10-20-2010, 11:20 AM
Norway’s only domestic railway ferry went between the two stations Mæl and Tinnoset, a 30km connection across Tinnsjøen lake on the Rjukan Railway (opened in 1909, closed down in 1991) in Telemark County in southern Norway.
During WW2 and the German occupation, Vemork power station in Rjukan was the only manufacturer of heavy water in the world. Between 1940 and 1944 the Norwegian resistance movement organized a series of sabotage actions to destroy the power station, to prevent the Germans from producing heavy water to be used in their uranium projects.
On February 22 1944, the Germans shipped the remaining heavy water from Vemork, and Norwegian resistance sank the ferry “D/F Hydro” during the trip across Tinnsjøen. Killing 18 people in the process, they prevented the heavy water from reaching Germany, which could possibly end the nuclear race in favor of Germany. The ferry “D/F Hydro” still lies on the bottom of Tinnsjøen, at 430 meters depth.
There have been made several movies about this part of WW2 history, the movie “Heroes of Telemark” starring Kirk Douglas being one of them.
Well, that was a short history lesson. I took a daytrip to Mæl and Tinnoset this summer, here are some pics:
“D/F Ammonia” (one out of four remaining steam powered railway ferries in the world, in service from 1929) at Mæl station:
![[Image: 13.jpg]](http://www.hjemstad.no/pics/13.jpg)
Mæl station. Inside the towers are counterweights for the apron:
![[Image: 14.jpg]](http://www.hjemstad.no/pics/14.jpg)
“M/F Storegut” (in service from 1956) at Tinnoset station:
![[Image: 19.jpg]](http://www.hjemstad.no/pics/19.jpg)
There are a lot more pics in my photo album here: http://foto.mjf.no/main.php?g2_itemId=9206. I haven’t found any kits that look anything like this, so the whole structure will probably have to be built from scratch.
During WW2 and the German occupation, Vemork power station in Rjukan was the only manufacturer of heavy water in the world. Between 1940 and 1944 the Norwegian resistance movement organized a series of sabotage actions to destroy the power station, to prevent the Germans from producing heavy water to be used in their uranium projects.
On February 22 1944, the Germans shipped the remaining heavy water from Vemork, and Norwegian resistance sank the ferry “D/F Hydro” during the trip across Tinnsjøen. Killing 18 people in the process, they prevented the heavy water from reaching Germany, which could possibly end the nuclear race in favor of Germany. The ferry “D/F Hydro” still lies on the bottom of Tinnsjøen, at 430 meters depth.
There have been made several movies about this part of WW2 history, the movie “Heroes of Telemark” starring Kirk Douglas being one of them.
Well, that was a short history lesson. I took a daytrip to Mæl and Tinnoset this summer, here are some pics:
“D/F Ammonia” (one out of four remaining steam powered railway ferries in the world, in service from 1929) at Mæl station:
Mæl station. Inside the towers are counterweights for the apron:
“M/F Storegut” (in service from 1956) at Tinnoset station:
There are a lot more pics in my photo album here: http://foto.mjf.no/main.php?g2_itemId=9206. I haven’t found any kits that look anything like this, so the whole structure will probably have to be built from scratch.