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The Flam Railway

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Over Christmas 2018 I have been reading through a number of old copies of 'The Railway Magazine'. Most of the magazines were from 1950. I found an article about the Flam railway in Norway and thought that members of the forum might be interested.

It was the plan of the 'spiral at the head of the valley that grabbed my attention.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2019/01/01/the-flam-railway-in-1950/
...Before the mainline from Bergen to Oslo was completed, it was proposed to supercede this steep and winding road by a railway from Myrdal to Flam. The rise to Myrdal was 2,800 ft., the majority of which occurred in the short length at the head of the valley. Exceptionally severe gradients were unavoidable. It was obvious that, if the railway was to be operated by adhesion, it would be necessary to increase the length of the line by a spiral. The idea was, as a result, shelved for a number of years.

The railway was authorised in 1924, and construction began almost at once,
with the boring of Vatnahalsen Tunnel, near Myrdal. This remarkable tunnel is 1,000 yd, long, and describes a reverse curve of 7.5 ch. radius in the mountainside, on a gradient of 1 in 19. The upper portal is 132 ft. above the lower. About 700 yd. of the bore were driven from the lower level. Only a small staff was employed, and ten years were occupied in the construction of the tunnel..
 
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RailUK Forums

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Just found this while looking at various sites about Norwegian Rail!

https://www.visitnorway.com/media/n...ce-the-worlds-best-train-ride-in-360-degrees/

...The result – Virtual Flåm – lets you experience the 44 minute train ride between Myrdal station and Flåm through the lens of a 360 degree camera, allowing you to enjoy an unobstructed view of the beautiful sights in all directions. Read more and try Virtual Flåm.

There are two versions. If you have a VR headset like Google Cardboard at hand, immerse yourself in that one. If you just want to view this on an ordinary screen, opt for the video version....
 
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Calthrop

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The Flam line generally reckoned, I think, Norway's No.1 scenic rail glory. Had had the impression that -- rather amazingly -- it had fairly recently been through a spell of closure: but a bit of Net-searching revealed that though at one point in the early 1990s its future was seen as very uncertain; it hasn't "closed its doors" since inauguration. I discover that though construction began, as per Post #1's link, in 1924; a decidedly long time went by between then, and completion and opening-throughout: for freight in Aug. 1940, and passenger in Feb. 1941. (The occupying Germans were active in seeing to it that the line's thus coming to be fully "in business", was achieved.)

This thread had me looking for the first time in years, at my copy of H.A. Vallance's Railway Holiday in northern Norway and Sweden (chronicling a 1963 tour by the author). Realisation dawned, that his tour per this book does not include the Flam line: with much of his travels devoted to Sweden before reaching Norway, his Norwegian doings were in the north and east of the country: -- Flam too far west for his itinerary. He would no doubt have loved the line and rhapsodised about it, if inclusion of it had been possible -- much of his book is given to extolling scenic delights, sometimes (ironically in a "Railway Holiday" series) at the expense of anything directly railway-related: Mr. Vallance was per his writing, very much an "aesthete", not a "techie".
 
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I guess there is a lot to compare with the style of Michael Portillo's Railway Journeys on the TV?
 

Calthrop

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At least Vallance wasn't forever breaking off for sessions of goofily playing at herring-curing, or reindeer-herding, or whatever, with the next bunch of "locals". Portillo gets up my nose, I'm afraid; but I'm often a miserable, unpleasable wretch.
 

Bevan Price

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Some photos from the early 1980s. One shows a snowshed at one end of Vatnahalsen Tunnel. The other is a view from one train, looking down at another.
mxbp221c05.jpg mxbp220c36a_Vatnahasen.jpg
 
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At least Vallance wasn't forever breaking off for sessions of goofily playing at herring-curing, or reindeer-herding, or whatever, with the next bunch of "locals". Portillo gets up my nose, I'm afraid; but I'm often a miserable, unpleasable wretch.

I watch it sparingly. ....
 
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