Powellite
"Powellite" Bagnall 3ft gauge locomotive at Black Sands, Victoria - 1938. Photograph: P.G. Dow
11 June, 2012
03 October, 2010
12 August, 2010
12 August - Emerald, Victoria
Arrived back at home 7:20am today after an uneventful trip back from Oslo via London, arrival at Melbourne airport being on time at 4:45am.
10 August, 2010
Tuesday 10 August 2010 at Oslo
Have just been to the post office to post more books back home, to the Central Station to buy a Flytoget (the Airtrain) ticket, and did some souvenir shopping. Succeeded in getting two copies of the NRK Norway DVD I had been looking for.
Will be heading to the airport early this afternoon, and there probably won't be any more postings until I get back to Melbourne, scheduled to arrive at the airport at 4:45am Thursday.
Will be heading to the airport early this afternoon, and there probably won't be any more postings until I get back to Melbourne, scheduled to arrive at the airport at 4:45am Thursday.
A little more about the Røros railway
One thing I noticed about this line is that it seems to have many curves, and many reverse curves (flattened S-shape). It seems to have been designed to follow the contours to reduce costs and earthworks to a minimum, and for a line in difficult country has remarkably few tunnels. Seeing all those curves I can begin to understand why, 150 years ago, Carl Pihl was so pleased with the outcome of his work with Charles Beyer, of the English locomotive builders Beyer, Peacock, in coming up with the iconic 2-4-0T loco with it's leading Bissell truck and compensated suspension. They would have gone very well on such a curvy railway.
To Oslo via Røros and Hamar
I gave the background to this route in my previous post, so I will not repeat that here.
Trondheim seems to host a number of diesel train services, as I saw two other two-car sets while waiting for the Røros - Hamar service to depart. One serves the long line which goes up the east coast to Bodø. The other had a Lerkendal destination, but I do not know where Lerkendal is. The two unit railcar was quite comfortable and roomy, and for most of the journey averaged only about 55% full, which made for a more relaxed journey. It was air-conditioned and well insulated, as a result it was quite quiet, there was little diesel rumble to be heard. Part of one car was designated a "Quiet zone" and the meaning of this was explained by no loud talking, no mobile phones, no portable music media-playing devices, and no laptop computers. Why laptop computers should be banned in the quiet zone I don't know, in any case I think they were foolish in being so specific, as it means the playing of bagpipes is acceptable.
The electrified mainline was left at Støren, about fifty minutes in to the journey, which was scheduled to take about six hours in this railcar. Immediately the track felt a little rougher, and the speed felt a little faster, but I suspect it was actually a little slower. It gave the impression of being faster because of the rougher track, and tighter clearances, vegetation and trees were closer to the train and the width of cuttings was less. I do not know how extensively this route was upgraded when it was converted to standard gauge, but the curves used on the Norwegian 3ft 6in gauge lines were not less than nine chains radius (with the exception of the Setesdals line, but that was in another part of the country), which is usable on standard gauge, but sharper than desirable on a secondary mainline.
By this time the grey weather had gone, the sun was out and the sky was blue! This route is quite varied in it's scenery, and interesting much of the time. Around Røros, where the elevation is around 600 metres, there are stunted trees. In other parts the railway follows wide rivers with stoney banks, passes through forests in all stages of growth, as there is much timber cutting in this area, as there has been since long before the coming of the railway. Particularly in the southern part of the route there seems to be quite a few secondary industries, mostly based on timber I suspect, and there is a lot of agriculture.
In an area to the north of Røros the railway is high up on the side of a hill, giving magnificent views into the wide, verdant green valley below dotted with villages, houses, barns, and churches, looking like scenes from a Swiss calendar from this viewpoint. Wonderful.
There are a number of original timber station buildings dating from the 1870s and 3ft 6in gauge days, and I think they are protected as historic relics.
Although this trip is timetabled as two trains, with two train numbers (with Røros being the change point), and appears as two separate journeys on the passenger's ticket, the same railcar is used throughout, with a crew change at Røros, where the stop is only for a few minutes.
