Numedalsbanen
Encyclopedia
The Numedal Line is a 92.8 kilometres (57.7 mi) long railway line that runs up the Numedal
valley between Kongsberg
and Rødberg
in Buskerud
, Norway
. Built and operated by the Norwegian State Railways, the non-electrified, standard gauge
line passes through the municipalities of Kongsberg, Flesberg
, Rollag
and Nore og Uvdal
. It is now owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
The first plans for a line through Numedal were launched after the Sørland Line reached in Kongsberg in 1871. After it was decided that the Bergen Line would instead follow Hallingdal
, the Numedal plans lay dead until it was decided that a railway was necessary to build two hydroelectric power stations near Rødberg. The plans were passed in 1918, the first trains started running in 1924 and the line was officially opened in 1927. At first all services were provided with steam locomotive
s, but from the 1930s diesel multiple unit
s were used for passenger trains. The line was frequented with classes Cmd 16, 86
, 87 and 91. The last regular train ran in 1988; since, there has been sporadic freight service and some heritage trains running from Kongsberg to Rollag. Draisine
rental is available on the section from Veggli to Rødberg. The line is proposed to be preserved as a cultural heritage
.
, which is located 99.37 kilometres (61.7 mi) from Oslo Central Station and 161.9 metres (531.2 ft) above mean sea level
(AMSL). The line runs past four stops, Spiten, Pikerfoss, Gleda and Herbru, before reaching a branch to Svene Gravel Pit, 3.48 kilometres (2.2 mi) from Kongsberg. The line continues past the halts Ramsrud, Svene, Furuly and Toresplassen before reaching Lampeland Station, 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) from Kongsberg. The line then passes over Lyngdalselva on a 27 metres (88.6 ft) bridge and continues past the stops Fløtterud, Ruud, Vangestad and Eie before reaching the branch to the sawmill
Numedal Bruk, 29.69 kilometres (18.4 mi) from Kongsberg, which is located just south of Flesberg Station.
The line continues past the stops Bjørnsrud, Bakkerud and Fossan before reaching the 228 metres (748 ft) Helle Tunnel and then Djupdal Station 40.63 kilometres (25.2 mi) after Kongsberg. The line then runs through the 78 metres (255.9 ft) Ulvik Tunnel and the 57 metres (187 ft) Gygrestigen Tunnel. It then passes the halt Selsteigen before running through the 44 metres (144.4 ft) Selsteigen Tunnel. After passing through the halt Kjome, the line reaches Rollag Station, which is 46.8 kilometres (29.1 mi) from Kongsberg. Since 1989, this is the furthest north the line is kept operational, although the track remains all the way to Rødberg.
The line continues past the stops Tråen, Rollag kirke, Bråten, Sjorsåte, over the 65 metres (213.3 ft) Bruhaug Bridge, past the stops Laugi, Vamre, Risteigen and then passes over the river Veggli elv on a 30 metres (98.4 ft) long bridge. At 60.81 kilometres (37.8 mi) after Kongsberg the line reaches Veggli Station, before continuing past the stops Tveitkåsa, Kjerre, Fossebrekke and then through two tunnels, Gjeiteryggen I and Gjeiteryggen II, which are 572 metres (1,876.6 ft) and 246 metres (807.1 ft) long, respectively. The line then passes by the stops Kravikfjord, Kittelsland, Eidsstrykken, a 30 metres (98.4 ft) bridge over Eidsåa, the stops Norefjord, Svendsrud and the 146 metres (479 ft) Rundberg Tunnel. The line then runs past the stop Midtstigen and Søndre Sandnes before running through five tunnels, named Sandnes I and II, Vrennedalen I and II, and Bondeberg, which are between 12 metre long. Just before Gvammen Station, which is 87.39 kilometres (54.3 mi) from Kongsberg, there is a branch to Nore II Power Station.
The line then runs through six tunnels, named Gvamsås I through V, and Hvilsten. These are between 156 and 16 m (511.8 and 52.5 ) long. The line then passes past Rødberg vokterbolig, which is 90.92 kilometres (56.5 mi) form Kongsberg and is, at 395 metres (1,295.9 ft) AMSL the highest point on the line. The line then passes over Uvdalselva on a 35 metres (114.8 ft) combined road and rail bridge, before reaching Rødberg, 92.84 kilometres (57.7 mi) from Kongsberg.
