History
The line was built by a private company, AS Valdresbanen, in four phases:
- Eina to Dokka (approximately 47 km): regular traffic 28 November 1902
- Dokka to Tonsåsen (31 km): 1 November 1903
- Tonsåsen to Aurdal (18 km): 29 September 1906
- Aurdal to Fagernes (13 km): 29 September 1906
In 1937, the Norwegian government through the Norwegian State Railways took over operations of the line, and in 1953 the line and equipment was modernized to the point that the trip from Oslo to Fagernes took 4.5 hours. In 1955 and 1956 tunnels were built at Høgberget and Tonsåsen, respectively. When Norwegian authorities decided to electrify half of the line distance of Norway in the 1950s and 60s, the Valdres Line was not chosen to be electrified, even though the Gjøvik Line was.
In 1985, a bus service was established between Oslo and Fagernes, reducing the number of annual passengers on the train line by 19,000. In 1988, the Norwegian legislature decided to shut down regular traffic on the Valdres Line while keeping the tracks between Eina and Leira open for purposes of national security. In 1989, a grassroots movement was started to keep the line, but to no avail. In 1991, the tracks between Leira and Fagernes were demolished. A private company is formed to arrange chartered trips on the remaining railway.
| Station number | Station name | Distance from Eina | Distance from Oslo | Distance from Fagernes | Altitude | Comments |
| 1621 | Eina | . | 100.89 | 108.08 | 401.80 | Connection with ghe Gjøvik Line |
| . | Bridge over Einavann | 1.13 | 102.02 | 106.95 | . | Length 21,3 m |
| . | Ra sidetrack | 4.39 | 105.28 | 103.69 | . | / |
| 1700.01 | Røste | 5.12 | 106.01 | 102.96 | . | established 1969, closed April 14, 1970 |
| 1700.02 | Vestli | 6.2 | 107.09 | 101.88 | . | Closed 1952 |
| 1701 | Trevatn | 8.25 | 109.14 | 99.83 | 385.50 | Sp 01/07/59 u 07/01/68, hp/l ca/1970, closed January 1 89 |
| 1701.01 | Halmrastsæter | 10.78 | 111.67 | 97.30 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/1970 |
| 1702 | Skrukli | 14.92 | 115.81 | 93.16 | 393.00 | U 07/01/68, hp/l 05/08/83, closed January 1 1989 |
| 1702.01 | Opperud | 18.2 | 119.09 | 89.88 | . | closed 1952 |
| 1703 | Fall | 19.84 | 120.73 | 88.24 | 299.20 | Sp 07/01/68, u 10/06/68 hp/l 09/10/74, hp 15/11/84. Closed January 1 1989 |
| 1703.01 | Klinkenberg | 21.69 | 122.58 | 86.39 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/1970 |
| 1704 | Hov | 23.27 | 124.16 | 84.81 | 233.50 | U/x January 1 1989 |
| 1704.01 | Kluke | 25.4 | 126.29 | 82.68 | . | closed 1939 |
| 1704.02 | Gabrielstugua | 26.9 | 127.79 | 81.18 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/1970 |
| 1705 | Bjørnerud | 28.06 | 128.95 | 80.02 | 175.20 | S 1949, Sp 05/05/1959, hp/l 01/09/1959 hp 14/05/1968, closed January 1 1989 |
| 1705.01 | Steinsvoll | 30.55 | 131.44 | 77.53 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/1970 |
| .. | Underpass riksvei 33 | 31.45 | 132.34 | 76.63 | . | Concrete bridge, length 43.6 m |
| 1706 | Fluberg | 33.04 | 133.93 | 75.04 | 154.80 | Sp 07/01/1968, u 10/06/1968, hp/l November 1987, closed January 1 1989 |
| 1706.01 | Kronborg | 36.87 | 137.76 | 71.21 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/1970 |
| 1707 | Odnes | 39.31 | 140.2 | 68.77 | 138.60 | Sp 07/01/1968, u 10/06/1968, u/g January 1 1989, l…// |
| 1707.01 | Åvella | 42.51 | 143.4 | 65.57 | . | (hp) 01/06/1969, closed 14/04/197 |
| 1708 | Dokka | 47.02 | 147.91 | 61.06 | 148.50 | S/g January 1 1989 |
| . | Bridge over Dølveita | 47.7 | 148.59 | 60.38 | . | length 30 m |
| . | Bridge over Dokka | 48.08 | 148.97 | 60.00 | . | length 60 m |
| 1709 | Nordsinni | 53.92 | 154.81 | 54.16 | 267.00 | U 07/01/1968, hp 24/11/1971, closed January 1 1989 |
| . | Håkonstad Tunnel | 59.28 | 160.17 | 48.80 | . | length 115 m |
| 1710 | Etna | 64.96 | 165.85 | 43.12 | 479.70 | U 07/01/1968, hp November 1987, closed January 1 1989 |
| . | Høgberget Tunnel | 71.95 | 172.84 | 36.13 | . | length 784 m |
| 1711 | Tonsåsen | 77.48 | 178.37 | 30.60 | 682.00 | U 01/08/1984, l January 1 1989 |
| 1712 | Bjørgo | 90.07 | 190.96 | 18.01 | 510.00 | Sp 07/01/1968, closed January 1 1989 |
| 1713 | Aurdal | 95.31 | 196.2 | 12.77 | 457.40 | Sp 07/01/1968, u January 1 1983, hp November 1987, closed January 1 1989 |
| 1714 | Leira | 104.08 | 204.97 | 4.00 | 372.00 | Sp 07/01/1968, u 10/06/1968, closed January 1 1989 |
| . | Fagernes Tunnel | 105.95 | 206.84 | 2.13 | . | Length 80 m, demolish fall of 1991 |
| 1715 | Fagernes | 108.08 | 208.97 | - | 360.00 | closed/ January 1 1989 |
Read more about this topic: Valdres Line
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Racism is an ism to which everyone in the world today is exposed; for or against, we must take sides. And the history of the future will differ according to the decision which we make.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“If you look at history you’ll find that no state has been so plagued by its rulers as when power has fallen into the hands of some dabbler in philosophy or literary addict.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“No matter how vital experience might be while you lived it, no sooner was it ended and dead than it became as lifeless as the piles of dry dust in a school history book.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)