Norway is very dedicated to preserving its history, and we are very dedicated to explore it and share it with our offspring especially if it’s a fun family activity like the 100 yr old train.

The Urskog–Høland Line, also known as Tertitten, is a narrow-gauge railway between Sørumsand and Skulerud in Norway.

The villages are some 40 km from Oslo and back in the day, when lumber production was high (see my Fetsund lenser post), the railway was used for log transportation where eventually it would  be rafted along the rivers for further exportation.

The original train line was 57 kilometers long and was built in several three.

Today part of the line is preserved as a museum at Sørumsand in Lillestrøm municipality belonging to one of the cultural heritages part of Museene i Akershus. It is maintained in cooperation with the Friends association (Venneforeningen Tertitten) and supported by ticket sale and private donations.

Since the train line was build way before the golden oil age, the funds were just enough to build it in the least expensive way as a so-called tertiary railway with a 750 mm gauge track. Thats why the diminutive, affectionate nickname, “Tertitten”.

Founded in 1961 by volunteers to preserve railway history, the Tertitten railway operates a 3-kilometer track with beautifully restored steam locomotives and carriages. Originally lacking facilities, the group built its own infrastructure, restoring the line to Sørumsand’s town center by 1989.

Today visitors can experience the old fashioned way of traveling, by joining one of the summer weekend rides. The tickets are sold in the old renovated tickets office and comes in paper form, later controlled by one of the ticket officers.

The ride with the steam train is a half an hours ride with a 20is minute stop for the locomotive to turn around and admire the beautiful Norwegian landscape, before hopping back on board.