the penguin of doom Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 (edited) Hi all. Thanks for looking in. Mrs Penguin and myself have recently returned from a weeks cruise of the Noregian Fjords and one of our stop offs was in the port of Flam, (pronounced Flom). Those who have been already will need no introduction, but for those who have not had the experience, I thought I'd post a few pictures that we took on the day. The railway itself runs from Flam up to Myrdal and is apparently the steepest standard gauge non rack railway in the world. The trains are 6 coaches long with an electric locomotive at each end, (built by Brown Boveri I noticed). The ride to the top takes around one hour and to say the scenery from start to finish is breath taking would be an understatement. I cannot do it justice with words, but hope some of the pictures will do the talking for me. Finally, if you do visit and are on a cruise arriving at the port, don't instinctively book on the overpriced trips from the ship. We found out that pre bookings were only being taken by the railway company for groups of 10 or more, so just hawked a cheap trip around some of the folk we met on the ship and managed to get a reservation for our group of 10 at a discounted rate and far cheaper than what the cruise company were charging. All I had to do was make a quick phone call to the, (English speaking), booking office staff and Roberts your mothers brother so to speak. Anywho, here's some of the pictures, carefully chosen for the non appearance of the Penguin..... I have a few more pictures if anyone is interested. Cheers. Sean. Edited July 26, 2013 by the penguin of doom 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted July 26, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 26, 2013 Looking at the thermometer out here, I'd so like to be up there now... Must be about the perfect place to live when you want to be far away from everything, too. Thanks for posting! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom J Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 I went through Myrdal on the train from Oslo to Bergen in 2006. I tried every possible means of making a journey work out, but out of the tourist season the transport connections are limited. I was very disappointed to say the least. The main line train was notable for having a children's play area (with Lego, flatscreen TV and DVD player, and bean bag chairs as I recall!) and we passed through landscape above the tree line which in winter just looked like the moon! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted July 26, 2013 Author Share Posted July 26, 2013 Looking at the thermometer out here, I'd so like to be up there now... Must be about the perfect place to live when you want to be far away from everything, too. Thanks for posting! My pleasure. It was a little cold up there to be honest, but we did pick a poor weather week. As soon as we got back to British waters, the sun came out..... I went through Myrdal on the train from Oslo to Bergen in 2006. I tried every possible means of making a journey work out, but out of the tourist season the transport connections are limited. I was very disappointed to say the least. The main line train was notable for having a children's play area (with Lego, flatscreen TV and DVD player, and bean bag chairs as I recall!) and we passed through landscape above the tree line which in winter just looked like the moon! If you do ever get the chance again, take it! I'm not really one for raving about scenery and the like, but it really did blow me away. For the full journey, I was beaming. Mrs P took some photo's of me whilst I wasn't looking and my face says it all..... Don't want to get banned for breaking the website though so I refrained from posting those ones..... Cheers. Sean. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted July 26, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 26, 2013 Hi that brought back many memories of my trip to Flam in 1973 while Inter-railing. We took the trip in the opposite direction. I.e. Down to the sea level station, then rented a rowing boat for a short trip on the fjord and next morning back up to the main line. As you say, fantastic views and well worth a visit if you are in the area. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam*45110*SVR Posted July 26, 2013 Share Posted July 26, 2013 We went on a norwegian cruise a couple of years ago and went on the Flam railway and what a railway ! Even my mum was impressed by it ! The museum next door was pretty good too and helpfully everything had multilingual signs mounted next to them. Apparently the trains have 5 braking systems ! I'm not sure I can name 5 ! Sam, another very happy visitor ! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 5 braking systems? Heck, they'd need them too considering some of the gradients! I assume one is a handbrake, but as for the others, I'll leave that for the experts. I visited the gift shop and bought a DVD of the cab ride which is even more impressive. Can't reproduce that here unfortunately due to copyright. Cheers. Sean. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 (edited) We went there in June, when we did the Norwegian Fjord cruise with Holland America ( wont cruise with anyone else !). Great trip, but could do without the obvious tourist catch with the bewigged female dancing on that building by the waterfall - yuk. Good value for money when you compare the price of the Flam railway with the Gornergrat in Switzerland which is the same price for 1/4 the length, and some of the views, on the 'Flom', are breath taking.. Edited July 27, 2013 by bike2steam 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguin of doom Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 Ah yes b2s. I held off from posting the obligatory photo of said bewigged woman. Did you notice there's actually two women? On our visit, one of them was too early with their cue and stepped out from behind the ruin a little too early. It completely spoiled the effect for me! ;o) Cheers. Sean. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam*45110*SVR Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 On our visit one of them was a man, we could see his beard when we zoomed in on the picture ! Sam 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Colin_McLeod Posted July 27, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2013 Or a hirsute woman. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric & Gripper Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Nice.looks bit hilly for me and gripper though. Best regards E&G 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Or a hirsute woman. Are you sure it wasn't a Troll? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leander Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Apologies for hijacking this old thread to give an update. The El17 locos were withdrawn last year and replaced by El18s. One El17 remains on display outside the museum in Flam (see the last photo) and you can buy a well-detailed HO model for around 2000NOK (approximate 200GBP). These were taken on 21st June on our Norwegian Fjords cruise. Most of the photographs were taken around 7.30am when I went off the ship to get our tickets and it was rather overcast and gloomy.The last photo was taken as we sailed way in the afternoon, by which time the weather had picked up considerably. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 The El18s are derived from the same "Lok2000" design study which led directly to SBB's Re460. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poor Old Bruce Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 If anybody can master the search index, there should a thread on a previous incarnation of RMWeb which includes some photos of mine taken in 1968. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I was there a few weeks ago. The scenery doesn't change much it was still quite spectacular. Still quite a lot of snow around and the waterfalls in full flood as it was an unusually warm week. Main objective was further north but most of the peaks were too dangerous due to avalanches. So had some time to spare for Flaam and Bergen. Although railway link is tentative bordering on holiday snaps. The railway truly is quite spectacular especially at the higher part where it loops back on itself inside and on the side of the mountain. If you get to Begen the cable car to the top is worth a trip though on this day the weather had turned and it was windy, wet and a little cooler. (Note model railway link) Bucket lists are just like kit stashes completing them before you die is about as unlikely. Too many. Not many of mine are railway related though. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bike2steam Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Nice to see good weather in Myrdal, last time I was there it was bucketing down with icy rain, and sleet, although Flom, sorry Flam, was sunny -ish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brigo Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 The Flam Railway in winter, almost scary in places Brian 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Wow, having done that journey a few years back, I was interested to any new posts in the thread. Brian's video was amazing as there were many places where the rails weren't even visible and with the sheer drops, that's a real test of faith in the track. Pretty spectacular! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Ooh, thanks for all the photos - another one for the "to do list" (to go list?) when funds permit. By the way (sorry, it's really bugging my proof-reading tendencies), if anyone wants a spare å to insert in Flåm, here it is: å [alt+0229 on most Windows keyboards; alt+a on most Mac ones] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NittenDormer Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 Lovely. Did it interrailing October 1996, campsite was otherwise deserted. And freezing. The road looks good too. Bike v train anyone? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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