History Gråkallen_Line

1 history

1.1 establishment
1.2 construction
1.3 expansion
1.4 war , growth
1.5 integration
1.6 more expansion?
1.7 closing , reopening

history
establishment

during 1910s, fjellseter close peak gråkallen had been 1 of main recreational areas trondheim. necessary initiative taken robert millar, chief of marketing @ nordenfjeldske dampskibsselskab. on 3 november, first meeting held, , millar chosen lead investigation committee. company a/s graakalbanen founded on 6 september 1916, , nils christoffer bøckman elected chairman.

there 2 suggestions route. first made engineer ferdinand bjerke, worked norwegian state railways, on behalf of company. line connect city tramway @ ilevolden after following ila line torvet, , continue byåsenveien street tram until bergsli gate. here continue in own right-of-way, single track line nyveibakken, past gamle Åsvei bygrensen, breidablikk, turning west @ hoem, rognheim , munkvoll. munkvoll continue south of kyvannet , north of lianvannet , again head north fjeldseter.

the second suggestion city planner, trygve thesen, in 1917. proposed alternative routes. while upper sections identical or close of bjerke, thesen suggested making large loop around dyrborg, west of ila. expected immediate growth area city, , give improved passenger base line. would, however, increase travel distance upper sections. city planner presumed section within city limit built municipal trondhjems elektricitetsværk og sporvei, while section in strinda built new company. cost city 743,000 kr, while cost company nok 413,000.

graakalbanen sceptical suggestion thesen, since have rent 4 km (2.5 mi) instead of 1.4 km (0.87 mi) of track city; increase leasing fees nok 7,000 12,000. company afraid of passengers leaking off @ wullumsgården south of dyrborg loop, , walking ila. dyrborg suggestion increase travel time torvet fjellseter 36 57 minutes. however, city planner s suggestion cheaper (nok 1,300,000 vs. nok 1,630,000). bøchman recommended bjerke s suggestion, , board agreed. after hotel @ fjellseter burnt down in 1917, line chosen terminate @ lian.

at same time end terminal in city centre not yet determined. terminating @ ilevolden, company choose rolling stock, including higher 1,200 v current used on ekeberg line of oslo. should trams continue need use trondheim sporvei s 600 v, metre gauge , car width. however, trondheim sporvei had chosen convert system wide cars @ 260 cm (100 in) width. if city chose start rebuilding of track current 200 cm (79 in) width, allow graakalbanen buy wide stock. instead chosen run trams along ila line new station @ st. olavs gate. here, trams have recovery time, , return ila line along loop through dronningens gate. 232 m (761 ft) loop built trondheim sporvei , cost city nok 54,000.

construction

the first conveying started in 1917, , following january city engineer started construction, ended. in june 1919, engineering company grøndahl & kjørholt took on work, planning finished lian 1921. however, june 1920, rising prices resulted in money being used up. @ same time turned out rolling stock more expensive expected; ordering of rolling stock therefore delayed. in 1921, no construction done on line. not before trondhjems og stridens sparebank issued loan of nok 1.6 million possible continue construction. based on mortgaging assets, nok 500,000 guarantee city council. while work had been along whole route, concentrated on section ila–munkvoll, depot located.

tracks delivered norwegian state railways, replacing 25 kg/m track on meråker line. track length 7 m (23 ft). @ same time company bought truss bridge funna viaduct meråker line, installation on gråkallen line; 20 metres short, , temporary wooden span built cover this. @ munkvoll brick transformer station built along wooden depot 3 tracks , capable of 9 trams , trailers.

four trams , 2 trailers ordered hannoversche waggonfabrik (hawa), motors siemens. gb class 1 trams cost nok 360,000, including work trailers. stock had bogies, 13 m (43 ft) long , weighed 30 t (30 long tons; 33 short tons), , had 4x 50 kw (67 hp). chassis delivered on 20 july 1924, while motors came on 5 july. assembled @ dalsenget depot. because of wider bodies, transport track @ ila dalsenget had done @ night, trams not meet other trams in opposite track. first test run on 5 july, failed due short circuit. successful attempt made on 9 july.

the tracks completed in march, not until trams delivered service start. tramway opened on 18 july 1924 @ 18:00. ordinary service started next day. first weekend there thousands of people wanted see new trams, , demand exceeded capacity. ridership dropped considerably.

