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CABVIEW: Stormy winter conditions on the mountain pass (Bergen Line, Norway)
Read and watch and let your mind drift away from the chaos...
Bergen Line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway (Norwegian: Bergensbanen or Nynorsk: Bergensbana), is a 371-kilometre (231 mi) long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway.[1] The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, where the passenger trains go, a distance of 496 kilometres (308 mi).[7] It is the highest mainline railway line in Northern Europe,[8] crossing the Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 metres (4,058 ft) above sea level.[6]
The railway opened from Bergen to Voss in 1883 as the narrow gauge Voss Line. In 1909 the route was continued over the mountain to Oslo and the whole route converted to standard gauge, and the Voss Line became part of the Bergen Line.[9] The line is single track,[1] and was electrified in 1954-64.[10] The Bergen Line is owned and maintained by Bane NOR, and served with passenger trains by Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and freight trains by CargoNet. The Flåm Line remains as the only branch line, after the closure of the Hardanger Line.[1] The western section from Bergen to Voss is also served by the Bergen Commuter Rail, and was shortened following the 1966 opening of the Ulriken Tunnel.
more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_Line
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway (Norwegian: Bergensbanen or Nynorsk: Bergensbana), is a 371-kilometre (231 mi) long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway.[1] The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, where the passenger trains go, a distance of 496 kilometres (308 mi).[7] It is the highest mainline railway line in Northern Europe,[8] crossing the Hardangervidda plateau at 1,237 metres (4,058 ft) above sea level.[6]
The railway opened from Bergen to Voss in 1883 as the narrow gauge Voss Line. In 1909 the route was continued over the mountain to Oslo and the whole route converted to standard gauge, and the Voss Line became part of the Bergen Line.[9] The line is single track,[1] and was electrified in 1954-64.[10] The Bergen Line is owned and maintained by Bane NOR, and served with passenger trains by Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and freight trains by CargoNet. The Flåm Line remains as the only branch line, after the closure of the Hardanger Line.[1] The western section from Bergen to Voss is also served by the Bergen Commuter Rail, and was shortened following the 1966 opening of the Ulriken Tunnel.
more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen_Line
And:
Bergen, Norway by Rail
Where Pauline Is Spending This Weekend
The Sunday New York Times, May 19, 2002
I'm a sucker for trains. So after I moved to Oslo three years ago, it was only a matter of time before I took the trip my Norwegian friends kept telling me I had to take — the roughly seven-hour railway journey across Norway's mountainous midriff to Bergen, on the North Sea coast.
Since I wanted to do this in style, I booked seats in the first-class "salong." Oslo-Bergen RailwayWhen my partner, Tor André, and I boarded the train on a gray, drizzly Friday morning last May, we found the accommodations very comfortable, with ample chairs, basketball-center legroom, large spotless windows and free coffee, tea and Norwegian newspapers. Since I planned to use my laptop, I was happy to find a conveniently placed electrical socket and, in a classic example of Scandinavian ingenuity in matters of practical design, a portable tabletop that attached easily to my chair.
There was just one problem: of the nine seats in the compartment, ours were among the three pairs that faced backward. (The three single seats, across the aisle, faced forward.) When we spoke to the conductor, he suggested that backward was better because the train goes so fast that if you're facing the direction you're going in, everything rushes at you and you can't really see it properly. But what about those like me, who get dizzy riding backward? He apologized amiably.
I resolved to make the best of it. And the weather was kind: by the time we reached the Oslo suburb Asker, the rain had stopped and the sun had burst through. For the first hour or so, to be sure, there wasn't much to see: Asker looked like a typical bedroom community; Drammen, which I'd been through many times, was a riverside industrial burg.
I took a walk. The train was crowded with chipper travelers, maps on their laps, conversing in half a dozen languages. Everything was clean, bright and functional. Though these first- and second-class areas weren't as roomy as the salong, I rather envied the passengers the convivial, lively company. One car even contained a children's play area — a rope ladder, a big pipelike contraption to crawl through, a gym mat to jump onto. When I passed through, two elated toddlers were making use of them.
But soon I was back at my window. And fortunately so, for about two hours out of Oslo, after rolling through a hilly landscape of pine forest and farmland, we plunged into a tunnel and burst out of it at a point high above the lordly Hallingdal River. It was spectacular. The message was clear: the prosaic scenery was behind us; the show had begun.
Soon we entered another tunnel, emerging from it at the river's edge — close enough to dive in.
There followed a succession of astonishing tableaus. One moment the river's surface was so clear and smooth that it was utterly invisible, providing a perfect reflection of the mountain on the far bank; moments later the river had become two rocky streams forking around a small tree-covered island.
more: http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/02/05/2eur/19bergen.html
Where Pauline Is Spending This Weekend
The Sunday New York Times, May 19, 2002
I'm a sucker for trains. So after I moved to Oslo three years ago, it was only a matter of time before I took the trip my Norwegian friends kept telling me I had to take — the roughly seven-hour railway journey across Norway's mountainous midriff to Bergen, on the North Sea coast.
Since I wanted to do this in style, I booked seats in the first-class "salong." Oslo-Bergen RailwayWhen my partner, Tor André, and I boarded the train on a gray, drizzly Friday morning last May, we found the accommodations very comfortable, with ample chairs, basketball-center legroom, large spotless windows and free coffee, tea and Norwegian newspapers. Since I planned to use my laptop, I was happy to find a conveniently placed electrical socket and, in a classic example of Scandinavian ingenuity in matters of practical design, a portable tabletop that attached easily to my chair.
There was just one problem: of the nine seats in the compartment, ours were among the three pairs that faced backward. (The three single seats, across the aisle, faced forward.) When we spoke to the conductor, he suggested that backward was better because the train goes so fast that if you're facing the direction you're going in, everything rushes at you and you can't really see it properly. But what about those like me, who get dizzy riding backward? He apologized amiably.
I resolved to make the best of it. And the weather was kind: by the time we reached the Oslo suburb Asker, the rain had stopped and the sun had burst through. For the first hour or so, to be sure, there wasn't much to see: Asker looked like a typical bedroom community; Drammen, which I'd been through many times, was a riverside industrial burg.
I took a walk. The train was crowded with chipper travelers, maps on their laps, conversing in half a dozen languages. Everything was clean, bright and functional. Though these first- and second-class areas weren't as roomy as the salong, I rather envied the passengers the convivial, lively company. One car even contained a children's play area — a rope ladder, a big pipelike contraption to crawl through, a gym mat to jump onto. When I passed through, two elated toddlers were making use of them.
But soon I was back at my window. And fortunately so, for about two hours out of Oslo, after rolling through a hilly landscape of pine forest and farmland, we plunged into a tunnel and burst out of it at a point high above the lordly Hallingdal River. It was spectacular. The message was clear: the prosaic scenery was behind us; the show had begun.
Soon we entered another tunnel, emerging from it at the river's edge — close enough to dive in.
There followed a succession of astonishing tableaus. One moment the river's surface was so clear and smooth that it was utterly invisible, providing a perfect reflection of the mountain on the far bank; moments later the river had become two rocky streams forking around a small tree-covered island.
more: http://www.corkscrew-balloon.com/02/05/2eur/19bergen.html
7 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
And also how quickly the train stops and gets going. All in the name of getting the folks to where they need to go asap. 
