The Solør Line () is a railway line that runs through district of Solør in Innlandet county, Norway. The line connects the Kongsvinger Line at Kongsvinger Station with the Røros Line at Elverum Station, running through the municipalities of Kongsvinger, Grue, Åsnes, Våler, and Elverum. The standard gauge line lacks electrification and centralized traffic control; it is solely used by freight trains, mostly hauling lumber and wood chippings.
Proposals for a railway through Solør were first launched in 1857, but was not approved until 1890. Work commenced the following year on the section from Kongsvinger to Flisa, opening on 3 November 1893. The section from Flisa Station to Elverum was approved in 1894, but a dispute concerning the route postponed construction for thirteen years. The northern section opened on 4 December 1910. The Solør Line had a major impact on the area, leading to industrialization. Communities such as Flisa, Kirkenær and Roverud grew rapidly because they received stations.
Diesel multiple units were introduced from the 1930s. Passenger services were reduced in 1963 and were finally abolished in 1994. The line received upgrades to its permanent way in 1964 and 1993, and three lumber terminals were opened in 1987. Since 2012 the line has seen a dramatic increase in lumber traffic. There are proposals to electrify and centralize traffic control along the line.
Route The Solør Line connects the Kongsvinger Line at Kongsvinger Station to the Røros Line at Elverum Station. The line runs through the traditional district of Solør, through the municipalities of Kongsvinger, Grue, Åsnes, Våler and Elverum. The line predominantly runs along the east bank of the river Glomma, except the northernmost , which runs on the west bank. The Solør Line is, by Norwegian standards, exceptionally straight and flat. The line has single track and standard gauge, but is not electrified and lacks centralized traffic control and automatic train control. It is equipped with GSM-R train radio. The railway line is owned and maintained by the Norwegian National Rail Administration.
The line branches off from the Kongsvinger Line at from Oslo Central Station, at an elevation of above mean sea level. Elverum Station, located from Oslo, is at en elevation of .Bjerke: 68–70 There are three passing loops, located at Kirkenær, Flisa and Braskereidfoss Stations. These are staffed when passing is necessary. There are three lumber terminals on the line, Norsenga, Braskereidfoss and Vestmo. The line is—for its era—built with a slack minimum curve radius and a maximum gradient of 0.6 percent (1:154).Toreng: 12 The Solør Line can boast with the two longest straight sections of track in the country not located in tunnels. The longest is a section at Namnå, followed by a section at Grinder.Bjerke: 324 Large parts of the line is rated for . The line could, if it received centralized traffic control and all level crossings were removed, be rated for without further modification.Toreng: 58
History Planning The rationale for building a railway through Solør was first and foremost tied to the large lumber resources in the area, especially in Finnskogen. Engebret Soot proposed in 1851 that Glomma be connected to the Swedish canal network. It was mostly technical difficulties which resulted in the plans being shelved.Toreng: 6 Glomma would need to receive several parallel canals and locks. The river is iced half the year and there are shifting sandbanks.Toreng: 8 The interest for a railway arose with the construction of the Kongsvinger Line, approved in 1857 and completed in 1862.
A local planning committee was established in 1857 to look into the possibilities of a branch from the Kongsvinger Line to serve Solør. For a while a combined rail and canal project was considered, but eventually discarded. Work accelerated in 1869 when the municipal councils teamed up to support the project. Two years later Railway Director Carl Abraham Pihl led a survey group. Their work concluded in 1875, ending in a recommendation to build the line. Two route proposals were made, one across Gjelsåsen and one following Glomma. Parliament dismissed approving the line in 1877.Toreng: 9 By then the country had fallen into an economic decline and Parliament did not want to issue further funding to railways not already under construction.Broch: 5
A government commission came in 1882 with recommendations for future railway construction. They placed the Solør Line at the top of their priority list. In addition to it being perceived as having a good return on investment, the limited amount of funding available cautioned the commission to recommend trunk routes which would largely be futile unless completed to their intended termini. During this period there was a major controversy concerning rail gauge in Norway. Some lines were being built in standard gauge, others in narrow gauge. With the Kongsvinger Line being built in standard gauge, a deviating gauge in Solør with require transshipment. Pihl argued for narrow gauge, but standard gauge was ultimately chosen.Broch: 54
An 1886 plan discarded the Solør Line, instead wanting to focus on trunk lines.Bjerke: 362 By 1888 the economy had begun to grow again and the Sverdrup's Cabinet therefore proposed that three new railways be built, including the first part of the Solør Line, from Kongsvinger to Flisa.Broch: 36 The following year the Railway Committee of 1889 included the Solør Line with a high priority in its recommendation.Toreng: 11 Construction was approved by Parliament on 8 July 1890,Bjerke: 67 with 91 against 20 votes.
