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SJ Dm3 1246flagHaugfjell Haugfjell

iron ore train Kiruna - Narvik on Malmbanen passing Norddalsbron

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©  Sep 7, 1988


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iron ore train Kiruna - Narvik on Malmbanen passing Norddalsbron



Beautiful
Rare photos from that part of the world... Thanks for sharing!
storyThis is an Interesting Historic Document. This Bridge is the Norddalsbridge. For military reasons, the 180-meter-long Norddalbridge was built in the route so that the line could be interrupted in the event of war by blowing up a huge manufacture like this just for a long time. The pendulum pillar bridge is 40 meters high and has 10 openings. The construction of the bridge was a pioneristic and logistical challenge, because the building site was difficult to access. After the basements of the piers were built, the steel parts manufactured by MAN in Gustavsburg were mounted. It was transported by ship from Germany directly into the Rombaken where the parts were supplied with horses to the valley station of a transport cable car. Thus the ability of the cable car was not exceeded, the individual box could weigh no more than 1.2 tons. During the Second World War, the Norwegian troops in the Battle of Narvik tried to blow up the Norddalbridge. The blast took place on 14 April 1940 and taught very little damage because the explosives were frozen. In just three weeks, the German troops were able to repair the bridge so that it was passable and again on May 4, 1940, a train with a slight steam locomotive and three freight cars drove over the bridge. In 1988 the production between Bjørnfjell, Nordland and Katterat was moved to a new simpler route that bypasses the decrepit Norddalbridge. In 1990, the new Nuoljatunnel between Abisko and Björkliden was finished. Today, the bridge is still there, but the rails have been dismantled with the old stop of Søsterbekk (that has been built on the new track) and no trains will ever pass here again.
thank you Federico for your explanations. Very informative 🙂
Until last year, the transport of iron ore was booking on the Malmbanan Kiruna - Narvik. LKAB continued to increase transport and i new play, Northland Resources introduced its own iron ore trains Pitajärvi - Narvik. In order to ensure that te railway line has sufficient capacity, the plan was to build double track to replace the exisiting single track. If double track would be built, the old Norddals Bridge could again be used. However, meanwhile ire traffic is soaring, because if bad economies worldwide. Northland Resources even stopped its mining operations altogether. So it remains to be seen whether the Malmbanan will ever be rebuilt into double track.
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