Further down the line we spent about fifteen minutes at some remote small station (Alta if I remember correctly) waiting to pass another railcar coming in the opposite direction. We did not regain this lost time, despite some very spirited running a little later, and arrived at Hamar at 16:02 instead of the scheduled 15:46. This was just in time to do a cross-platform interchange to the electric train to Oslo, which had come from Lillehammer, and was due to depart Hamar at 16:04. To NSB's credit they have the platform tracks at Hamar signalled for two-way running, and seem to schedule the electric trains which operate between Oslo and Lillehammer to use whichever track creates the least effort for the majority of Røros line passengers when they change trains. I had visions of a mad scramble down the subway to Track 1 for the Oslo train, instead there was an easy cross-platform walk over to Track 3. Track 2 is a stub used by Røroas trains.
The journey into Oslo was uneventful and pretty much on schedule. Many passengers got off at Gardermoen airport, and not many got on, meaning the train was now unusually empty, maybe about 30% occupied. Arrival at Oslo was around 17:35 and I made for the Thon Terminus Hotel again. I have noticed that the Thon Hotel chain seems to place their hotels next to "ethnic" restaurants of quite good quality and value. The Terminus Hotel at Oslo is next to an Italian restaurant where I have eaten a few times, including tonight; and the two Thon Hotels at Trondheim are next to an Irish Pub restaurant, and a Scottish restaurant. The Norwegian summer school holidays end this week, and business will return to normal in Oslo. This means rates at Thon Terminus Hotel will go up about 50% to business rates and be far less attractive to casual travelers.
Trondheim seems to host a number of diesel train services, as I saw two other two-car sets while waiting for the Røros - Hamar service to depart. One serves the long line which goes up the east coast to Bodø. The other had a Lerkendal destination, but I do not know where Lerkendal is. The two unit railcar was quite comfortable and roomy, and for most of the journey averaged only about 55% full, which made for a more relaxed journey. It was air-conditioned and well insulated, as a result it was quite quiet, there was little diesel rumble to be heard. Part of one car was designated a "Quiet zone" and the meaning of this was explained by no loud talking, no mobile phones, no portable music media-playing devices, and no laptop computers. Why laptop computers should be banned in the quiet zone I don't know, in any case I think they were foolish in being so specific, as it means the playing of bagpipes is acceptable.
The electrified mainline was left at Støren, about fifty minutes in to the journey, which was scheduled to take about six hours in this railcar. Immediately the track felt a little rougher, and the speed felt a little faster, but I suspect it was actually a little slower. It gave the impression of being faster because of the rougher track, and tighter clearances, vegetation and trees were closer to the train and the width of cuttings was less. I do not know how extensively this route was upgraded when it was converted to standard gauge, but the curves used on the Norwegian 3ft 6in gauge lines were not less than nine chains radius (with the exception of the Setesdals line, but that was in another part of the country), which is usable on standard gauge, but sharper than desirable on a secondary mainline.
By this time the grey weather had gone, the sun was out and the sky was blue! This route is quite varied in it's scenery, and interesting much of the time. Around Røros, where the elevation is around 600 metres, there are stunted trees. In other parts the railway follows wide rivers with stoney banks, passes through forests in all stages of growth, as there is much timber cutting in this area, as there has been since long before the coming of the railway. Particularly in the southern part of the route there seems to be quite a few secondary industries, mostly based on timber I suspect, and there is a lot of agriculture.
In an area to the north of Røros the railway is high up on the side of a hill, giving magnificent views into the wide, verdant green valley below dotted with villages, houses, barns, and churches, looking like scenes from a Swiss calendar from this viewpoint. Wonderful.
There are a number of original timber station buildings dating from the 1870s and 3ft 6in gauge days, and I think they are protected as historic relics.
Although this trip is timetabled as two trains, with two train numbers (with Røros being the change point), and appears as two separate journeys on the passenger's ticket, the same railcar is used throughout, with a crew change at Røros, where the stop is only for a few minutes.
Further down the line we spent about fifteen minutes at some remote small station (Alta if I remember correctly) waiting to pass another railcar coming in the opposite direction. We did not regain this lost time, despite some very spirited running a little later, and arrived at Hamar at 16:02 instead of the scheduled 15:46. This was just in time to do a cross-platform interchange to the electric train to Oslo, which had come from Lillehammer, and was due to depart Hamar at 16:04. To NSB's credit they have the platform tracks at Hamar signalled for two-way running, and seem to schedule the electric trains which operate between Oslo and Lillehammer to use whichever track creates the least effort for the majority of Røros line passengers when they change trains. I had visions of a mad scramble down the subway to Track 1 for the Oslo train, instead there was an easy cross-platform walk over to Track 3. Track 2 is a stub used by Røroas trains.
