Askim–Solbergfosslinjen
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The Solbergfoss Line () was a
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
line which ran from Askim Station to
Solbergfoss Power Station Solbergfoss is a small village in Askim municipality, Norway. Located a few miles north of the town Askim on the east bank of the Glomma river, Solbergfoss has a power plant which was built in 1924. In 1918 a railway line, Askim–Solbergfosslinjen ...
, entirely in
Askim Askim () is a town and a former municipality in (from January 1, 2020) Indre Østfold municipality in the county of Østfold, Norway. The administrative centre of the Askim municipality was the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municip ...
,
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 ...
. The single-track,
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 ...
railway was an
industrial railway An industrial railway is a type of railway (usually private) that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics, or military site. In regions of the world influenced by British r ...
operated by the power station owned by Oslo Lysverker and the
Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate ( or NVE) is a Norwegian government agency established in 1921. It is under the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and regulates the country's water resources and energy supply. Its mandate in ...
. The line was completed in 1918. It was originally planned to be demolished in 1922, but the passenger trains proved popular and it continued in use until 1965. From 1928 it was served using
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. The tracks were demolished in 1970


Route

The Solbergfoss Line ran from Askim Station to
Solbergfoss Solbergfoss is a small village in Askim municipality, Norway. Located a few miles north of the town Askim on the east bank of the Glomma river, Solbergfoss has a power plant which was built in 1924. In 1918 a railway line, Askim–Solbergfosslinjen ...
, entirely located within the municipality of Askim. The Line was long, branching off from the Eastern Østfold Line. The line was standard gauge, but never equipped with a signaling system. The line did not have any stations, only four
flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...
s in addition to Askim Station.Bjerke & Holom: 287 As the line was planned to be temporary, it received a low standard. The minimum curve radius was and nearly 20 percent of the line has a gradient of 2.5 percent.Aspenberg: 65 The line had rails weighing 30 kg/m (60 lb/ft).Langård & Ruud: 110 The line started at Askim Station. After the line crosses over the Kolstad Bridge. It reached Onstad () and then crossed Skaarud Bridge () before reaching Tømt () and Oppegaard. The terminus was at Solbergfoss (). There was en engine shed there. Little of the line remains. There are some tracks left in the streets of Askim. The first out of Askim have been converted to a pathway, as has the section from Onstad to Tømt and the last to Solbergfoss. The engine shed at Solbergfoss remains.Aspenberg: 68


History

Oslo Municipality bought Wittenberg–Halfredfoss in Glomma in 1898. They issued an engineering competition, which concluded with that also Solbergfoss should be part of a hydropower station. Oslo Municipality therefore bought Solbergfoss in 1906. A committee was appointed in 1907 and recommended two years later that Mørkfoss and Solbergfoss be built at the same time. Construction started in 1913. An agreement with the government allowed for a joint construction of the power from 1916. The power station was dimensioned for a production of 115 megawatts and 670 GWh/year. To allow for easier construction, Oslo Lysverker decided to build a railway line from Askim to the construction site. It was planned to only be used during the construction period, and was therefore built with a low standard. Construction of the track was carried out in 1913, and the government issued permission for a temporary line on 1 May 1914. The line was fully operational in 1918. During the construction period the railway rented some
compartment coach A compartment coach is a railway passenger coach (US: passenger car (rail), passenger car) divided into separate areas or compartments, with no means of moving between compartments. The compartment coach should not be confused with the corrido ...
es from the
Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...
(NSB). A Danish steam locomotive was bought in 1919 and an
NSB Class 9 NSB may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * Natural Snow Buildings, a French experimental music duo *Nihilist Spasm Band, Canadian free improvisation musical collective *Nu skool breaks, a subgenre of breakbeat music originating during the p ...
was borrowed in 1920. The latter was needed to overcome the snow during winter. Passenger transport proved popular and when construction of the power station was completed in 1922, there was public demand for operations to continue. Langård & Ruud: 112 Another advantage was that it would allow heavy machinery and other materials to be transported to the power station at a later date. Passenger traffic was limited, and there were never more than two to three daily round trips.Aspenberg: 67 The first railcar was bought in 1928, allowing both the remaining steam locomotives to be chopped in 1930. Freight trains to the power station were thereafter operated using a shunter from SB. A second railcar was bought in 1938. From the 1950s there was increasing car traffic, taking patronage away from the railway. From the late 1950s to 1965 most of the traffic was as a school transport. The last major transport to the power station took place in 1948. As operations had run with a loss for many years, the power station owners decided to terminate operations from 4 January 1965. Initially operations were merely temporarily placed on hood. The tracks were kept and the railcars parked at the depot at Solbergfoss. A few freight trains were run, but this stopped after one derailed. The newly formed
Norwegian Railway Club The Norwegian Railway Club () is an association which is involved in the preservation of Norwegian museum railways. NMT has its operating base at Hønefoss Station in Ringerike, Norway. The society was founded on 22 May 1969, and is based at ...
was given the two railcars in 1969. These were driven to Askim and then transported onward to the
Krøderen Line The Krøderen Line () is a heritage railway line connecting the Krøderen lake in Buskerud county, Norway, to the town of Vikersund. The line was built as a narrow gauge branch line of the Randsfjord Line by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) ...
. They were renovate and have since become part of the
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) ...
operations there. The tracks were demolished in 1970.


Rolling stock

During the power station construction, the company hired in locomotives. The two most used was ''St Olof'' and ''Bayreuth'', the latter which was a
Bavarian D IV The little D IV was one of the most frequently seen tank locomotives in the stations of the Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königlich Bayerische Staatsbahn''). The Deutsche Reichsbahn took over almost all of them, 124 in total, of which 24 were ...
built in 1883 and delivered to the
Royal Bavarian State Railways The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...
. When permanent traffic commenced in 1922, the company bought two used locomotives. One was bought from the Lemvig–Thyborøn Line in Denmark in 1918. The second was a used NSB Class 9 which was procured in 1922. The railway bought two railcars for its passenger services, named ''Gamla'' and ''Padda''. Both were two-axled and powered with a gasoline
prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine or motor), a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc.) into ener ...
. ''Gamla'' was built by
Hässleholm Hässleholm is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Hässleholm Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 18,500 inhabitants in 2011. Overview Hässleholm was gradually developed from 1860 in connection with the construction of the m ...
and seating for 17 passengers. It was powered by a 49-kW (66-HP)
Willys-Knight Willys-Knight is an automobile that was produced between 1914 and 1933 by the Willys-Overland Company of Toledo, Ohio. John North Willys purchased the Edwards Motor Car Company of Long Island, New York, in 1913, moving the operation to Elyri ...
engine. ''Padda'' was bought from NSB and was built by Skabo. It was powered by a 98-kW (133-HP)
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
engine. It had space for 24 passengers.


References


Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Railway lines in Østfold Railway lines opened in 1918 1918 establishments in Norway Private railway lines in Norway Askim