With the construction of the Sørland Line to Kongsberg, which opened on 10 November 1871, proposals were launched to extend the line up Numedal. On 16 August 1873, a meeting was held between representatives from the municipalities in Numedal to discuss how they could convince national politicians to build the Bergen Line through Numedal. However, instead the Bergen Line was decided to run through Hallingdal. What finally spurred the construction was the construction of hydroelectric power stations in the valley. In 1907, the government, through its power agency
, had secured rights to build a power station in the rivers Numedalslågen
and Tunnhovdfjorden. The state saw it as advantageous to build a railway through the valley to aid construction of Nore I and Nore II Power Station, despite the line not being on the railway plan. This was because machines weighting up to 40 tonnes (39.4 LT) would have to be transported up the valley. The initial estimates for the line was a cost of 8.3 million Norwegian krone
(NOK).
On 3 August 1918, the line was passed by the Parliament of Norway and it was decided that the line was to be built with standard gauge, which by then had become the norm. The decision was controversial, as the line was expected to have little traffic and would therefore not be profitable. A minority of the parliamentarians instead wanted the line to be built with narrow gauge
to reduce construction costs. The state required that local municipalities and counties contributed to some of the investment costs. NOK 1.2 million was paid by Buskerud County Municipality
, while NOK 2.17 million million was paid by the various municipalities. The largest amounts were paid by Flesberg with NOK 635,000, Nore
with NOK&nsbp;615,000 and Rollag with NOK 517,000, while Uvdal
paid NOK 198,000, Kongsberg NOK 125,000 and Drammen NOK 80,000.
Siting commenced in 1918, and by 1919, an administration for the works had been established in Kongsberg. Construction commenced on 2 July 1920, between Fossan and Bratterud. However, there quickly arose a strike
, resulting in construction not being taken up until March 1921. Final approval by parliament was first made on 20 July 1921. Most of the construction was done using hand tools. 543000 cubic metres (19,175,863.8 cu ft) of earth was moved, 217000 cubic metres (7,663,282.6 cu ft) of rock was blasted
and 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) of tunnel were built. 190000 cubic metres (6,709,786.6 cu ft) of ballast stone
were used, most of it from the gravel pits at Bevergrenda, Guribråten and Stevningsmogen, Tjuvhaugen and Skarpsmoen. The whole construction used seven million work hours and for the tunneling, each work hour gave 7 millimetre (0.275590551181102 in) of progress. Most of the tracks were used from other railways. Five of the station buildings, at Vangestad, Flesberg, Djupdal, Tråen and Kravikfjord, were workmen's sheds which had been placed on a foundation.
From 1924, the railway was taken partially into use. Trains could run the 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) from Kongsberg to Bakkerød from 15 November 1924, the 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) to Kjærre from 1 December 1925 and to Rødberg from 1 December 1926. These trains included transport of 950 tonnes (935 LT) of cement and 590 tonnes (580.7 LT) for the railway bridges. In total 4,300 wagon loads were transported before the official opening, of which about half was for the power stations. Because of the delay of building the line, it could only be used during part of the construction period for the power stations.
The official opening took place on 19 November 1927 by King Haakon VII
. When the line opened there were 21 manned station on the line. Up to 70 people worked on the line, in addition to station employees. In 1932, the operations were rationalized, cutting costs from NOK 426,000 to NOK 310,000 per year. This involved removing the station masters at fifteen stations and replacing them with a clerk.
Initially, all trains on the line were hauled by steam locomotives, in particular NSB Class 20 and NSB Class 21 brought in used from other lines. The first diesel multiple unit
s were taken into use in the 1930s, with the line seeing the use of both NSB Class Cmb 16 and Kristine Valdresdatter. During World War II
, the line was again entirely hauled by steam locomotives and the service was reduced considerably. By 1945, there were three round trips per week, but after the war ended, the frequency increased and by 1947 there were four daily round trips. Various classes of multiple units have been used, including NSB Class 86
, NSB Class 87 and NSB Class 91. During the 1950s, there were sometimes also trains that operated just from Kongsberg to Veggli.
Because the conductors and engineers often knew where the locals lived or were headed, trains would make non-scheduled stops to disembark passengers to allow them a shorter walk. In the 1960s, the number of round trips was reduced to three per day, allowing the whole service to be operated with a single unit. NSB used steam power for freight trains until 1970, when NSB's last scheduled steam locomotive service hauled a gravel train from Svene to Kongsberg. For a short period during the 1980s, there were also school trains, but as this forced NSB to operate two multiple units on the line, it proved too expensive and was soon afterwards again provided by bus.