The journey into Oslo was uneventful and pretty much on schedule. Many passengers got off at Gardermoen airport, and not many got on, meaning the train was now unusually empty, maybe about 30% occupied. Arrival at Oslo was around 17:35 and I made for the Thon Terminus Hotel again. I have noticed that the Thon Hotel chain seems to place their hotels next to "ethnic" restaurants of quite good quality and value. The Terminus Hotel at Oslo is next to an Italian restaurant where I have eaten a few times, including tonight; and the two Thon Hotels at Trondheim are next to an Irish Pub restaurant, and a Scottish restaurant. The Norwegian summer school holidays end this week, and business will return to normal in Oslo. This means rates at Thon Terminus Hotel will go up about 50% to business rates and be far less attractive to casual travelers.
09 August, 2010
Monday 9 August 2010:
Today I set out on the first stages of a very long journey south, starting with an NSB diesel railcar trip to Røros, then either the same train, or a change to a different diesel railcar for the journey to Hamar, then a change to an NSB electric train to Oslo, where I stay for one night at the Thon Terminus Hotel again.
The route I am traveling today is the original Oslo - Trondheim route, built as 3ft 6in gauge between Hamar and Trondheim between 1862 and the 1870s, with conversion to standard gauge being completed in the 1940s. It is one of the few non-electrified NSB railways, and much of it is at an elevation of around 650 metres.
Weather today looks a little dismal, grey and overcast, there seems to have been rain, and looks as if there will be more.
The route I am traveling today is the original Oslo - Trondheim route, built as 3ft 6in gauge between Hamar and Trondheim between 1862 and the 1870s, with conversion to standard gauge being completed in the 1940s. It is one of the few non-electrified NSB railways, and much of it is at an elevation of around 650 metres.
Weather today looks a little dismal, grey and overcast, there seems to have been rain, and looks as if there will be more.
Trondheim trams - not to be missed ...
It it is complete mistake to think of a Trondheim tram as just a tram. If you ever find yourself in Trondheim, and you have any interest in narrow-gauge railways, then you must travel on Trondheim tram!
There is only one route, and it is 8.8km long. The trams are fairly modern two-unit articulateds, and quite wide for the gauge, which is one metre. When you see them in the streets of Trondheim they give few clues as to what is to come. The tracks are set in stone blocks, and tend to be on the sides of the streets rather than the centre, otherwise all is normal.
Once outside the city grid though, which is pretty soon, it becomes a fully fledged narrow-gauge railway, on it's own right-of-way, winding its way steadily up the side of a hill, with excellent long range views of Trondheim below. There are station buildings with their own platforms and name boards, passing loops, colour light signals, and steel bridges. In some parts the trees are so close that the tram seems to be passing through a tunnel of trees. The tramway reaches an elevation of over 200 metres. The Sunday service is half-hourly, and with this frequency there is one crossing during the journey.
About two-thirds of the way along there is a tram museum, which has a number of old trams in it, by far the most interesting being the oldest, a four-wheeler of pre first world-war vintage.
I was so struck with this that at the terminus - Lian - I asked the driver if he spoke English, he did - fluently - so I told him him how good I thought that trip was and that I would recommend it to any visiting Australians. He was very pleased, and said he had had some other favourable comments from foreign visitors.
There is only one route, and it is 8.8km long. The trams are fairly modern two-unit articulateds, and quite wide for the gauge, which is one metre. When you see them in the streets of Trondheim they give few clues as to what is to come. The tracks are set in stone blocks, and tend to be on the sides of the streets rather than the centre, otherwise all is normal.
Once outside the city grid though, which is pretty soon, it becomes a fully fledged narrow-gauge railway, on it's own right-of-way, winding its way steadily up the side of a hill, with excellent long range views of Trondheim below. There are station buildings with their own platforms and name boards, passing loops, colour light signals, and steel bridges. In some parts the trees are so close that the tram seems to be passing through a tunnel of trees. The tramway reaches an elevation of over 200 metres. The Sunday service is half-hourly, and with this frequency there is one crossing during the journey.
