norwegian steam trains

8/19/2019 Norwegian Steam Trains

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RAILROADS IN NORWAY

The Steam Period, 1854 to 1960

The first Norwegian railway was officially opened in 1854. Like all early railways, it was

heavily influenced by Robert Stephenson and his 1829 creation, The Rocket. The first railand rail vehicles were introduced long before The Rocket, but his engine, when it came, wasfar ahead of the competition. It was essentially the first modern steam engine, and as suchstarted the railroad revolution. The first Norwegian engines were built by Stephenson’s company, though from a later and improved design. The first US engine, John Bull, which oper-ated in New Jersey from 1831, was likewise from Stephenson’s company.

The first Norwegian railroad company was a private undertaking, financed and staffed to agreat degree from England. The name was Norsk Hoved Jernbane, NHJ. (literally Norwe-gian Trunk Railroad) It remained in private hands for many years, but most of the followinglines were built and operated by the State. The first of many was established in 1857, and in1883 the various state lines were combined into Norges Stats Baner, NSB. (Norwegian State

Railroads) NHJ was eventually absorbed into NSB in 1926, but the original line is still calledHovedbanen.

Hovedbanen ran from Kristiania (Oslo) to Eidsvold, reflecting an effort to take the timbertransport away from the river Glomma. It was built in what is termed Standard gauge, whichmeans the rails are 1,435 mm apart. Most European and American railroads use the samegauge. After Hovedbanen was finished, some of the subsequent lines were, for financial rea-sons, built with narrower gauges. Narrow gauge allows for cheaper construction of bothtrack and equipment. Probably a good idea in a resource poor country, but it created many problems for the Norwegian railroad network later on. Incidentally 1,435 mm is the samewidth the Roman Empire had standardized for their chariots.

Type 14. Baldwin engine. Delivered 1879



Most of the early rolling stock came from England, but soon after the opening Norwegianindustry started manufacturing coaches, freight cars and related equipment, reflecting whathappened in most countries, including the US. At this time Norway was a poor agriculturalsociety, and the only export articles of any significance were Timber and Fish. What indus-try existed tended to support these groups. Geographically Norwegian industry was concen-

trated in the south east, i.e. in Oslo and vicinity, with minor centers in Trondheim and Ber-gen. The first Norwegian built steam engine came from the Trondheim factory “Fabrikenved Nidelven” in 1861. It was not very successful, and remained the only engine deliveredfrom that company. It took another 30 years before locomotive building restarted in Norway,and at that time Norwegian industry had a competence and technology on par with othercountries. From 1894 Norwegian built engines became mainstream, and the two major Nor-wegian manufacturers were situated in Oslo (Thune Mekaniske Verksted) and Hamar.(Hamar Jernstøperi) Their combined production was 322 engines, most of which were goodreliable designs. The most famous Norwegian steam engine was Type 49, known as Dov-regubben. (The Dovre Giant) The first of these technologically advanced 150 ton enginesentered service in 1938 and they had very high power to weight ratios. Unfortunately theywere not very reliable and were withdrawn in 1957. The reliability problem was partly

caused by the outbreak of the war and insufficient time to test out the design. I worked atThune in the early 1980’s, and some of the older employees were still complaining about thefate of the Dovregubben engines. The Norwegian Railroad Museum in Hamar has a Dov-regubbe in its collection.

A high percentage of the 875 steam engines used in Norway were from local companies, but

foreign manufacturers, English, Swiss, Swedish, Belgian, German, French, US and Italianwere also represented. Living in Philadelphia it is an interesting fact that the only non Euro- pean supplier was Baldwin Locomotive Works. The first of 66 engines were delivered in1879, the last in 1919. Baldwin was for many years the worlds largest steam engine manu-facturer, and Baldwin engines were preferred by NSB when short delivery times were important. They were not ideal for the Norwegian network and weather conditions, and werequite ‘controversial’ among Norwegian engineers and maintenance personnel. One problemwas that most of the engines Baldwin delivered were heavier than the factory said they were.