Kongsvinger–Flisa The line was built as a state railway by the Norwegian State Railways. As was common at the time, a local contribution was required, constituting 1 million Norwegian krone funded through an investment company with a broad public and private ownership. The line was built as Class II, or "light standard gauge", using 25 instead of 30 kilograms per meter (50 vs. 60 lb/yd) as on the Kongsvinger Line.Broch: 55
Preliminary work was carried out through the latter part of 1890 and early 1891, while expropriation was conducted from August 1891 and the following months. Construction proper on the section from Kongsvinger to Flisa commenced on 16 September 1891, led by Alfred Kielland. The work was split in two sections. The southern subcontracted the groundwork to P. T. Melby and S. Sørensen, while the railway did this itself on the northern part. The permanent way was built by the railway for the entire line. The northern part was built below budget, while the latter matched it. The subcontracting was an experiment to see if savings could be made this way, but based on the experiences from the line, NSB abandoned the system.
Construction was quick, largely due to the flat landscape and the limited amount of bedrock which needed to be negotiated.Broch: 52 There were only a few, short cuttings. There were ten bridges, of which the longest and most complicated was and ran over Flisa, at the time the longest railway bridge span in the country. A further five overpasses, nine underpasses and 260 level crossings were built for roads. Construction of the station buildings was subcontracted to Johan Heinrich Günther Schüzler. Brandval was the only station to not receive a building.Toreng: 13
The from Kongsvinger to Flisa were officially opened on 1 November 1893, and regular services commenced two days later. Construction cost 2.9 million Norwegian krone. As long as the line ran to Flisa it served two daily train in each direction. Travel time was just short of two hours.Toreng: 24 Although popular for carrying passengers and cargo, the lumber industry was never an early adopter of timber trains, instead remaining loyal to log floating. Still, the railway was important for the commercial development in the area and supported the lumber industry through supplies.Toreng: 28
With the railway came a stable, waged workforce, a segment which was quite limited previously. Work on the railways was popular and became a stabilizing force in the economy, as well as a good tax income for the municipalities. Manny of the navvies working on the construction settled in the area and became the foundation of the workforce used in the growing industrialization.Toreng: 35 The postal service was prior to the railway walked by foot either from Elverum or Kongsvinger, and the railway allowed for rapid communication.Toreng: 37 The railway were sufficient efficient that the steamships went out of business.Toreng: 38
Flisa grew rapidly following the opening of the line, and soon had three hotels. It was soon the population and commercial center for all of Solør.Toreng: 29 With a major station at Kirkenær, the population and commercial center of Grue gradually moved from Tjura, with the administration center following suit.Toreng: 30 The least affected municipality was Hof, where the commercial and political center remained on the west shore of the river. Several places processing industries, especially wood-based, were established as the railway allowed for easy export of the products.Toreng: 31
Flisa–Elverum
Political work to extend the line to Elverum started even before the opening of the southern half, and was debated in Parliament in 1893.Toreng: 17 Railways were in the wind and there were many projects competing for political support.Broch: 82 Initially only a minority was willing to support the line. Several trunk lines were being proposed, and there was political struggling for various parliamentarians to gather support for "their" line.Broch: 95 This resulted in the Great Railway Compromise of 1894. The Solør Line was the most popular, receiving 105 against 5 votes on 1 March. The same day four other major railway lines were passed.Broch: 101
Although the line was passed, there was not agreement as to which route it should follow. From Flisa the line could continue along Glomma past Åsnes Church and Haslemoen to the village of Våler. Alternatively, the line could run further north through the parish of Gjesåsen. The Gjesåsen alternative was supported unanimously in Åsnes Municipal Council, while Våler Municipal Council unanimously supporter the river alternative. Hedmark County Council first supported the river and then the Gjesåsen alternative.Toreng: 18
The route disagreement persisted for thirteen years, hindering the line from being built. It was not until a visit by the Standing Committee on Railways in 1907 that a decision was finally made in favor of the river alternative. They also decided to cross Glomma at Haugsfoss, discarding a military preference of a more southerly crossing of the river.Toreng: 21
Construction began on 20 January 1908 and was led by J. T. Mæhre. There were similar good building conditions, allowing for rapid construction. The line's only tunnel was built, as were six bridges. The two longest were built to cross Glomma. With a span of , Haugsfoss Bridge was the longest in the country at the time and work was subcontracted to a German company. Five stations were built. Construction cost NOK 2,869,750, giving the lowest kilometer price of any mainline railway ever built in Norway.Toreng: 22 The segment was officially opened on 3 December 1910 and regular traffic commenced the following day. Work on a new station in Elverum did not commence until 1910, and the new station was opened on 1 May 1913.Bjerke: 100 As the Rorøs Line was narrow gauge, Elverum Station featured break-of-gauge and a transshipment facility until 1919.Bjerke: 98
Operational history