About two-thirds of the way along there is a tram museum, which has a number of old trams in it, by far the most interesting being the oldest, a four-wheeler of pre first world-war vintage.
I was so struck with this that at the terminus - Lian - I asked the driver if he spoke English, he did - fluently - so I told him him how good I thought that trip was and that I would recommend it to any visiting Australians. He was very pleased, and said he had had some other favourable comments from foreign visitors.
Sunday 8 August at Trondheim
Found out what the music festival was all about, not a musical festival at all, but the 2010 World Orienteering Championships, with teams from about thirty countries each country having about ten team members. The official opening ceremony was today, but the event goes for all this week. The opening ceremony was done in a very Norewgian manner, i.e. it was very well organised in a very laid back manner, with no signs of over-bearing officiousness. The general public could mingle with the contestants and the organisers. Because of that I was able to ask an official what was going on. Google 2010 World Orienteering if you want more information.
This morning I spent most of my time in Trondheim's religious precinct, and there certainly is one, dominated by the magnificent Nidaros Cathedral standing in it's own extensive beautifully maintained grounds. The cathedral dates back to around the fourteenth century. Close by, and even nearer the city square is another very old church, visible in the photograph of the Olav Tryggvasson Statue. Olav Tryggvasson founded Trondheim in 997 or thereabouts. Also near the Cathedral is the Archbishop's Palace, parts of which date back to the twelfth century. In the same general area are a number of other churches, and church schools. Private schools are not common in Norway, the great majority of people seeming to prefer government schools at all levels, and all levels of education seem to be completely free, and the education system of high quality.
At 10:30 the bell of Nidaros Cathedral started to sound, and I thought it sounded a little tinny. But almost immediately the bell of a nearby competing church started to sound, and the two working together sounded very good. They continued for about five minutes. Then repeated this performance half an hour later.
Nidaros Cathedral has a coffee shop and souvenir shop, so I bought a cup of coffee and a long rectangular object (lro) for morning tea. Don't know what the lro was but it looked intriguing and turned out to taste pretty good. Seemed to be made of similar material to a croissant, but was bigger, and had swirls of good healthy dark chocolate going through it.
The old building I saw yesterday which is the original Trondheim railway station, is in this area. It is now part of a religious building. Spent quite a lot of time walking around this area, which is beautiful in many places, especially along the banks of the river.
After that I went for a ride on a tram, but that deserves a separate post, and will get one.
After my affairs with the trams I wandered around the business district of Trondheim, then saw some of the opening ceremony of the 2010 WOC.
This time I had dinner at an Irish Pub Restaurant, selected something simple and basic - shepherds pie - and very good it was too.
Trondheim is the most northerly point I go to on this visit. It is not far from Hell, but I am not intending to go to Hell, as apart from the railway station name board, it is not a very interesting place. The weather today was absolutely perfect, blue sky, a few clouds, sunshine, warm, with a little breeze. A total contrast to the last time I was here, late in June 2008, when it was very hot and very humid, and because it was close to the summer solstice and so far north, the sun hardly went down at all at night. As a result there was no relief from the heat and humidity at night, and they don't bother air-conditioning hotels here because they rarely need it.
This morning I spent most of my time in Trondheim's religious precinct, and there certainly is one, dominated by the magnificent Nidaros Cathedral standing in it's own extensive beautifully maintained grounds. The cathedral dates back to around the fourteenth century. Close by, and even nearer the city square is another very old church, visible in the photograph of the Olav Tryggvasson Statue. Olav Tryggvasson founded Trondheim in 997 or thereabouts. Also near the Cathedral is the Archbishop's Palace, parts of which date back to the twelfth century. In the same general area are a number of other churches, and church schools. Private schools are not common in Norway, the great majority of people seeming to prefer government schools at all levels, and all levels of education seem to be completely free, and the education system of high quality.
At 10:30 the bell of Nidaros Cathedral started to sound, and I thought it sounded a little tinny. But almost immediately the bell of a nearby competing church started to sound, and the two working together sounded very good. They continued for about five minutes. Then repeated this performance half an hour later.
Nidaros Cathedral has a coffee shop and souvenir shop, so I bought a cup of coffee and a long rectangular object (lro) for morning tea. Don't know what the lro was but it looked intriguing and turned out to taste pretty good. Seemed to be made of similar material to a croissant, but was bigger, and had swirls of good healthy dark chocolate going through it.
