page_title: Røros Line
section_title: Gauge conversion
hierarchical_section_title: Røros Line / History / Gauge conversion
caption_attribution_description: Image Note: Bildenotat: Elve- og jernbanebrudd ved Roggnes jernbanestasjon. Pilspissen viser omtrent hvor stasjonen lå før flommen. Date/Dato: 1940 Photographer/Fotograf: Olaf Strand Feel free to use the photos, but please make sure you attribute the photographer and mention NVE as the source. Bruk gjerne bildene, men vennligst oppgi fotografens navn og angi NVE som kilde. Format: Positive/Positiv Archive/Arkiv: NVE, Hydrologisk avdeling, Ea-30 Image ID/Bilde ID: NVE.H-fb_p-Flom Gaula-1940 nr.026.jpg
context_page_description: The Røros Line is a 383-kilometer railway line which runs through the districts of Hedmarken, Østerdalen and Gauldalen in Innlandet and Trøndelag, Norway. The line branches off from the Dovre Line at Hamar Station and runs a more easterly route to Støren Station, where the two lines meet again. The Røros Line also intersects with the Solør Line at Elverum Station. The single track, standard gauge line lacks electrification and only has centralized traffic control south of Røros Station. The Norwegian State Railways operate regional passenger trains. In addition the line is used by freight trains hauling lumber and wood chippings.
  The first parts of the line was the Hamar–Grundset Line and the Trondhjem–Støren Line, which opened on 23 June 1862 and 5 August 1964, respectively. To save costs, the lines were built with narrow gauge, thus making it the first locomotive-hauled 1,067 mm line in the world. The Grundset–Aamot Line extension to Rena Station was opened on 19 October 1871. The connecting line onwards to Støren opened on 13 October 1877.
context_section_description: Hamar Station developed into a major center for transshipment of goods between narrow and standard gauge rolling stock. By 1912 there was 91,725 tonnes of cargo which was transshipped, all of it for hand. The cost and time restraints on this caused proposals for the Røros Line to receive gauge conversion, mentioned for the first time in parliamentary discussions in 1890. The 1898 decision to build the Bergen Line in standard gauge marked the end of narrow gauge as an acceptable standard. The Solør Line opened in 1910, connecting to the Røros Line at Elverum, resulting in both Hamar, Elverum and Trondheim having split two-gauge stations and major transshipment operations.
  The first plans for conversion were developed in 1903 and eight years later the first money grants were issued. The first step was establishing dual gauge from Hamar to Elverum. Work commenced in 1914 and involved elevating the track at places and moving buildings further from the line. Elverum received a new station facility in 1913. The work between Hamar and Elverum was delayed and instead the section from Elverum to Rena opened with dual gauge first, on 7 November 1917. The dual gauge was completed to Hamar on 29 November 1919. The conversion cost 1.4 million kroner, but would save NSB about 400,000 kroner per year. Twenty freight cars would be freed up. Passenger trains operating between Hamar and Elverum were standard gauge, while narrow gauge was used for through trains. Standard gauge trains, and not just freight cars, could operate to Rena from 1926.
  The standard gauge line from Oslo to Hamar was extended to Otta by 1896. Parliament approved the Dovre Line in 1908, which would see this line extended across Dovrefjell to Støren and onward to Trondheim. The Dovre Line would become the new main train line from Oslo to Trondheim and relegating the Røros Line to a secondary service. Meeting in Støren, the Trondhjem–Støren Line would therefore need to be upgraded to meet the higher standard. This involved a major upgrade to Trondheim Central Station, and installing dual gauge to Støren. The latter was taken into use on
  3 September 1919 and remained in place to 14 September 1921, after which it only had standard gauge operations. The section became part of the Dovre Line with its opening on 17 September.
  Traffic on the line peaked in the financial year 1919–20, when the line transported 1,739,262 passengers, and in 1917–18 when 655,102 tonnes of cargo were hauled. The Røros Line was relegated with all through traffic being sent via Dovre from 1921. The line received a through service, which corresponded with express trains on the Dovre Line From 1928 Cmb Class 1 gasoline railcars were introduced on the line. This allowed a new kind of service, where the railcars would call at small halt established at road intersections. Between 1928 and 1931 there were built 26 such stops between Tynset and Støren.
  By the 1920s it seem evident that the three remaining narrow-gauge mainlines, the Røros, Vestfold and Jæren Lines would be gauge converted. Røros Copper Works shut down production in 1926, citing high transport costs caused by transshipment at Støren as one reason. The next stage of gauge conversion took place in 1931, when the section between Rena and Koppang, which opened on 7 October. By November the dual gauge between Rena and Hamar had been removed. A unison Parliament passed legislation on 3 June 1935 to gauge convert the line. The upgrade was planned to reduce the minimum curve radius to 250 meters (820 ft). Four new tunnels were planned to bypass otherwise narrow sections, but in the end only the 1,181-meter (3,875 ft) Drøyli Tunnel was built. The other major works was to replace the branch line which Røros Station was built on with a semi-circular loop through the town. Following the German occupation in April 1940, work on converting the remaining of the line was accelerated. A major flood in Gaula started on 24 August that year, washing away parts of the line several places through Gauldalen and station at Rognes was washed away. The line was imp
caption: The river took away part of the line past Rognes Station in 1940
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