Original subtitles

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) norway is not only famous for vikings,

It also includes some of the most

Incredible train journeys on earth.

But spectacular scenery can be deadly.

Blocks of rock fell down from the mountain

And hit the railroad.

(Teddy) staying on track means moving mountains.

My favourite part of my job is blow stuff up

(Teddy) this rare, epic adventure

Takes me way up north.

You're crossing a line to another world.

The arctic world.

(Teddy) join me as we ride across

The unforgiving terrain of norway's bergen railway and nordland line.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) the kingdom of norway boasts not one,

But two of the most spectacular train journeys in the world.

You'll see the glaciers, you will see the fjords

You will really feel that you're climbing up to the mountains.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) I'll jump on the nordland line,

To head north from trondheim to bodo.

But first, the bergen line or bergensbanen begins in

Norway's capital, oslo.

(Teddy) traveling across

The country to the west coast city of bergen.

This trip from oslo to bergen has lots of beautiful landscapes

And fjords for tourists to take in.

But before our train can make the trip,

Maintenance crews here in oslo have a ton of work to do.

(Teddy) three times a year,

Bergen line mechanics give their locomotives a comprehensive tune-up.

They don't just look under the 5 and a half ton hood.

They take the whole thing off.

That gives us access to all thecomponents,

For example the compressor, the fan, the firefighting equipment.

I've been working here for ten years,

And we work with everything from electrical work to mechanical work,

Changing parts, you learn something new every day.

(Teddy) on the other side of the maintenance depot

Mechanics prepare to lift an 88-ton passenger carriage

So they can examine its wheel sets, called bogies.

We have to take it out on this side.

(Teddy) they've spotted a problem

With the bogie's pillows, hollow, rubber disks

That act as shock absorbers.

These pillow here is old and it's maybe not holding the air,

So we can have leakage when we're putting together.

(Teddy) flat pillows can mean more than a rough ride

They can make the carriage unstable.

Pillows, they have to be 100% so we're just replacing it

To be sure it's not be an air leak later.

(Teddy) only after a locomotive is

Declared fit for duty can it return to the tracks of oslo central station

Where chief conductor, odd henrik, is responsible

For the train being ready to cross the mountains.

It's a little bit of walking.

The train is 244 meters long!

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) the locomotive leading

The charge is the electrically powered e.L. Eighteen.

It's 4.3 meters tall, 3 meters wide,

And 18.5 meters long.

The loco draws power from an overhead line through

Its pantograph to drive the motor and deliver over 7300 horsepower.

That's enough to pull a maximum payload of 2,040 tons

The weight of more than eleven hundred passenger cars.

Once odd is satisfied with the exterior,

He joins engineer stian ulsletten for the final check.

We are checking the brakes.

Over the mountains.

Must be good brakes.

(Teddy) when the equivalent of

1100 cars need to stop fast good brakes are critical.

I use the pneumatic brakes for the whole train.

I just push it towards me like that.

(Teddy) pneumatic brakes

Let the driver quickly stop the whole train.

When he needs to stop faster, there's a second option.

If I need some more brake then,

Then I can use the electro brake,

Only for the locomotive.

(Teddy) electromagnetic brakes are strictly for emergency stops

These are sets of steel bars fixed between the wheels.

The steel bars drop to the track

And are magnetized by an electric current.

The super-magnetic bars then grip the tracks,

Holding the locomotive firmly in place.

If I don't use the brake for the whole train,

And only for the locomotive, you will get a little dnt, dnt, dnt

Like that in the wagons, you know?

My bag's packed, I've got my ticket

And I'm ready to grab my seat for what

I'm told is one awesome journey.

(announcer on p.A.) please observe this is the train to bergen.

Departure time is around oslo central 8:25.

(Teddy) our nearly 500 kilometer trek begins in oslo.

The train runs through farm country to honefoss

Then into the hallingdal valley.

From there we pass hardangervidda national park

With a stop in finse.

Then the train heads through the raundalen valley

And along the edge of a fjord before reaching bergen after seven hours.