The old building I saw yesterday which is the original Trondheim railway station, is in this area. It is now part of a religious building. Spent quite a lot of time walking around this area, which is beautiful in many places, especially along the banks of the river.
After that I went for a ride on a tram, but that deserves a separate post, and will get one.
After my affairs with the trams I wandered around the business district of Trondheim, then saw some of the opening ceremony of the 2010 WOC.
This time I had dinner at an Irish Pub Restaurant, selected something simple and basic - shepherds pie - and very good it was too.
Trondheim is the most northerly point I go to on this visit. It is not far from Hell, but I am not intending to go to Hell, as apart from the railway station name board, it is not a very interesting place. The weather today was absolutely perfect, blue sky, a few clouds, sunshine, warm, with a little breeze. A total contrast to the last time I was here, late in June 2008, when it was very hot and very humid, and because it was close to the summer solstice and so far north, the sun hardly went down at all at night. As a result there was no relief from the heat and humidity at night, and they don't bother air-conditioning hotels here because they rarely need it.
08 August, 2010
Saturday - 7 August - To Trondheim
Yesterday I forgot to mention that while waiting for a tram at Frogner Park a big shiny black Daimler car swept past flying the Norwegian flag on the bonnet, and bearing a gold coat of arms on the door. I presume it was the King. It was followed by a couple of other large black official looking cars. The King's residence is not far away from here.
Incidentally, when Norwegian politicians were seeking complete independence from Sweden around 1905, those pushing for it were in favour of a republic. But surrounding countries, which at that time were all monarchies, saw this as too radical. So the Norwegians opted for a compromise by inviting a Danish prince who was not otherwise occupied to become the new Norwegian King, as a constitutional monarch. They basically presented him with the job description, which was to be a figure-head head of state. He accepted and the result was the foundation of a highly successful democracy with a very popular King.
Now back to today's activities. The weather was mostly good, with sunshine and blue sky most of the time. Took the 8:07 train from Oslo to Trondheim, by the direct route via Dombås. The direct route was a standard gauge line opened around 1920, which reaches elevations of 1000 metres, and is now electrified all the way. The train consisted of two four-car sets coupled together, the sets being of the high-speed type of the style reminiscent of the Japanese bullet trains. But they don't travel at high speed on this route, and the journey takes about six and a half hours. Although some of the route is at a high altitude, it lacks the long tunnels and snow shelters of the Oslo - Bergen route. It includes some pretty good scenery of a variety of types, including forests, rocky gorges with wild rivers, stunted trees at the high altitudes, farming country with pleasant villages, some wonderful old timber buildings many with traditional grass covered roofs, of a style many centuries old, and interesting old churches.
I booked this trip some months ago on the Internet, as a result I got a very good "Minipreis" fare, so I paid the extra 70 Kroner to get Komfort Klass, which was worth while as there was more leg room, more vacant seats, less hectic activity, a window seat with the seat next to me unoccupied, and free coffee! It made for a very relaxing and pleasant journey, during which I reflected on what it might have been like in the last days of steam when they were using big 2-8-4 tender locos on the route, which was challenging for steam. Happily one of these locos is preserved and on display at the Hamar Railway Museum. They were Norway's biggest steam locos, and mighty impressive it looks too. Incidentally that 70 Kroner fare supplement is only about $A13, which works out at $2 an hour.
On arrival at Trondheim I switched on my TomTom navigation device, so that it could guide me to my hotel. However, it was fortunate that I knew the approximate direction to take, as it took about five minutes to latch on to satellites, which seemed excessively long to me. Anyway it came good when needed and guided me to the door of the hotel, where I will be spending two nights.
After booking in I then used TomTom to guide me to a sacred site. The site of Trondheim's first railway station, built in 1864, the terminus and headquarters of the 3ft 6in gauge Trondheim - Støren Railway - the second public railway in the world built to this gauge, and the first to be built in difficult country. I found a building which looked as if it might have been the original station building recycled, and walked over some park ground which I suspect may have been where the terminus tracks were. I took a number of photographs to compare with photographs taken in the 1860s and 1870s. This original station site was replaced with another quite early - in the 1870s if I remember correctly, as it did not have port facilities, which became critically important as the railways developed. [I have since confirmed that it was indeed the original Trondheim station, and it is a very impressive building.]
