Here is a proposal for a future project that involves a relatively short, but exciting and beautiful railway section in Norway. The Rauma line The Rauma Line (Raumabanen, opened 1924) is a short section of 114 km (70 miles). It is a branch line from the Dovre Line out of Dombås station and takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to travel. Dombås station (659 m / 2,162 ft asl) is located almost on the Dovrefjell mountain plateau, while Åndalsnes station is located at sea level just off the Romsdalsfjord. The experience itself is the journey that lies in between these places. From Dombås you begin the gentle and partly flat journey through the mountain and agricultural landscape towards Bjorli station. After Bjorli station the dramatic landscape begins with steep descents, high mountains, waterfalls and beautiful nature. The mountain peaks extend over 1,500 m above the valley floor. The terminus and town of Åndalsnes is a tourist destination with many cruise ship calls, a gondola lift and close nature experiences. This forms the basis for the tourist trains that run the round trip Åndalsnes - Bjorli - Åndalsnes. The Rauma line near Marstein station (Google Earth). In terms of traffic, the Rauma Line has a mix of light local passenger traffic, some freight transport and tourist and museum train operations. The local traffic between Dombås and Åndalsnes is operated somewhat strangely by SJ Norge (a Swedish railway operator) with diesel railcars of the type 93 (2-car Bombardier Talent). The freight train with container cars only runs one round trip per day between Oslo and Åndalsnes. This is run by the Norwegian freight company OnRail. They use Stadler Euro Dual hybrid locomotives, since the Dovre Line is electric. They therefore switch between Electric and Diesel mode at Dombås station. The tourist train is run by The Golden Train. These use former Danish State Railways ME and MZ diesel locomotives and German ex-DB Bpmz carriages. From time to time, the Norwegian Railway Museum runs its old Di. 3 (Nohab/GM) diesel locomotives and old steel passenger carriages. A small aside; the Rauma Line with its dramatic surroundings has been used as a setting in several films and series, including Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Succession and the Norwegian film "Gulltransporten" (The Gold Transport). There are no safety systems on the Rauma Line. Unlike the Dovre Line which is remotely controlled (CTC), automatic line block and Automatic Train Control (ATC), the Rauma Line is locally controlled by traffic controllers at the stations. There is no line block or train detection at all, and it is the local traffic controllers together with the train crew who are the safety barriers. For this reason, Dombås station is also staffed with a local traffic controller. Before a train is sent from Dombås to one of the stations on the Rauma Line, the traffic controller at Dombås and the neighboring station must do the following: 1. Exchange a train message via telephone (GSM-R) to the next manned station to obtain permission to send the train. 2. The message is written in the train message book of both stations to document that the block section is occupied. 3. The train must receive permission to depart from the traffic controller (white/green signal disc) + fixed exit light signal if the station is equipped with this. Also an old-fashioned solution, but it is still used: To let a train pass the manned stations between Dombås and Åndalsnes, a flag (or flashlight at night) is used. Green signal to let the train pass onto the next block section, or red flag when the block section is not ready and the train must stop at the station. Dombås and Åndalsnes stations have a fully electric interlocking system, with track detection, entry and exit signals and centrally controlled points, which are monitored and operated from the signal panel in the station building. The intermediate stations Lesja, Bjorli, Verma and Marstein have simple interlocking systems, which do not detect trains, manually set points with control locks and physical keys, and only a single entry signal and no exit signal. When the intermediate stations are not manned, the signal is turned off and the station becomes part of the line (longer block section). I am lucky enough to have the Norwegian Railways as my workplace and have first-hand access to a lot of information, so it is only rewarding if someone wants to ask me how things work, regarding the Rauma Line or other sections in Norway. I have tried to make some illustrations of the operations and the characteristics of the line section that hopefully explain something about the operation. Perhaps this could encourage a project that can recreate this nice stretch in the simulator? The advantages of this stretch are that it is relatively short and can still be made in its entirety. There is little signaling and infrastructure that needs to be placed. There is a lot of reference material on the internet and more can be easily obtained. A few links: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rauma_Line Greetings from KAS Norway
Also, take a look at this gallery at Flickr for some photographs from the Rauma Line: https://www.flickr.com/photos/flyingkab/albums/72177720317474395/ Here is a simple schematic diagram of the traffic control on the Rauma Line. Signals are not necessarily shown correctly, as signals such as pre-signal and exit signals are missing. This only shows the signals that the train encounters on its journey. There is actually an error in this diagram. The traffic controller at station B should not be showing a green flag (pass), as the next block section is busy. It is a red flag (stop) that should be shown here. Kind regards from KAS
I have found this graphic showing the vertical profile of the Rauma Line. It contains gradients in per mille (meters per thousand) ‰. Today, only the stations Åndalsnes, Marstein, Verma, Bjorli, Lesja and Dombås still exist.
Nice but traffic density is very low so not going to have much of a timetable. Though, that said, should not be a disincentive to bring lightly trafficked but scenic routes to the game - same as the Highland lines in Scotland. Also this is a route that might work better in the loco hauled era, when Di3’s worked most of the trains.
That's right, and it's a spacious railway section in terms of traffic. For reference, I've extracted the traffic for today: 23xx: SJ Norge local passenger service ("Type 93" / Bombardier Talent) 34xx: The Golden Train (TMZ diesel loco + Bpmz wagons) 590x: OnRail freight service (Stadler Euro Dual loco + Container wagons)
Well that is more trains than Fort William to Mallaig or Inverness to Kyle Of Lochalsh! Or the Central Wales line!