Discussion about closing the line started in the 1950s, and the line became a candidate every time NSB and the parliament discussed closures. In 1988, the parliament decided to close many Norwegian lines, including the Numedal Line, although it was decided that the section from Kongsberg to Rollag was to be kept for freight traffic. The last passenger train operated on 31 December 1988 and the line north of Rollag was officially closed on 1 January 1989. By the time the line closed in 1989, manning remained at only three stations: Flesberg, Veggli and Rødberg. NSB retained some traffic south of Flesberg; in 1993 the company hauled 30000 tonnes (29,526.1 LT) of gravel and 25000 tonnes (24,605.1 LT) of lumber along the line.
After the closure, the non-profit organization Friends of the Numedal Line was established and offered occasional heritage
rides along the line. It maintains the tracks between Rollag and Rødberg and offers draisine
rental between Veggli and Rødberg. Irregular transport from the gravel pit at Svene and the sawmill Numedal Bruk at Flesberg. The latter is operated by Tågåkeriet i Bergslagen and hauls lumber from Uddevalla
, Sweden. The stretch from Flesberg to Rødberg is suggested preserved
by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
.
Numedal
Numedal is a traditional district and valley Buskerud, Norway. Running north–south, it extends between Kongsberg in the south to Rødberg in the north, passing through the municipalities of Kongsberg, Flesberg, Rollag and Nore og Uvdal.. The river Numedalslågen, the third-longest in the country,...
valley between Kongsberg
Kongsberg
is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....
and Rødberg
Rødberg
Rødberg is the administrative centre of Nore og Uvdal municipality, Norway.Rødberg is located in the Norwegian traditional district and valley of Numedal. Its population is 468, and it is located on the Rødberg dam on the Numedalslågen River....
in Buskerud
Buskerud
is a county in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark, and Vestfold. The county administration is located in Drammen.-Geography:...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. Built and operated by the Norwegian State Railways, the non-electrified, standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
line passes through the municipalities of Kongsberg, Flesberg
Flesberg
Flesberg is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Lampeland....
, Rollag
Rollag
Rollag is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The municipality of Rollag was established on 1 January 1838 . Nore og Uvdal was separated from Rollag in 1858....
and Nore og Uvdal
Nore og Uvdal
Nore og Uvdal is a municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Rødberg....
. It is now owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
The first plans for a line through Numedal were launched after the Sørland Line reached in Kongsberg in 1871. After it was decided that the Bergen Line would instead follow Hallingdal
Hallingdal
Hallingdal is a valley and traditional district in Buskerud county in Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Flå, Nes, Gol, Hemsedal, Ål and Hol.-History:Ancient routes went to Vestlandet through Valdres and Hallingdal and down Røldal to Odda...
, the Numedal plans lay dead until it was decided that a railway was necessary to build two hydroelectric power stations near Rødberg. The plans were passed in 1918, the first trains started running in 1924 and the line was officially opened in 1927. At first all services were provided with steam locomotive
Steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...
s, but from the 1930s diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s were used for passenger trains. The line was frequented with classes Cmd 16, 86
NSB Class 86
NSB Class 86 is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple units built by Strømmens Værksted for the Norwegian State Railways . Thirty-eight motor cars and thirty-one trailers were built between 1937 and 1954, split between six subtypes designated a through f. Class 91 was a further delivery of ten...
, 87 and 91. The last regular train ran in 1988; since, there has been sporadic freight service and some heritage trains running from Kongsberg to Rollag. Draisine
Draisine
A draisine primarily refers to a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure....
rental is available on the section from Veggli to Rødberg. The line is proposed to be preserved as a cultural heritage
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
.
Route
The Numedal Line branches off from the Sørland Line at Kongsberg StationKongsberg Station
Kongsberg Station is a railway station located in downtown Kongsberg in Buskerud, Norway, on the Sørland Line. The station is served by express trains to Kristiansand and is the terminus of the local trains from Oslo and Eidsvoll.-History:...
, which is located 99.37 kilometres (61.7 mi) from Oslo Central Station and 161.9 metres (531.2 ft) above mean sea level
Above mean sea level
The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...
(AMSL). The line runs past four stops, Spiten, Pikerfoss, Gleda and Herbru, before reaching a branch to Svene Gravel Pit, 3.48 kilometres (2.2 mi) from Kongsberg. The line continues past the halts Ramsrud, Svene, Furuly and Toresplassen before reaching Lampeland Station, 10.5 kilometres (6.5 mi) from Kongsberg. The line then passes over Lyngdalselva on a 27 metres (88.6 ft) bridge and continues past the stops Fløtterud, Ruud, Vangestad and Eie before reaching the branch to the sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
Numedal Bruk, 29.69 kilometres (18.4 mi) from Kongsberg, which is located just south of Flesberg Station.