Had a bit of a walk around Trondheim. There was some sort of extraordinary musical performance going on in the town square, with streets being closed, and television broadcasters in attendance. Seemed to be modern classical music (sounds like an oxymoron to me) in the form of an opera, and was being amplified pretty loud. Why it did not act as a people repellant I don't know, all the surrounding businesses seemed to have plenty of customers.
Could not find a Norwegian restaurant at any price (let alone at an affordable price) so had a reasonable chook dinner at an Italian restaurant. Whilst here I saw my first Trondheim tram, and chased one briefly after dinner. They are narrow-gauge (metre I think) and I think there is only one route, but a fairly long one.
Incidentally, when Norwegian politicians were seeking complete independence from Sweden around 1905, those pushing for it were in favour of a republic. But surrounding countries, which at that time were all monarchies, saw this as too radical. So the Norwegians opted for a compromise by inviting a Danish prince who was not otherwise occupied to become the new Norwegian King, as a constitutional monarch. They basically presented him with the job description, which was to be a figure-head head of state. He accepted and the result was the foundation of a highly successful democracy with a very popular King.
Now back to today's activities. The weather was mostly good, with sunshine and blue sky most of the time. Took the 8:07 train from Oslo to Trondheim, by the direct route via Dombås. The direct route was a standard gauge line opened around 1920, which reaches elevations of 1000 metres, and is now electrified all the way. The train consisted of two four-car sets coupled together, the sets being of the high-speed type of the style reminiscent of the Japanese bullet trains. But they don't travel at high speed on this route, and the journey takes about six and a half hours. Although some of the route is at a high altitude, it lacks the long tunnels and snow shelters of the Oslo - Bergen route. It includes some pretty good scenery of a variety of types, including forests, rocky gorges with wild rivers, stunted trees at the high altitudes, farming country with pleasant villages, some wonderful old timber buildings many with traditional grass covered roofs, of a style many centuries old, and interesting old churches.
I booked this trip some months ago on the Internet, as a result I got a very good "Minipreis" fare, so I paid the extra 70 Kroner to get Komfort Klass, which was worth while as there was more leg room, more vacant seats, less hectic activity, a window seat with the seat next to me unoccupied, and free coffee! It made for a very relaxing and pleasant journey, during which I reflected on what it might have been like in the last days of steam when they were using big 2-8-4 tender locos on the route, which was challenging for steam. Happily one of these locos is preserved and on display at the Hamar Railway Museum. They were Norway's biggest steam locos, and mighty impressive it looks too. Incidentally that 70 Kroner fare supplement is only about $A13, which works out at $2 an hour.
On arrival at Trondheim I switched on my TomTom navigation device, so that it could guide me to my hotel. However, it was fortunate that I knew the approximate direction to take, as it took about five minutes to latch on to satellites, which seemed excessively long to me. Anyway it came good when needed and guided me to the door of the hotel, where I will be spending two nights.
After booking in I then used TomTom to guide me to a sacred site. The site of Trondheim's first railway station, built in 1864, the terminus and headquarters of the 3ft 6in gauge Trondheim - Støren Railway - the second public railway in the world built to this gauge, and the first to be built in difficult country. I found a building which looked as if it might have been the original station building recycled, and walked over some park ground which I suspect may have been where the terminus tracks were. I took a number of photographs to compare with photographs taken in the 1860s and 1870s. This original station site was replaced with another quite early - in the 1870s if I remember correctly, as it did not have port facilities, which became critically important as the railways developed. [I have since confirmed that it was indeed the original Trondheim station, and it is a very impressive building.]
Had a bit of a walk around Trondheim. There was some sort of extraordinary musical performance going on in the town square, with streets being closed, and television broadcasters in attendance. Seemed to be modern classical music (sounds like an oxymoron to me) in the form of an opera, and was being amplified pretty loud. Why it did not act as a people repellant I don't know, all the surrounding businesses seemed to have plenty of customers.
Could not find a Norwegian restaurant at any price (let alone at an affordable price) so had a reasonable chook dinner at an Italian restaurant. Whilst here I saw my first Trondheim tram, and chased one briefly after dinner. They are narrow-gauge (metre I think) and I think there is only one route, but a fairly long one.
