Trains and other things: Stambanan genom Övre Norrland (Långviksmon

I'm continuing my journey along the main line through Upper Norrland.

I'm visiting Långviksmon

Green Cargo Rd2 and Rc4 coupled with each other

Björnsjö. The old station from 1919 is today home for Örnsköldsviks Railway society.

The last passenger train stopped in Björnsjö in 1975.

I'm approaching railway junction station Mellansel

Information poster set up by Sagavägenföreningen

Mellansel is the closest station to Örnsköldsvik along the Main line through Upper Norrland. Since the opening of Botniabanan, no trains are stopping here anymore.

Beautiful station in Mellansel. Due to high costs this is the only station with this type of building

From Mellansel there is a 29km long branch line to Örnsköldsvik

Old hotel near the station.

Thanks to a heavy traffic on this railway, I don't have to wait too long for the train to pass

The red light turns to green

And the train is arriving

It is a so called "Stålpendeln" between Luleå and Borlänge, operated with 3 Rc4 locomotives.

Källvattnet

Two Rc4 locomotives

Skorped station

No passenger trains stops here since 1975

Sollefteå

Passenger trains were operating here until 2001

Långsele - junction station between Main line through Upper North and Ådalsbanan.

The station has no passenger train service, instead it is a stop for change of drivers for freight trains.

Here is a Green Cargo Rc4

Just like the ARE train (Arctic Rail Express), this train named NRE (North Rail Express) is transporting goods from Oslo to Narvik daily. Service is organized by DB Schenker and operated by Green Cargo until recently. The new operator will be Cargonet.

Until 2012 long distance and night passenger trains to the north were stopping here, now they are taking Botniabanan.

Old SJ coaches now owned by Ådalslidens Järnvägsvänner are parked here. Each year they are used for the Urkultståget to a music festival in Näsåker.

Rc4 from Svensk Tågkraft (to the left) from 1976 and Hector Rail Class 142 (to the right) from 1971

142 was bought by Hector Rail from Austrian ÖBB in 2010. They were classed as ÖBB 1042 (upgraded in 1990 to ÖBB 1142). Totally 12 locomotives of this type were purchased.

Hector Rail 142.003 from 1975

Time to move on further south to Jämtland. Near Bispgården there is a Thai pavilion, built to commemorate the 1897 visit of King Chulalongkorn of Thailand to the town.

It was inaugurated on July 19, 1998, at the 101 anniversary of King Chulalongkorn's visit.

Bispgården

One of the major attractions along the way is Döda fallet (The dead fall). The Grand Rapids (Storforsen) was once one of the most magnificent waterfalls in Sweden, connecting Lake Ragunda to the Indalsälven river. But a disastrous attempt in 1796 to dig a bypass canal for floating timber put an end to all that.