expansion

modern view of munkvoll

the initial service had departures once per hour. trams left munkvoll on hour, , st. olavs gate on half-hour. weekend traffic considerable, ridership on weekdays limited. management felt because munkvoll not close enough recreational areas of bymarka, , proposed quick expansion ugla. @ same time, ticket price set high compared city trams, @ nok 0.60 adults. in 1924, there 144.774 passengers.

the first expansion come following year. construction of line ugla had started, , opened on 30 may 1925. had tavern , duck pond attract riders. branch laid kyvannet, ice transported city center sold. company continued lose money, , attract more riders, the

further expansions lian considered, management skeptical @ having 2 destinations, since not create necessary critical mass. tavern , farm @ ugla burnt down in 1931, , insurance company allowed insurance money used building @ lian. finance line extension, graakalbanen decided create new company; a/s ugla–lian organized in such way have no expenses, income. a/s ugla–lian build line, , graakalbanen pay nok 0.05 per passenger freighted on line. graakalbanen cover operating, maintenance , administrative expenses, other company. construction of 2.1 km (1.3 mi) expansion started in autumn of 1932. first test run on 29 september 1933, , line taken use on 28 october 1933. number of recreational services grew @ lian, including ski jump , trotting in winter, , bathing , rowing in lake lianvannet in winter. despite this, ridership grew slowly, 1937 had passed 1930-level.

war , growth

original munkvoll depot right

world war ii show highest ridership on line through history. rationing on petrol, electric trams operated. cities without trams or trolleybuses stuck without public transport. 1940 showed increase 884,000 passengers, , first time company made profit. ridership continued increase, 1.2 million in 1941, , 2.16 million in 1945. conductors had taken use, , women employed. save time on route, stations ferstad, kyvannet, vestmarka , herlofssonløypa not served on way up. in addition, tram operated st. olavs gate hoem.

during war difficult spare parts. trams operate 3 of 4 motors, , during night there not lights on. 2 working trailers rebuilt single passenger trailer. in addition, company chose order tram , trailer skabo jernbanevognfabrikk in 1941. gb class 2 put service on 9 june 1943 , cost nok 289,000. additional 2 trailers delivered in 1947, , in 1950 motor arrived first trailer rebuilt tram.

the high revenue during war had given company large amount of cash, worn down fleet. each year, profits between nok 143,000 , 430,000. during war, company a/s ugla–lian had been bought. available cash, graakalbanen started upgrading infrastructure. turning loops built @ st. olavs gate , @ lian. in st. olavs gate, proper turning loop not feasible, , in june 1946 large loop went down dronningens gate block opened. on 13 september 1947, lian loop built, radius of 20 m (66 ft). @ same time, small garage @ lian expanded house 2 instead of 1 wagons.

on 18 july 1947, first (and only) double track section of dedicated right-of-way built. inspired oslo, suburban lines had this, 800 m (2,600 ft) rebuilt between breidablikk , nordre hoem. gave lot better regularity, since 2 trams meet anywhere along section, , both trams not become delayed if 1 was. 1949, track had been upgraded 35 kg/m, , speed increased 35 km/h (22 mph) 40 km/h (25 mph).

after war, ridership stabilized @ 1.7 million. @ first company operated 30-minute headways, using trailers during summer , in rush hour. introducing 15-minute headways not done until 6 trams available; after rebuilding of trailer tram in 1950, increased frequency introduced. during 1950s, amount of recreational travel lian decreased, compensated increased traffic new housing built along line. 1955, commuter ridership exceeded recreational ridership.

with delivery of new trailers in 1947, capacity of depot exceeded fleet, 1 tram stored @ lian. new depot therefore built on other side of tracks @ munkvoll. construction started in 1952, , finished following year. had 5 tracks; 3 had places storage of 6 wagons, while 2 workshop service 2 trams simultaneously.

to supplement aging stock, gb class 3 singe tram , trailer, hønefoss karrosserifabrikk (høka) ordered in 1954. delivered in september 1955, put service in december. because of increased traffic, new signaling system introduced in 1957, , double track built bergsli gate ila. section had been causing problems cars, since trams operate on wrong side of road. allow future 10-minute headway, new signaling system installed in 1958 ugla. until then, tokens had been used regulate traffic.