07 August, 2010
Friday 6 August - at Oslo
Day started out very wet and grey. Went to post office to post more books back to myself in Oz. Succeded in finding a shop that sold pens - a bookshop. Was looking for a DVD on Norway published by NRK (the Norwegian equivalent of the ABC and BBC) but failed. I know it exists but could not find it, and I am seeking two copies.
Took the tram to Frogner Park. An interesting tram ride which took an interesting route around the waterfront and past the old Oslo former 3ft 6in gauge station which I mentioned in a previous post, and which I have since learnt dates from 1871. That being so it was an extremely impressive building for what started out being quite a small railway operation, (but grew to match the pretensions of the station). The trams seem to make quite a deep-throated growl when they get going, unlike Melbourne trams (though I have not yet ridden on a low-floor Melbourne tram, which give the impression of having no wheels). An extraordinary feature of this tram route was an open-track tram junction in the middle of a water fountain. It appears the water jets automatically turn off when the tram goes through, so that the underside of the tram does not get a free wash.
Frogner Park is a large park on the outskirts of Oslo (probably two or thee kilometres out) with lots of trees and shaded walks, and plenty of seats placed strategically, and the usual statues. One bust is of Abraham Lincoln, a gift from the citizens of North Dakota USA in 1914, with an uplifting quote on freedom and democracy. At that time Norway had been fully independent for only about nine years, and the philosophy of Norway's founding fathers would certainly have been in line with the quote, but the way Norway and the USA have implemented that philosophy are quite different. There were I think many Norwegian emigrants in North Dakota, so there would have been a connection.
Within Frogner Park is Vigeland Park, an amazing collection of hundreds of granite and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, including a 14 metre high granite monolith on the park's highest hill. The Lonely Planet guide to Norway says it took three stone carvers fourteen years to make it. It depicts 121 human figures striving to reach the top. The Vigeland Park sculptures are on a huge scale, and attract a large number of foreign tourists, but because of the huge scale there is plenty of space for tourists.
Fortunately the weather cleared for most of the time I was wandering around here taking numerous photographs, but unfortunately the phone-camera photographs on this blog do not do the Park justice. Returned back to central Oslo in a well packed tram, by which time rain had set in again.
Later in the day the rain cleared again and there was blue sky and sunshine.
Dinner in a Chinese restaurant in the old Oslo main-line station building, where there is good food to be had at a good price, and friendly staff.
Took the tram to Frogner Park. An interesting tram ride which took an interesting route around the waterfront and past the old Oslo former 3ft 6in gauge station which I mentioned in a previous post, and which I have since learnt dates from 1871. That being so it was an extremely impressive building for what started out being quite a small railway operation, (but grew to match the pretensions of the station). The trams seem to make quite a deep-throated growl when they get going, unlike Melbourne trams (though I have not yet ridden on a low-floor Melbourne tram, which give the impression of having no wheels). An extraordinary feature of this tram route was an open-track tram junction in the middle of a water fountain. It appears the water jets automatically turn off when the tram goes through, so that the underside of the tram does not get a free wash.
Frogner Park is a large park on the outskirts of Oslo (probably two or thee kilometres out) with lots of trees and shaded walks, and plenty of seats placed strategically, and the usual statues. One bust is of Abraham Lincoln, a gift from the citizens of North Dakota USA in 1914, with an uplifting quote on freedom and democracy. At that time Norway had been fully independent for only about nine years, and the philosophy of Norway's founding fathers would certainly have been in line with the quote, but the way Norway and the USA have implemented that philosophy are quite different. There were I think many Norwegian emigrants in North Dakota, so there would have been a connection.
Within Frogner Park is Vigeland Park, an amazing collection of hundreds of granite and bronze sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, including a 14 metre high granite monolith on the park's highest hill. The Lonely Planet guide to Norway says it took three stone carvers fourteen years to make it. It depicts 121 human figures striving to reach the top. The Vigeland Park sculptures are on a huge scale, and attract a large number of foreign tourists, but because of the huge scale there is plenty of space for tourists.
Fortunately the weather cleared for most of the time I was wandering around here taking numerous photographs, but unfortunately the phone-camera photographs on this blog do not do the Park justice. Returned back to central Oslo in a well packed tram, by which time rain had set in again.
