The monster on the Bergen Line

It comes towards you with blazing eyes and smoke billowing from its nose. The yellow monster is on the tracks coming for you and there is only one thing to do – run! The monster called ‘Beilhack’ is in fact one of only 13 rail snow blowers in the whole world. For over 40 years the yellow machine with red fans has rumbled over the high mountains in order to keep the line open in the winter. It can move an amazing 19 000 tons of snow in an hour. We have a lot of different types of weather here in Norway! Throughout the history of the Bergen line the snow in the higher mountains has been a challenge, but regardless the train must run. When the snow ploughs on the highways have given up, the rail rangers and machines have been clearing the rail lines of snow with pride for over 100 years. In the beginning, there were hundreds of families living along the railway line in just over 80 ranger houses, the rangers were diligent in keeping the tracks snow free so that the trains could pass both day and night. They were supported by powerful snow blowers and later on snow covers and screens were built to ensure that the trains could pass year round.