Maana Forlag ANS
English version
by Gary Payton and Trond Lepperød
Introduction
Rjukanbanen - the Rjukan railway - was built in order to supply the needs of a Norwegian industrial giant in the making, Norsk Hydro. The railway and the factories it helped to build and later serve were both planned during the dawn of the 1900's . When the railway was discontinued in 1991, Norsk Hydro was still the largest mainland industrial concern in Norway.
The Rjukan railway is much more than just an industrial siding, however. It was instrumental in bringing raw materials from the coast of Telemark in southern Norway to the mountainous heart of the country, and for transporting Hydro's revolutionary new product, artificial fertilizer, back down the coast to be shipped around the world to a growing global population.
The electrified railway that carried these products incorporated a technology that was almost just as new as Hydro's electro-chemical industry. The railway was Norway's very first electrified railway for standard gauge (1435 mm) trains for public operation. 
It was electrified in 1911, 11 years before the Norwegian States Railway's (NSB) first electrified line, and just a few years after Norway's very first electrified railway, the narrow gauge Thamshavnbanen wichs startet up near Trondheim in 1908.
Another reason why the Rjukan railway is so special is because it was part of a extremely complex transport system. From the coast city of Skien, barges were sluiced and hauled upstreams to the newly founded city of Notodden where Hydro also had factories, though on a smaller scale than in Rjukan. It was from the quayside in Notodden that the original Rjukanbanen started. This first part of the railway was cal led the Tinnosbanen (= the railway line to the head of the Tinne river). At the end of this 30 kilometer long line lay the great lake of Tinnsjøen, the second deepest in Europe. As this lake was surrounded by steep cliffs, there was only one recourse for the builders of the railway: Ferries. The railway ferries on this 35 kilometer long lake were the only ones ever launched on inland waters in Norway.
At the other end of the lake was the landing at Mæl (originally called Rollag). The line up to Rjukan (originally called Saaheim), was 16 kilometers long, and was called Vestfjorddalsbanen (the West Fjord Valley Line). From the factory site at Rjukan, a very steep industrial side track with a grade of over five percent clung to the mountainside on its way up to the first hydro-electric plant in the areal, Vemork. When newly built in 1911, Vemork was the largest hydro-electric plant in the world.
Vemork was also the site of the heavy water factory which was both sabotaged and bombed during World War II. Then the Germans decided to move the rest of the heavy water to Germany, the railway ferry "Hydro" was sabotaged on the lake Tinnsjø. These daring raids have been recounted in several documentaries and feature movies.
Today, what we call the Rjukan railway is only the 16 kilometer long line from Mæl til Rjukan. The line from Notodden to Tinnoset was incorporated into the new NSB line, Bratsbergbanen, from Notodden to Skien in 1913 (in operation from 1916-1917, from which time the barge traffic to Skien was discontinued).
In the summer of 1991, both the factories in Rjukan and the Rjukan railway were closed down, but the track is still in good condition. In addition, two of the ferries are still afloat: The steam ferry "Ammonia", probably one of the two last steam-powered railway ferries in the world; and the diesel-driven "Storegut". At 1,119 metric tonnes, "Storegut" ("Big Boy") is still the largest inland ship in Scandinavia. Both ferries are still shipshape thanks to local enthusiasts and Norwegian authorities. The Norwegian Directorate for the Cultural Heritage have placed the Rjukan Railway and the ferries on a preservation list with large technical and industrial monuments that must be given priority on a national basis.
Since 1998 there have been a few succesful attempts to put the transport line back to life with charter traffic.
Last edited: November 2005