telemark province ).

It runs under the name Vestfjorddalsbanen as an electrified industrial railway from Rjukan to Mæl . There is a railway ferry connection over the Tinnsjø ( German  "See bei Tinn " ) to Tinnoset , where there is a connection to the network of Bane NOR , the successor company of Norges Statsbaner (NSB).

It is part of a 46 km long, in Norwegian parlance, semi-public route network that was opened in 1909 and was built with high government subsidies. In addition to Vestfjorddalsbanen (today's Rjukanbane ) and the shipping line, the company also included Tinnosbane , which began in Tinnoset and was taken over by a state railway company on July 25, 1913 and led by NSB since July 1, 1920.

history

Following a decision by Storting, the railway was built on July 17, 1907 by Norsk Transportaktieselskab (from March 14, 1973 Hydro Transport as) and inaugurated on August 9, 1909 by King Haakon VII . Rails weighing 25 kg per meter were used. Internal freight trains for Norsk Hydro started running on February 18, 1909.

The Vemorksporet between Rjukan and Vemork was completed in January 1909. Until it was dismantled in 1991, it was only used by freight trains.

After a short operating time, the decision was made to electrify the line. An alternating voltage of 10,000  volts was selected as the operating voltage , the frequency was 16 2/3 Hertz . Electrical operation began on November 30, 1911. On March 18, 1966, the voltage was changed to 15,000 volts and a train protection system was introduced on the line .

The route leads from Rjukan and there from the chemical and hydroelectric power station of Norsk Hydro near Vemork over 16 km to Mæl am Tinnsjø. From here the train ferry ran 30 km south to Tinnoset. In Tinnoset, the Tinnosbane , a state railway line that is no longer used as planned, provides the connection to the rest of the route network. The piece from Vemork to Rjukan is not electrified. The power plant in Vemork supplied the electricity required for operation.

Technical facilities

A station building existed in Mæl, which was converted into an office for the station master in 1917. It was replaced by a building built in 1917 that still exists. The building built in Miland was demolished in 1989, the one in Øverland was sold and converted. Ingolfsland received a ticket kiosk in 1915, which was demolished in 1921. This was replaced by a station building that was sold. The building in Rjukan is there. All buildings were designed by the architect T. Astrup.

There was a turntable in Mæl and a locomotive shed and turntable in Rjukan .

traffic

After the construction of the power station in Vemork, the railway line was used to transport the chemical plant connected to the power station. Norsk Hydro mainly produced artificial fertilizers . During the Second World War , the plant was fiercely contested because the heavy water needed to build an atomic bomb could be produced there.

→ Main article : Rjukan

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  Rollag (1911)

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  Mæl (1925)

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  Mæl (2004)

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  Tinnoset (2004)

In addition to goods traffic, passenger traffic was operated. In the 1930s there was a direct sleeper connection to Oslo .

Passenger traffic on the route was discontinued on May 31, 1970, and on the ferries in 1985. Freight traffic was also discontinued on July 5, 1991, as part of the production was relocated to Porsgrunn and a new road connection was established on the west side of Tinnsjø was. Museum trains operated by the Rjukanbanen Foundation then ran until around the year 2000 . Since then, the systems have increasingly rotten. The contact wire is still hanging, and a section of the route could be driven with draisines in summer . Museum railway has been in operation again since 2016.

Before the liberalization of rail transport, the railway was Norway's last private railway. It had the now newly assigned UIC membership number: "65 RjB"

vehicles

Ferries

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  D / F Rjukanfos in Tinnoset (1910)

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  D / F Hydro in Mæl (1925)

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  D / F Ammonia in Mæl (2004)

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  M / F Storegut in Tinnoset (2004)

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  M / F Storegut and D / F Ammonia in Mæl (2013)

After a few smaller ships, the steam ferries Hydro and Ammonia were used from 1929 .

D / F Hydro was sunk in an act of war in 1944, it lies at a depth of 430 m. In 1956 the motor ferry Storegut was put into operation, but the D / F Ammonia remained operational as a reserve ship. It is said that M / F Storegut is the largest inland ship in Scandinavia and D / F Ammonia is the last steam-powered rail ferry in the world that still exists.

The two ferries were used as parking spaces for the former RjB vehicles. Both ferries were out of service in Mæl in 2013.

Rail vehicles

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  Locomotive 9 in Rjukan

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  Locomotive 1 in Hamar

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  Ammonia wagon

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  El 1 in Tinnoset (around 1948)

The last time on the Rjukanbanen were the electric locomotives No. 9 and 10 built by Jung / Sécheron in 1958 . There were also three Henschel -Dieselloks type DHG 500 (built in 1961) for the shunting and the non-electrified connector Vemork-Rjukan.

