Narrow-gauge railways in Denmark

A few narrow-gauge railway lines were built in Denmark, the majority in 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) gauge. Most railway lines in Denmark were built with standard gauge from the beginning, since the country was fairly densely populated in the 19th century.

Narrow railways in amusement parks

  • Ree Park – America Expresses, Ree Park, Ebeltoft Safari, Ebeltoft, Djursland.[1]
  • Fårup Railways, Fårup Summer Park (Fårup Sommerland), Fårup, Jammerbugt[2]
  • Sommerland Sjælland, Nørre Asmindrup, Odsherred[3]

Metre-gauge railways

Some 350 km of 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+38 in) gauge lines were constructed by ten companies, three on the island of Bornholm, the rest in the peninsula of Jutland. Among these railway lines were the Skagen Line (converted to standard gauge in 1924), Amtsbanerne på Als, Apenrader Kreisbahn, Haderslebener Kreisbahn, Horsens-Tørring, Horsens-Bryrup and Kolding-Egtved.

Agricultural and field railways

Most notably, narrow-gauge railways in Denmark were built and used by De Danske Sukkerfabrikker (Danish Sugar Corporation) to transport juice from sugar beets from purpose built "juice stations" to the main sugar factories in towns such as Nakskov, Nykøbing and Assens. Around 660 km of 700 mm (2 ft 3+916 in) narrow-gauge sugar lines existed in 1941, all were closed in the 1960s. However, a few engines survived with Bloustrød-banen, as well as one engine surviving as a display item in Assens park until the mid-1990s.

There were numerous other industrial and agricultural narrow-gauge railways.

Faxe Jernbane, gauge unclear

The Faxe Jernbane, 6.5 km (4.0 mi) long, was built in 1864 for the transportation of limestone. There is confusion about the track gauge used as various sources mention a track gauge of 791 mm (2 ft 7+532 in), but some Krauss steam locomotives delivered in 1927 had the gauge of 785 mm (2 ft 6+2932 in). Two Schöma locomotives delivered in 1970 had the gauge of 791 mm. The railway is now closed.

Preserved

785 mm (2 ft 6+2932 in)

  • Hjerl Hede Frilandsmuseum, steam operated peat railway in an open-air museum

700 mm (2 ft 3+916 in)

  • Blovstrød Banen, 1,2 km steam operated railway
  • Hedelands Veteranjernbane, a 5,2 km steam operated in a country park around gravel quarries. A miniature railway is also present.
  • Lille Vildmose, 8 km in a former peat extraction area, now a nature reserve. The railroad was dismantled in 2012, but a 0,4 km museum railway has been established at the Lille Vildmose Museum Center ("Vildmosecenteret").
  • Store Vildmose railway don’t exist anymore, only a few materials and only one train remains for preservation on Hedeland veteran railway, (Hedelands Veteranjernbane).[4][5][6][7][8]

600 mm (1 ft 11+58 in)

  • Mosebrugsbanen, Stenvad Mosebrug (Stenvad Mosebrugscenter), peat museum railway 2,5 km at a peat museum in Stenvad
  • Bunkermuseum Hanstholm museum, MuseumsCenter Hanstholm, 1,2 km on a former ammunition railway. Featured in the film The Olsen Gang in Jutland

550 mm (21+2132 in)

  • Mønsted Kalkgruber, in a former limestone quarry.

Active industrial railways

  • Østerbygård Dambrug is an active industrial railway.[9]
  • Fuglsø mose is an active industrial railway.[10][11]
  • Pindstrup Mosebrug is an active industrial railway.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

References

A visitor's guide to Scandinavian (Nordic) narrow-gauge railways

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  1. ^ "Amerika Expressen - Ree Park Safari". reepark.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Toget - nyd en hyggelig tur". www.faarupsommerland.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Wild west parktog". www.sommerlandsj.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  4. ^ "3 Vildmosetilsynet No 3, damp. Arkiv - Hedelands Veteranbane" (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  5. ^ Kiersgaard, Vibeke Noergaard (3 September 2021). "Klynevogn fra Pindstrup Mosebrug". Kongerslev9293.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Smalsporsbaner | Nordjyllands jernbaner" (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  7. ^ "EVP - Store Vildmose". evp.dk. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Store Vildmose -- Ca. 1928. - Jernbanehistorisk forum". www.jernbanen.dk. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  9. ^ Hansen, Bent. "Dambrugsbanerapport 2012 | Bents bane" (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  10. ^ https://jernbane.net/bo/subpage.php?s=3&t=8515
  11. ^ Dansk Jernbane-Klub (18 November 2023). Smalspor i Fuglsø mose. Retrieved 5 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "Pindstrup runder omsætning på milliard – Dokkedal" (in Danish). 12 February 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  13. ^ Elsøe, Bolette (12 February 2022). "Rammer milliardomsætning: Over 110 år gammel familievirksomhed slår rekord". Finans (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Historien om Pindstrup Mosebrug - del 2". dk.linkedin.com (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Pindstrup Mosebrug Traktor 257, 2000 Store Vildmose". Railorama (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  16. ^ "arkiv.dk | Pindstrup Mosebrug, Kongerslev". arkiv.dk. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  17. ^ "PINDSTRUP | Midtdjurs Lokalarkiv" (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Pindstrup Mosebrug Traktor 006, 1998 Lille Vildmose". Railorama (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  19. ^ Kiersgaard, Vibeke Noergaard (3 September 2021). "Klynevogn fra Pindstrup Mosebrug". Kongerslev9293.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 5 September 2024.