European Railroad Discussion > Swedensday Finale: Gällivare Edition with Kiruna

On May 31, 2023 we journeyed by coach from Jokkmokk to Gällivare to catch the early afternoon Vy service between Luleå, Sweden and Narvik, Norway. This is the Malmbanan and is the highly-engineered and heavily-trafficked iron ore line. The passenger train was delayed and we were hanging out in the waiting room of the station when I looked out the window to see ore cars rolling by. Thankfully, the train would stop long enough for some photography, my first sighting of an LKAB/IORE iron ore train. This was a southbound empty presumably heading for the mine at Aitik.

1. This image shows the clean, modern infrastructure of the iron ore line. The LKAB/IORE trainsets consist of 68 cars, drawbar-coupled in pairs.

2. Each of the LKAB/IORE locomotives, operated in pairs, is named for a city on the line. I was quite happy to get the "Gällivare" in Gällivare.

3. With a friendly wave, the train gets underway led by the "Mertainen."

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4. and 5. My biggest railroad photography disappointment in Sweden was my inability to photograph any Green Cargo freight trains. The best I could do was telephoto shots of this Green Cargo shunter in Gällivare.

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6. The station at Gällivare in atypical black but attractive nonetheless.

7. The train to Narvik arrives behind a leased (?) SJ Rc6 and three Vy coaches. The SJ locomotive was a disappointment. The southbound train that we met also had an SJ locomotive. Despite being an hour late out of Gällivare we somehow arrived a few minutes early into Narvik.

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Almost forgot Kiruna. The train comes into Kiruna from the south on the new, relocated line and swings around into Kiruna from the north on the original line. This results in the train pointing in the wrong direction so there is a stop just long enough for the locomotive to run around the train to depart northward. We were told we could get off to photograph the sculpture that honors the men that built the railroad. If I had been paying attention and/or if the stop were longer I would have noted the large Railcare diesel locomotive basking in the sunshine in the background.

8. The sculpture at Kiruna.

9. A crop of the above shot with the Railcare locomotive at lower, right. It appears to be (or similar to) a JT 30C, a Swedish-built EMD-powered beast.

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NMlurker Wrote:
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> It appears to be (or
> similar to) a JT 30C, a Swedish-built EMD-powered
> beast.

Very nice set, it's been 15 years since I was in Narvik. The loco is a former Danish DSB MZ class, the builder was NOHAB with EMD, but much was sub contracted to Danish manufacturers such as Frichs.