The Rjukanbanen Foundation took over locomotives 9 and 10 as well as Henschelloks 20 and 22. Locomotive 24, the former Skd 213 65 is also available. In addition, other historic NSB vehicles have accumulated, such as the El 9 2064 and a number of railcars , intermediate cars and control cars from the BM 67 and BM 68 series . There are also several freight cars, material and work cars (as of 2006).

Current state

The M / F Storegut was taken out of the water for an investigation in May 2009 to classify the entire region, including the railway line, the vehicles and the ferries, as a World Heritage Site . The railway line with the railway ferries should be reactivated for museum operations. The Norwegian state made 6.5 million kroner available for the measure through Riksantikvaren and government funds. The aim was to put the ship back into operation for the 100th anniversary of the railway. Special steam trains and the ferry operated for the anniversary on August 9, 2009 - State Secretary Robin Martin Kåss from the government was present.

The facilities around Vemork, including the railway line and the previous accommodation, were added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site together with Notodden in July 2015 . In July 2015 the M / F Storegut drove between Mæl and Tinnoset according to schedule. The train has been running again since 2016, but only with diesel operation. In addition, locomotive 20 received a general inspection in Trondheim and took over the tourist trains. Diesel locomotives 19 and 24 are available and were ready to run in 2016. In 2017, Rjukanbanen received over 9 million crowns from Riksantikvaren for further refurbishment of vehicles and systems. The exchange of sleepers between Rjukan and Mæl was postponed after the oldest and worst 4200 sleepers were replaced in summer 2016.

Work began in 2017 on renovation work on the ferry docks in Tinnoset and Mæl, the repair of the Rjukan train station, as well as an inspection of the paintwork and the cutting of the ten beacons on the lake shore.

literature

• Richard Latten, From Fehmarnsund to the North Cape , Railway in Scandinavia Volume 1, 1993, Verlag Schweers and Wall, ISBN 3-921679-85-0
• Wolfgang alper: Heavy water… In: Eisenbahn Geschichte 37 (2009), pp. 69–73.
• Jan Roger Birkelund: Rjukanbanen 100 år . Ed .: Norsk Jernbanemuseum. Telemark 2009, ISBN 978-82-92053-35-5 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 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 , p. 294 (Norwegian).
2. ↑ 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 , p. 286 (Norwegian).
3. ↑ 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 , p. 210 (Norwegian).
4. ↑ 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 , p. 11 (Norwegian).
5. ↑ 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 , p. 13, 15 (Norwegian).
6. ↑ 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 , p. 21 (Norwegian).
7. ↑ Per Berntsen: Aerial view of the Storegut . Tinnoset Railway station, Ferry Quay and Slipway. In: unesco.org. Retrieved July 8, 2015 . 
8. ^ Rjukan / Notodden and Odda / Tyssedal Industrial Heritage Sites, Hydro Electrical Powered Heavy Industries with associated Urban Settlements (Company Towns) and Transportation System. unesco.org, November 26, 2009, archived from the original on January 30, 2012 ; accessed on July 8, 2015 . 
9. ↑ Jarle Pedersen: Verdensarven dratt på land. ta.no, May 18, 2009, accessed September 28, 2014 (Norwegian). 
10. ↑ Jarle Pedersen: Ønsker "Storegut" sjøsatt til jubileum. ta.no, January 26, 2009, accessed September 28, 2014 (Norwegian). 
11. ↑ Rjukanbanen 100 år. In: Regjeringen Stoltenberg II. Dokumentarkiv, Olje- og energidepartementet, August 10, 2009, accessed on September 28, 2014 (Norwegian). 
12. ^ Rjukan – Notodden Industrial Heritage Site. Entry in the UNESCO list. Retrieved July 8, 2016 . 
13. ↑ M / F STOREGUT, RUTETABELL JULY 2015. (No longer available online.) In: rjukan.nia.eyego.no/. Archived from the original on November 17, 2015 ; Retrieved November 16, 2015 (Norwegian). 
14. ↑ Riksantikvarens tildeling, Rjukanbanen land 2017. rjukanbanen.no, archived from the original on September 25, 2017 ; Retrieved May 13, 2019 (Norwegian). 

Web links

Commons : Rjukanbanen  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Video of the 100th anniversary of the railway
• Postcard: Saaheim train station
• Postcard: Opening of the Rjukan Railway, 1909
• Postmark of the Rjukan Railway
• BahnInfo southern Norway via the Rjukanbahn