The line continues past the stops Bjørnsrud, Bakkerud and Fossan before reaching the 228 metres (748 ft) Helle Tunnel and then Djupdal Station 40.63 kilometres (25.2 mi) after Kongsberg. The line then runs through the 78 metres (255.9 ft) Ulvik Tunnel and the 57 metres (187 ft) Gygrestigen Tunnel. It then passes the halt Selsteigen before running through the 44 metres (144.4 ft) Selsteigen Tunnel. After passing through the halt Kjome, the line reaches Rollag Station, which is 46.8 kilometres (29.1 mi) from Kongsberg. Since 1989, this is the furthest north the line is kept operational, although the track remains all the way to Rødberg.
The line then runs through six tunnels, named Gvamsås I through V, and Hvilsten. These are between 156 and 16 m (511.8 and 52.5 ) long. The line then passes past Rødberg vokterbolig, which is 90.92 kilometres (56.5 mi) form Kongsberg and is, at 395 metres (1,295.9 ft) AMSL the highest point on the line. The line then passes over Uvdalselva on a 35 metres (114.8 ft) combined road and rail bridge, before reaching Rødberg, 92.84 kilometres (57.7 mi) from Kongsberg.
History
Statkraft
Statkraft is a Norwegian state owned electricity company. With a total energy production of 44.9 TWh in 2007, the Statkraft Group is the third largest energy producer in the Nordic region, as well as the largest energy producer based on renewable energy sources in Europe,consisting of 40% of the...
, had secured rights to build a power station in the rivers Numedalslågen
Numedalslågen
-Location:Numedalslågen stretches for over 250 kilometres through the counties of Vestfold and Buskerud, beginning at the Hardangervidda plateau and meeting the ocean at Larvik in Vestfold. Numedalslågen is one of Norway's longest rivers. The rivers runs through the municipalities Larvik, Lardal,...
and Tunnhovdfjorden. The state saw it as advantageous to build a railway through the valley to aid construction of Nore I and Nore II Power Station, despite the line not being on the railway plan. This was because machines weighting up to 40 tonnes (39.4 LT) would have to be transported up the valley. The initial estimates for the line was a cost of 8.3 million Norwegian krone
Norwegian krone
The krone is the currency of Norway and its dependent territories. The plural form is kroner . It is subdivided into 100 øre. The ISO 4217 code is NOK, although the common local abbreviation is kr. The name translates into English as "crown"...
(NOK).
On 3 August 1918, the line was passed by the Parliament of Norway and it was decided that the line was to be built with standard gauge, which by then had become the norm. The decision was controversial, as the line was expected to have little traffic and would therefore not be profitable. A minority of the parliamentarians instead wanted the line to be built with narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
to reduce construction costs. The state required that local municipalities and counties contributed to some of the investment costs. NOK 1.2 million was paid by Buskerud County Municipality
Buskerud County Municipality
Buskerud County Municipality is the regional governing administration of Buskerud, Norway. The main responsibilities of the county municipality includes the running of the upper secondary schools. It administrates county roadways, public transport, dental care, culture and cultural heritage.-...
, while NOK 2.17 million million was paid by the various municipalities. The largest amounts were paid by Flesberg with NOK 635,000, Nore
Nore
The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....
with NOK&nsbp;615,000 and Rollag with NOK 517,000, while Uvdal
Uvdal
Uvdal is a village and former municipality in Buskerud county, Norway.The municipality was created by a split from Nore on 1 January 1901. The new municipality, which was called Opdal at the time, had a population of 1,429. The name was changed to Uvdal on 22 January 1932 by royal resolution...
paid NOK 198,000, Kongsberg NOK 125,000 and Drammen NOK 80,000.
