Atangmik Railway

The 40 km Atangmik Railway is a 600mm narrow-gauge rack railway constructed in Kanqaamiut.
=== History ===
The railway was started in 1898 and completed in the summer of 1904.
The 600mm gauge was chosen for construction due to the very tight tolerances required. The track came in prefabricated sections, initially being placed directly on the ground, with improvements following over time. Due to the gradient, a rack railway was selected for the first half of the line. Due to difficulties with steam locomotives operating on the line, it was designed from the start as an electric railway, with a coal-fired power generation plant in Atangmik providing power to the locomotives.
The advantages of the prefabricated 600mm track soon became apparent as it allowed work crews to easily repair sections damaged by the expansion and contraction of the earth, caused by freeze and thaw cycles.
The railway operates between April and October of each year; usually significant maintenance is required each spring.
=== Route ===
The railway runs from the port town of Atangmik up to the mines at Isulijarnik (altitude 510m). The railway has an average gradient of 1.28%, with a maximum gradient of 11.3%.
Although the last 20 km of the railway run across relatively level ground, the first half of the line runs up a steep canyon. The engineers developed an Abt rack-and-pinion system for the locomotives that allowed the line to climb quickly, and thus completely avoided the need for complicated tunnels (as was required on the Paamiut Railway to the north). However, a switchback was required at Kilometer 10.2.
As a result of the switchback, trains always run with two locomotives, one on each end.
Snowsheds cover 25 kilometers of the line.
=== Locomotives and Rolling Stock ===
Locomotives: 
*Class NE25: 2-B-B-2 electric locomotives
**Karalienė Kotryna #1 (2-B-B-2)
**Zaibas #2 (2-B-B-2)
**Erelis #3 (2-B-B-2)
**Siaurietis #4 (2-B-B-2)
**Atangmik #5 (2-B-B-2)
**Arkangelas #6 (2-B-B-2)
=== Trivia ===
*
Category:Railways of Liotain