Andalsnes Museumtog Report
87015
Norwegian Charter Train trip from early October

Copied from, rather than a straight link, my euro-nedding site  where bigger versions of the photos can...
RailUK Forums
Norwegian Charter Train trip from early October

Copied from, rather than a straight link, my euro-nedding site http://87015aewn.wordpress.com/2016/10/17/nsb-museumtog-to-andalsnes/ where bigger versions of the photos can be found. I can't be bothered to link them individually on here...

Another quick weekend trip and for a change heading more north than east  to Norway. This was planned as a simple trip to cover a museum charter that covered the Andalsnes line with proper NSB power in recently preserved Di3b 642. We flew out Friday and unfortunately straight into a drivers strike at NSB that effectively decimated the move with many cancellations to what little hauled turns there should have been in the first place  so the Friday peak move was cut down from seven potential locos to just three. Thankfully, we managed to not loose anything that really mattered but it was yet another trip with a few worried days before it!

El 18 2253 at Drammen working the 1546 Oslo  Bergen.

Classmate 18 2253 was our horse back from Drammen, working the 1017 ex Stavanger.

The next day, and after suffering some Flirt Deathtrap from Oslo, Di3 642 at Hamar awaiting departure time with its 0930 Adex to Hamar.

The run along the mainline beyond Lillehammer as the Nohab climbed up to Dombas was decent enough itself, but once on the branch the scenery just continued to notch up. The photostops were annoyingly policed sharply for track walking so this was the available view of Di3 642 at Verne, there is another level of track up the hillside to the right somewhere and then another on the valley floor a long way down to the left!

At Romdalshorn (?) in the shade of the mountains shortly before the dash into Andalsnes. The sun doesn't get this far, creating that light show in the background.

Running round at Andalsnes after the loco had been turned. I believe this is because the EH equipment in these makes one end significantly louder so is avoided by drivers.

WOW! Di 3 642 at Andalsnes with fjords and mountains all around. It would work back at 16.30 to Hamar, there might not have been much at Andalsnes but absolutely worth the effort for that view, let alone the countless ones en-route....

A few pictures taken from the DMU train window on the branch line from Dombas last June.

By the way, I paid the equivalent of £11 for an imported 33cl Belgian beer in a hotel in Narvik; needless to say, I didn't have a second. That was pretty unaffordable even then - very glad we went to Norway before the Pound fell off a cliff to its present level.

Wow those pictures are amazing. I've got a friend who lives in Norway and often tells me about the price of beer etc, but also the fantastic quality of life, the beer may be expensive but looking at the pictures on this thread though makes you realise why he lives there...

WOW that looks simply amazing!

*Bumps up Norway on the list of places to go*

Worth noting the first two photos both say 18 2253 for the loco, was this correct?

Norway has been known to be beautiful for a long time, and I was meant to go in 2014 but it didn't work out. However it is going to happen, I will go on my own if I have to! Expect some discussion in early 2017 gang, and I need to figure out some holiday dates quickly as I'm told 2017 is filling up fast at work for holiday time requests. Kite, expect a text in the near future

I love the photos. -15 sounds pretty cold though...

It's fine if you have sensible clothing, and the best part is that it's very dry (the moisture in the air gets frozen out) - not like our cool, damp, miserable winters. Unfortunately you can't easily make snowballs - the snow is too dry and powdery to stick together

Walking around Kirkenes - the woman in the centre is pushing a sled with the shopping on it:

Kirkenes in January by ac6044cw, on Flickr

They don't put salt and grit on the roads - just plough them, fit studded tyres and drive on the hard packed snow. There is a 5.3 mile railway line in the area (the world's second most northerly railway, apparently), built to link iron ore mines to the port at Kirkenes.