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
, resulting in construction not being taken up until March 1921. Final approval by parliament was first made on 20 July 1921. Most of the construction was done using hand tools. 543000 cubic metres (19,175,863.8 cu ft) of earth was moved, 217000 cubic metres (7,663,282.6 cu ft) of rock was blasted
Blasted
Blasted is the first play by British author Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1995 at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. This performance was highly controversial and the play was fiercely attacked by most newspaper critics, many of whom regarded it as a rather immature attempt to...
and 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) of tunnel were built. 190000 cubic metres (6,709,786.6 cu ft) of ballast stone
Track ballast
Track ballast forms the trackbed upon which railway sleepers or railroad ties are laid. It is packed between, below, and around the ties. It is used to facilitate drainage of water, to distribute the load from the railroad ties, and also to keep down vegetation that might interfere with the track...
were used, most of it from the gravel pits at Bevergrenda, Guribråten and Stevningsmogen, Tjuvhaugen and Skarpsmoen. The whole construction used seven million work hours and for the tunneling, each work hour gave 7 millimetre (0.275590551181102 in) of progress. Most of the tracks were used from other railways. Five of the station buildings, at Vangestad, Flesberg, Djupdal, Tråen and Kravikfjord, were workmen's sheds which had been placed on a foundation.
From 1924, the railway was taken partially into use. Trains could run the 36 kilometres (22.4 mi) from Kongsberg to Bakkerød from 15 November 1924, the 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) to Kjærre from 1 December 1925 and to Rødberg from 1 December 1926. These trains included transport of 950 tonnes (935 LT) of cement and 590 tonnes (580.7 LT) for the railway bridges. In total 4,300 wagon loads were transported before the official opening, of which about half was for the power stations. Because of the delay of building the line, it could only be used during part of the construction period for the power stations.
Haakon VII of Norway
Haakon VII , known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the personal union with Sweden. He was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
. When the line opened there were 21 manned station on the line. Up to 70 people worked on the line, in addition to station employees. In 1932, the operations were rationalized, cutting costs from NOK 426,000 to NOK 310,000 per year. This involved removing the station masters at fifteen stations and replacing them with a clerk.
Initially, all trains on the line were hauled by steam locomotives, in particular NSB Class 20 and NSB Class 21 brought in used from other lines. The first diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
s were taken into use in the 1930s, with the line seeing the use of both NSB Class Cmb 16 and Kristine Valdresdatter. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the line was again entirely hauled by steam locomotives and the service was reduced considerably. By 1945, there were three round trips per week, but after the war ended, the frequency increased and by 1947 there were four daily round trips. Various classes of multiple units have been used, including NSB Class 86
NSB Class 86
NSB Class 86 is a class of diesel-hydraulic multiple units built by Strømmens Værksted for the Norwegian State Railways . Thirty-eight motor cars and thirty-one trailers were built between 1937 and 1954, split between six subtypes designated a through f. Class 91 was a further delivery of ten...
, NSB Class 87 and NSB Class 91. During the 1950s, there were sometimes also trains that operated just from Kongsberg to Veggli.
Because the conductors and engineers often knew where the locals lived or were headed, trains would make non-scheduled stops to disembark passengers to allow them a shorter walk. In the 1960s, the number of round trips was reduced to three per day, allowing the whole service to be operated with a single unit. NSB used steam power for freight trains until 1970, when NSB's last scheduled steam locomotive service hauled a gravel train from Svene to Kongsberg. For a short period during the 1980s, there were also school trains, but as this forced NSB to operate two multiple units on the line, it proved too expensive and was soon afterwards again provided by bus.
Discussion about closing the line started in the 1950s, and the line became a candidate every time NSB and the parliament discussed closures. In 1988, the parliament decided to close many Norwegian lines, including the Numedal Line, although it was decided that the section from Kongsberg to Rollag was to be kept for freight traffic. The last passenger train operated on 31 December 1988 and the line north of Rollag was officially closed on 1 January 1989. By the time the line closed in 1989, manning remained at only three stations: Flesberg, Veggli and Rødberg. NSB retained some traffic south of Flesberg; in 1993 the company hauled 30000 tonnes (29,526.1 LT) of gravel and 25000 tonnes (24,605.1 LT) of lumber along the line.
After the closure, the non-profit organization Friends of the Numedal Line was established and offered occasional heritage
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
rides along the line. It maintains the tracks between Rollag and Rødberg and offers draisine
Draisine
A draisine primarily refers to a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure....
rental between Veggli and Rødberg. Irregular transport from the gravel pit at Svene and the sawmill Numedal Bruk at Flesberg. The latter is operated by Tågåkeriet i Bergslagen and hauls lumber from Uddevalla
Uddevalla
Uddevalla is a city and the seat of Uddevalla Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 30,513 inhabitants in 2005.It is located at the bay Byfjorden, of the south-eastern part of the sea known as Skagerrak...
, Sweden. The stretch from Flesberg to Rødberg is suggested preserved
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage
The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage is a government agency responsible for the management of cultural heritage in Norway. Subordinate the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, it manages the Cultural Heritage Act of June 9, 1978....
.