Oslo - Bergen Line cab ride in Winter

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

jis

Permanent Way Inspector
Staff member
Administator
Moderator
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Joined
Aug 24, 2003
Messages
39,111
Location
Space Coast, Florida, Area code 3-2-1
If anyone ever tells you that electrification is not doable in areas with winters with heavy snowfall and blizzard, point them to this video. It is of a cab ride on a freight train from Bergen to Oslo across the Hardangervidda. In winter during a blazing blizzard it is something else.



The real action is after 1hr 40mins, specially after it passes through Myrdal and ascends to the top of the pass.

One can do a quick trip acroos the plateau and also visit a fjord in a package tour called Norway in a Nutshell. On that tour, one travels to Voss on a regular Oslo - Bergen Regional and then take a bus down to Gundvagen on the fjord. Next is a boat ride on the fjord from Gunvagen to Flom. After a brief break in Flom one takes the famous Flom Line up to Myrdal on the Oslo - Bergen main line with a stop at a waterfall which is crossed by a bridge on the way. From Flom and either returning to Oslo or carrying on to Bergen. It is a day trip from Oslo. The journey down to the fjord can be done either Voss - Gunvagen - Flom - Myrdal or Myrdal - Flom - Gundvagen - Voss, When I was there I did it in the former direction.
 
Last edited:
NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting) filmed the entire route - in late winter or early fall I think - from Bergen to Oslo several years back and broadcast it as "slow tv" in Norway. As I recall it was the most watched program in Norway for the year or something like that. They since did several other of the routes - most notably the Nordland Line north from Trondheim.

They are all available on YouTube and the Bergen Line video can even be downloaded from NRK as a 'raw' file iirc.

Here's a view of Finse, the high point of the line, in 1986. It's not road accessible and is bloody cold in winter...

1675450216259.png
 

Attachments

  • 1675450215809.png
    1675450215809.png
    4.5 MB · Views: 0
Last edited:
Aforementioned Flam Line, though not in the winter, but still spectacular...



It is a spectacular side trip from Myrdal down to the Fjord at Flam. Incidentally, Myrdal has no public road access. For the public it can only be accessed by rail.
 
Back
Top