integration

in 1960, sale of cars deregulated, , purchase car. @ same time, trondheim started merger process neighbouring municipalities, , plans made build large suburbs far city centre, depopulated, , connect suburbs motorways. new four-lane highway along byåsenveien opened in 1966. traffic numbers fell rapidly, , company needed replace aging fleet. traffic patterns changing, since lian greater extent becoming winter rather summer destination. in 1963, trondheim sporvei rebuilt 1 of trams operate lade directly lian on holidays. in 1966, graakalbanen bought city, , odd hovdenak became director of both tram operators.

after being taken public ownership, company had more money spend. new turning loop built @ munkvoll, , 10-minute headway introduced st. olavs gate munkvoll, , 20-minute headway lian. prices reduced, , 1967 showed 10% ridership increase. signalling improved fixed blocks, , munkvoll–lian still used tokens. rolling stock painted same yellow , blue, coat of arms used trondheim sporvei not used on graakalbanen.

instead of purchasing new rolling stock gråkallen line, city trams start operating on line. however, there lack of material in trondheim sporvei, , not until 7 november 1966 ts class 7 city tram taken use. supplemented trailer on 6 february 1967. also, there operated direct route lian lade during morning rush hour. in 1968, company acquired 5 additional trams. however, trondheim sporvei had problems delivering trams. deal in place, oldest trams retired. however, 30 june 19 august 1968, trondheim sporvei needed trams again, , old class 1 in service. final run of class 1 in regular service on 29 november 1968. 19 may 1969 trams lost conductors.

graakalbanen on 1 january 1972 merged trondheim sporvei form trondheim trafikkselskap. allow service run through city centre, , connect other routes. 28 january 1978, line numbered 1/5 , went on route voldsminde–ilevolden–munkvoll–lian, replacing former line 1. terminus @ st. olavs gate closed, , passengers no longer offered heated waiting room.

after 10-minute headway introduced on 13 april 1975, section ugla–lian developed bottle neck. 6 trams used handle route between voldsminde , lian. accident occurred on bottle neck caused substantial damage, , fixed block signaling system installed on whole line.

more expansion?

during 1960s, gråkallen line experienced large ridership increase halset area. 1956 1971, halset built out large apartment blocks. these apartment blocks along line, of route along housing. 1970 there 10,500 people living along line, , half of them in munkvoll/halset area. graakalbanen suggested building loop around halset; munkvoll, follow selsbakkveien, allette beyers vei, a. andreassens vei , gråkallen line @ rognheim. total distance 1.2 km (0.75 mi), , cost nok 1.5 million. ridership estimated increase 1.2 million.

the norwegian armed forces sceptical, , wanted route moved. instead feeder bus put service trondheim sporvei, passengers had pay both bus , tram, attracted 278 passengers. instead suggested walk way should built along waldemar aunes vei rognheim, shortening walking distance 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 500 m (1,600 ft), never built. in 1969, trondheim sporvei applied bus concession on route. graakalbanen had concession 1952 operate ugla haukåsen , smistad, had never started operation, , given trondheim bilruter. due disagreements regarding concessions being tampered given new route halset, trondheim bilruter received extension of concession havstad. 21 november 1971, halset bus in operation, served 2 buses trondheim bilruter, , 1 trondheim trafikkselskap.

in 1979, new suggestion launched. part of four-line network connecting major suburbs, new route proposed branching off munkvoll , running through kystad, stavsted, kolstad heimdal. route expensive, , not passed.

closing , reopening

during 1980s there lot of political debate future of tram in trondheim, , in 1983 city council decided close down elgeseter line, , keep 1 line between lian , lade. @ same time 11 new trams ordered , new depot built @ munkvoll, costing on nok 100 million. in 1988 city council changed minds , closed tramway in trondheim. tracks between st. olav s street , lademoen removed, tracks @ lade kept, tracks between st. olav s street , lian. latter because enthusiasts had plans of operating veteran trams heritage railway.

but fate had other plans gråkallbanen. trondheim tramway 1 of 2 in world, along cairo tramway, use combination of metre gauge , 2.6 metre-wide cars. made practically impossible sell trams , finance 20 new scania buses trondheim trafikkselskap needed operate bus route lian , lade. in end 11 trams not sold , instead company owned 1400 enthusiasts, gråkallbanen, created operate tram route on remaining line, started in 1990. in 2004 veolia transport s division in norway, veolia transport norge, bought company , have announced invest nok 10,7 million, after purchase in improved infrastructure on gråkallbanen. july 1, 2008 company name changed gråkallbanen veolia transport bane as. since company renamed boreal transport bane in 2011, boreal transport midt-norge in 2012 , boreal bane in 2016.