Type 49 Dovregubben. Thune Photo 1938



This may not have been important on the heavy rails used in the USA, but for NSB it created problems. The first batch of engines could not even be used for their original purpose. An-other difference from European manufacturers was that Baldwin mass produced engineswith standardized parts. This allowed short delivery times and good prices, but also inferiorengineering tolerances. Consequently they used more coal than comparable European en-

gines. Still, few foreign manufacturers delivered as many engines to Norway as Baldwin.

Dovregubben in many ways marked the ‘swan song’ of Norwegian designed steam engines.Today we view steam trains pretty much the same way we look at the dinosaurs, i.e. ancientand unsophisticated. However, in the 19th century steam trains were the pinnacle of technolo-gy. It is easy to forget that before the advent of steam engines, nothing moved man across

the surface of the earth faster than a horse!

The railway was instrumental in transforming Norway from farming to an industrial society.However, in the 1930’s, the Railways lost its image as the bringer of technology and pro-gress, and the airplane took that place in the public imagination. After 1945 NSB wentthrough a major transition phase, and it was all about diesel and electric locomotives.Though more sophisticated, they had none of the charm and romance that followed steam.Besides, the diesel and electric engines were mainly license built and/or customized foreigndesigns. Today even that is history and most engines are imported.

In the 21st century the railroads may no longer be viewed with fascination, but their im- portance is undiminished. Railroad companies carry more freight than ever, and in most in-

dustrialized countries, though not in the US, high speed passenger train lines are opened on aregular basis. Manufacturing of trains and engines is increasingly global, with a handful ofmanufacturers offering standardized types that are modified according to the customers’wishes. Norwegian equipment tend to have adjustments necessary to deal with adverseweather and snow conditions, and the visible modifications often take the form of alternatewindscreen shapes and different cooling/heating fans.

Type 34. Baldwin engine. Delivered 1917



Norwegian Steam Engines

Above, Type 30, A Thune engine. Below, old newspaper photo of Type 63, nicknamed the Big German. No less than 74 of these engines remained in Norway after the war.



Above. Type 2, a Stephenson engine now in the Norwegian Railroad Museum in Hamar. Below is a Type 21, constructed by Thune Maskiner. Three Type 21 engines were the last steam engines used by NSB.



Today the Norwegian rail network is modern, fast and comfortable. Only one high speedline is operational, the Gardemoen Airport – Oslo line. Many of my readers are no doubtfamiliar with that train. The next time you are a passenger, reflect on the fact that to a largeextent it follows the same path Hovedbanen took 160 years ago.

MODEL RAILROADS

Being a model railroader at heart, I have to mention what is available to those of us who arestill young. The most popular model railroad size is called H0, and is in 1/87 scale. The major German model railroad manufacturers have always dominated the Norwegian market,and some Norwegian models can be found in their line-up. However, if you want to getsome unique Norwegian models, i.e. engines that have only been used in Norway, the prem-ier company to go to is Norsk Modell Jernbane. NMJ is located outside Oslo, and specializ-es in HO scale. They have without doubt the best collection of Norwegian steam enginesavailable, most of them in brass, They are fantastic, but expect to pay well over $1,000 foreach for these highly collectable and historic models. Go to: www.shop.nmj.no

READING

There are a number of Norwegian books about the Norwegian Railroads. In English the selection is narrower, but I can recommend the following books:

Damplokomotiver i Norge (Steam Engines in Norway) by Thor Bjerke. An excellent bookdetailing all Norwegian steam engines, but only a 3 page English summary at the end. However, many of the pictures are self explanatory.

Norwegian Railways, From Stephenson to High Speed by Roy Owen. A first class bookthat covers the history of railroading in Norway from 1854 to 1996 Great maps and illus-trations, but it could have benefited from more and better photographs.

NMJ Model. H0 Scale

http://www.nmj.no/

http://www.nmj.no/

http://www.nmj.no/

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