European Railroad Discussion > Roaming around Norway: Raumabanen Edition

The Raumabanen connects Dombås, on the Trondheim-to-Oslo mainline, to the difficult to pronounce Andalsnes, at the end of a fjord. Much of the elevation difference occurs at Verma with a folded double horseshoe curve that drops from high along a ridge to the valley below. This is another non-electrified line and uses a modern DMU operated by SJ Nord. We could not travel by train from Trondheim to Dombås due to the mainline being completely rebuilt. En route we passed this work going on. There was a ballast train powered by a Nordic double-cab beast and a rail/concrete tie train with two Grenland Rail center cabs, a red one and a blue one. I should have bribed the coach driver to stop for photos (in sun!). I saw those Nordic units across Sweden and Norway mostly from moving trains and was never able to photograph one. There is freight on this line as in Andalsnes was another Nordic unit and empty container flats.

1. The two-unit DMU sits at Dombås prior to loading. I would say the passenger count was dominated by our tour group of 34. The line is touted for its scenery and I assume carries mostly tourists. This one trainset shuttles back and forth several times per day.

2. A view of the trackage at Dombås looking north. The [closed for maintenance] mainline to Trondheim is at the right. The Raumabanen line goes through the left tunnel and that is our double green signal.

3. Before we departed, this crazy looking thing rolled in from the south, presumably from Oslo. To me, this looks like a train you would see in Japan. This is the only one of these painted for SJ Nord that I saw. This is June 5th and the trees are showing spring green with snow on the hillsides.

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We were on a tour that passed changed trains at Dombas on June 21, 2016.  Here are three photos from our visit to Dombas.. Captions are on the photos 

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And here is our Raumabanen train to Andalsnes, as well as a couple of photos taken from that train.

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You have done very well and to be complicated for that interesting coverage.  Never been to Norway, Sweden yes.
Thank you.
Blaine
American Fork

Interesting, same equipment, completely different paint schemes. I prefer the red and silver. I also did not take note of the roundhouse if it is still there.

That EMU you noted above is either a class 72 or 73, thay are also used by the airport express in the  Oslo area.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/23 09:34 by RNinRVR.

RNinRVR Wrote:
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> That EMU you noted above is either a class 72 or
> 73, thay are also used by the airport express in
> the  Oslo area.

The airport EMUs are Class BM 71. Both it and the
Class BM 73 pictured have the big nose for extra
protection in the event of a moose collision at speed.