No three week vacation lasts forever and I had only one day to settle in on the company office before heading to a sister company's office in Trondheim, Norway. I'd been there on two short visits before the vacation, but this time I did a 10 day shift of writing text and organising a bid process. While I like to bring models or kits with me to the cottage, bringing them on a work trip so far north is stretching the enthusiasm a bit. Consequently I have no progress to report from the Nystrup Gravel modelling table.
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| Tram 95 arriving on Breidablikk Station a rainy July evening. Notice new steel catenary mast. The trams were built by German company Linke-Hofmann-Busch in 1984. |
On two of my trips to Trondheim I managed to visit the Gråkall-line twice - and even getting a short ride. The 1000 mm gauged tram line is the world's most northerly tramway system, following the 2004 closure and dismantling of the Arkhangelsk tramway in Russia. The Norwegian Gråkall line is almost nine kilometers long, running from St. Olav's Gate in the city centre gradually climbing up through residential districts to end at Lian Station in the hills south of Trondheim.
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| Tram 97 rolling gently into Munkvoll station from Lien. Munkvoll is home to the company's workshops and a tram museum open during the summer months |
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| Steel catenary mast in Dronningens Gate (Queen's Street). Currently no trams operate on the line inside Trondheim city due to planned sevage and road works. |
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| Wooden catenary masts between Breidablikk and Belvedere stations. |
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| On Munkvoll station there is a pizzeria in the line's balloon loop and a restaurant with outdoor second floor seating. I chose the restaurant and could photograph tram 93 starting towards Ila while enjoying a good meal. |
The Gråkall line was opened by a private company in 1924 after a troubled and lengthy planning and construction phase having begun in the field back in 1917. The line was lengthened to Ugla in 1925 and to present day terminal Lien in 1933. Trondheim city took over the line in 1966 from the private company and the line was closed in 1988 at the same time as the tramline in Trondheim. Locals took over the Gråkall line in 1990 and a new company is running the line with great success today. Even if the trams are rather old (built in 1984) trams as well as the line are well maintained, with new steel catenary masts gradually replacing the charming wooden ones.
The summer has also been used for volunteering on the 700 mm gauge vintage railway in Denmark and I have been out working on the line as well as participating in the traffic.
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| 8-coupler Da 7 (Henschel 18449/1921) pulling out of Hedehusgård Station passing M 12 with a works train. |
