Paamiut Railway

The 41 km long Paamiut Railway is a 600mm narrow-gauge railway constructed in Kanqaamiut.
=== History ===
The railway was started in 1894 and completed in the summer of 1901.
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.
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 Paamiut up to the mines at Kimmirut (altitude 495m). The railway has an average gradient of 1.21%, with a maximum gradient of 3.8%.
The railway faces a major obstacle at Kilometer 24.2, where the line has to climb through some very broken and rough terrain, gaining significant altitude over a short space. The engineers built the 630m-long Ikateq Spiral Tunnel (Tunnel #3) inside the mountain in order to gain altitude. The train emerges from the spiral tunnel into a sheer canyon, crossing a 50m tall (but 29m long) steel arch bridge before returning to the 80m-long Tunnel #4.
Between Kilometer 27.2 and 27.9, the line parallels a cliff, running through Tunnel #6. A dozen windows are cut into the cliff in order to allow smoke to clear.
Snowsheds cover 31 kilometers of the line.
=== Locomotives and Rolling Stock ===
Locomotives: 
* Agnė #1 (2-6-2T) built 1901
* Rugilė #2 (2-6-0) built 1901
* Austėja #3 (2-6-0) built 1901
* Liudvika #4 (0-4-4-0) built 1904
=== Trivia ===
* As of 1907, the Paamiut Railway is believed to be the most northerly operating railway in the world.
* All of the steam locomotives are fitted with water heaters to prevent freezing in their feedwater tanks.
* The four locomotives working on the line all received names after the arrival of #4 in 1905. Company officials discovered in 1907 that all four locomotives were named after the dancing girls at a local bar in Paamiut. An attempt was made to rename the locomotives, sparking a two-day strike. The management backed down and decided not to mention it again.
Category:Railways of Liotain