The Urskog–Høland Line (), also known as Tertitten, is a

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

between

Sørumsand Sørumsand is a small railway town, situated in Lillestrøm municipality in Akershus in Norway. Sørumsand was the terminus of Urskog-Hølandsbanen also known as "Tertitten". Stomperud A well known figure from Sørumsand (Sørum) is the cartoo ...

and Skulerud in

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 ...

History

The original line was long and was built in three stages: Urskogbanen opened in 1896, running from Bingsfossen to

Bjørkelangen Bjørkelangen is a village of 3,196 inhabitants (January 2015 figures) in the Akershus county of south-eastern Norway. Located immediately north of Lake Bjørkelangen, it became the administrative centre of the Aurskog-Høland Aurskog-Høland i ...

; Hølandsbanen from Bjørkelangen to Skulerud opened in 1898 and finally the line between Bingsfos and

in 1903. Today part of the line is preserved as a museum at Sørumsand in

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Akershus county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger ...

kommune. The railway company was headquartered at Bjørkelangen. The line was built in the least expensive way as a so-called tertiary railway with a

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

track. This gave the line its diminutive, affectionate nickname, "Tertitten". The railway was run as a privately owned joint stock company until 1945 when it was bought by the government and run by 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) under the name Aurskog-Hølandbanen. The basis for the railway lay mostly in forest and agriculture products.

Lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

was transported to Skulerud and from there it was rafted to

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...

. At one time a tour billed as "The Great Roundtrip" was a popular tourist attraction, combining the train ride with a boat ride on the steam ship "

DS Turisten DS may refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * Nintendo DS, handheld game console * '' Deca Sports'', a sports video game series ** ''Deca Sports'' (video game), the first game of the series * '' Double Spoiler'', a game in the ''Touhou Pr ...

" which trafficked the

Halden Canal The Halden Canal near Halden, Norway, began construction in 1852. The canal allows boats to travel parallel to the Swedish border of 75 km from Tistedal to Skulerud. Engebret Soot (1786 - 1859) was responsible for this canal, as well as the ...

The restoration

A cooperative consisting of volunteers was established in 1961 with the aim of securing the line for posterity. A 3-kilometer track at Sørumsand was given to the group along with two

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s and some other stock. The first run as a heritage railway was undertaken in 1966. This stretch had no buildings or side tracks, and all facilities which meet the present-day visitor was built after becoming a heritage railway. Three of the steam locomotives and two passenger carriages were restored. When the heritage railway was established the terminus was just outside the town center of Sørumsand, with the track leading to the station building already having been removed. In 1987 the line had been extended and the first train could depart from the town center again. After another two years the entire operation, including station building, was finished, and the extended track was officially inaugurated. The entire complex is protected by law. The Urskog–Høland Line is now a museum under the umbrella of Museene i Akershus (MiA) run i cooperation with "Venneforeningen Tertitten".

Locomotives

Steam

Diesel

Rolling stock

Passenger

Freight

External links

Photos from Urskog-HølandsbanenUrskog-Høland Line Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urskog-Holand Line Heritage railways in Norway Museums established in 1966 Museums in Akershus Private railway lines in Norway Railway lines in Akershus Railway lines opened in 1896 Railway lines closed in 1961 1896 establishments in Norway 1966 establishments in Norway 750 mm gauge railways in Norway