Later in the day the rain cleared again and there was blue sky and sunshine.
Dinner in a Chinese restaurant in the old Oslo main-line station building, where there is good food to be had at a good price, and friendly staff.
06 August, 2010
Thursday 5 August 2010 - back to Oslo
Nothing much doing today. Went to Hamar post office to send some books back to Australia to lighten my luggage. Then in the early afternoon took the train back to Oslo. Noted a large number of people joined the train at the Oslo Airport station, rather than pay the higher fare on "Flytoget" (the Air-train) which is a high-speed service. The disadvantage of this is that the normal train lacks sufficient space for all the luggage these travelers bring with them, with the result that there is luggage everywhere. Anyway the normal train keeps up a cracking pace after the airport. Last stop before Oslo is Lillestrøm, then there is a very long tunnel almost the whole distance into Oslo. Don't know the length of the tunnel offhand, and don't have access to my reference books here, but it must have been at least 8km long I would think.[It is actually 13.8km long].
Back to the Thon Terminus Hotel at Oslo. No energy or enthusiasm to do anything, having hardly slept last night, though why I have no idea. Dinner at an Italian restaurant next to the hotel, during which there was a very heavy downpour of rain, the like of which I had not seen in Oslo, but it only lasted a couple of minutes.
Was having major problems sending email at Hamar, seemed that Bigpond objected to the private wi-fi network I was using, but they do not object to the Telenor wi-fi networks that are used in the bigger cities. So today I was able to upload three photographs I took on the phone- camera on Monday and Tuesday. Not very good pictures, trust those I have taken with my "proper camera" will be much better!
On Wednesday instead of taking the 3.6km walk back from the Hamar Railway Museum to my bed and breakfast place, I decided to take the local bus service, which only runs every hour, but it's schedule aligned well with my schedule on this occasion. Anyway I had no idea how much the fare would be, but assumed it would be about 25 kroner, as this is about the going rate in Oslo and Bergen. So I got on board and put 30 kroner on the tray next to the driver, and he said something to me in Norwegian which I didn't understand, so I put on another 10 kroner and he said something else which confused me even more, so I said "jeg snakke ikke Norsk", (I don't speak Norwegian), and the light dawned on his face and he laughed and said "Only ten crowns!"
And in Norway that's good value (about $A1.85).
Incidentally, in the morning I had indulged in the rare luxury of taking a taxi to the Museum (as I had been walking more than I could comfortably cope with, and also to maximise my time at the Museum library). Took the taxi from the railway station taxi rank, not from my b and b, so it still involved a 1km walk. Anyway that fare was 87 kroner (about $A16.00).
Back to the Thon Terminus Hotel at Oslo. No energy or enthusiasm to do anything, having hardly slept last night, though why I have no idea. Dinner at an Italian restaurant next to the hotel, during which there was a very heavy downpour of rain, the like of which I had not seen in Oslo, but it only lasted a couple of minutes.
Was having major problems sending email at Hamar, seemed that Bigpond objected to the private wi-fi network I was using, but they do not object to the Telenor wi-fi networks that are used in the bigger cities. So today I was able to upload three photographs I took on the phone- camera on Monday and Tuesday. Not very good pictures, trust those I have taken with my "proper camera" will be much better!
On Wednesday instead of taking the 3.6km walk back from the Hamar Railway Museum to my bed and breakfast place, I decided to take the local bus service, which only runs every hour, but it's schedule aligned well with my schedule on this occasion. Anyway I had no idea how much the fare would be, but assumed it would be about 25 kroner, as this is about the going rate in Oslo and Bergen. So I got on board and put 30 kroner on the tray next to the driver, and he said something to me in Norwegian which I didn't understand, so I put on another 10 kroner and he said something else which confused me even more, so I said "jeg snakke ikke Norsk", (I don't speak Norwegian), and the light dawned on his face and he laughed and said "Only ten crowns!"
And in Norway that's good value (about $A1.85).
Incidentally, in the morning I had indulged in the rare luxury of taking a taxi to the Museum (as I had been walking more than I could comfortably cope with, and also to maximise my time at the Museum library). Took the taxi from the railway station taxi rank, not from my b and b, so it still involved a 1km walk. Anyway that fare was 87 kroner (about $A16.00).
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