Gulfoss Tunnel is a railway

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

situated in

Melhus Municipality Melhus is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Melhus (village), village o ...

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,

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 tunnel runs beneath the village of Hovin, alongside the river Gaula past the Gulfossen waterfall. The tunnel carries a single, electrified track of the Dovrebanen railway line. The

Trondhjem–Støren Line The Trondhjem–Støren Line () was Trøndelag, Trøndelag's first railway. It opened on 5 August 1864, ten years after the Trunk Line between Oslo and Eidsvoll Municipality opened. The 49 kilometer long (later 51.1 km) railway line was nar ...

, which opened in 1864, crossed the river Gaula on a bridge to the opposite side of the river at the current site of the tunnel. This section of track was a challenge due to regular flooding. With the 1908 decision to build the Dovrebanen Line and gauge conversion, the Gulfossen section became one of two parts of the line to be reworked. Gulfoss Tunnel opened on 6 July 1918.

Specifications

The Gulfoss Tunnel has a length of and carries a single track of electrified, standard gauge railway. Situated on the Dovre Line, the southern end is situated from

Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...

. Immediately to the north is a bridge which crosses Gaula.

History

The Trondhjem–Støren Line opened in 1864. At Gulfossen, the line was carried across the river Gaula on a bridge. The Gaula had proved to be a challenge for keeping the railway running due to its fairly regular flooding. The first major flood took place in May 1879, causing landslides along the line at several parts. Following the 1908 decision to extend the Dovre Line to Trondheim, 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 ...

decided to upgrade two sections of the Trondhjem–Støren Line along with a gauge conversion to standard gauge. In addition to part of the line north of Heimdal, this involved building a new section past Gulfossen. The break-through of the tunnel took place on 18 June 1915, and was followed by a new and smaller bridge crossing Gaula, which was completed in early 1918. A flood hit the section of track past Gulfossen on 23 June 1918, washing away the line. NSB dispatched 300 workers to the area, including 150 army engineers. The immediately started work on laying tracks through the tunnel, allowing the new segment to be taken into use on 6 July. The tunnel was electrified on 1 November 1970.

References

Bibliography

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Footnotes

{{Portal bar, Trains, Norway Railway tunnels in Trøndelag Melhus 1918 establishments in Norway Tunnels completed in 1918 Tunnels on the Røros Line Tunnels on the Dovre Line