(Teddy) it doesn't take long

For our train to reach the first of the bergen line's

Most defining features.

So we're about to go into a tunnel

And it's incredible because on this bergen line

There's actually 182 of them, and they stretch over

A length of 73 kilometers.

And to put that into perspective,

If you stacked all those tunnels on top of each other,

It would equal eight and a half times the height of mount everest.

But the rail network's single-track tunnels

Can be a bottle neck for trains.

So norway's rail system is constantly upgrading its capacity.

♪ ♪ ♪

10 kilometers south of oslo, the town of åsland is

The site of the 3 billion-dollar follo tunnel project.

When it opens, the tunnel will have dual tracks

Allowing two way traffic, or express service.

They're digging deep to create what will be

The longest railway tunnel in the country.

♪ ♪ ♪

Just now we are inside,

In front of four tunnel boring machines.

(Teddy) the tunnel boring machine

Or t.B.M. For short is a massive multi-tasker.

A round cutter-head munches through rock at

Two revolutions per minute, using dozens of steel cutters.

Excavated material is moved out on a conveyor belt.

While hydraulic cylinders push the t.B.M. Forward.

If we have a very good day, we may excavate nearly

30 meters of tunnel during one day.

The t.B.M. Doesn't just bore a hole,

It builds the tunnel as it goes.

Its hydraulic arms lift and bolt concrete

Support rings into place.

Each ring weighs almost eight tons.

The rings resist the massive weight above

While keeping out the moisture below.

And altogether, we will install 20,000 rings for this tunnel project.

(Teddy) but even rock-chewing behemoths are not immune

To the daily grind of norwegian bedrock.

We are changing cutters and they are every day

Fighting against these extreme hard rock conditions.

(Teddy) up to 20 cutters are replaced each day.

Many will say that this is extreme hard rock conditions

But that's how it is when we are tunneling in norway.

We are used to it.

(Teddy) there's no room for surprises

When you're deep underground.

Geologists and their probes are way ahead of the t.B.M.'s.

We do a lot of investigations beforehand and so we know more

Or less where its weakest zones will be so we have a system

In place already so we can be prepared.

(Teddy) construction started in 2015

And the high speed rail tunnel is expected to open in December 2021.

By 2030, it's estimated that norway will spend

Nearly twenty billion dollars to modernize

All 4,000 kilometers of its rail network.

The follo line project is the largest infrastructure project

On the construction in norway today,

And it's a fantastic project.

(Teddy) outside oslo,

We pick up speed to 160 kilometers an hour.

Back in the 1870's this jagged terrain presented a nearly

Overwhelming obstacle to anyone plotting a path.

When surveyors were given the job of building a railway

Between oslo and bergen, just finding a passable route

Was an unbelievable task.

And before it was built eleven other paths were

Considered but all of them were deemed too dangerous to build on.

(Teddy) the epic construction

Of the bergen line has captured the imagination of historian

And author, jan helge østlund for years.

You've written a book on this railway.

When you were researching it, what surprised you the most,

To learn about this line?

The construction workers and the period,

And all the challenges they had to build this railway.

It was terrible condition for the workers.

They had bad food, bad weather.

Everything was against them, but they did the job.

(Teddy) archive construction officially began in 1889,

After three decades of planning.

Workers from norway and all over europe

Used hand tools like pick axes, shovels and dynamite to force

Their way through mountains and hard rock.

The bergen line officially opened in November 1909,

After nearly 20 years of treacherous work.

The construction workers was called a rallar,

And there was thousands of them building the line.

And not every one of them survived.

(Teddy) with oslo ninety kilometers

Behind us, the scenery takes a distinctly alpine turn.

And the uneven cliffs in the distance are an omen

Of the potentially lethal conditions ahead.

In 1971 a huge block of rock fell down from the spot where

We're standing now and hit the road and the railroad,

And swept it out in the fjord.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) I'm traveling across norway

On the spectacular bergen railway.

Why would you tell someone that they have to take this rail journey?

Because you have all the exciting contrasts.

You'll see the glaciers, and the fjords, it's amazing!

It's the best line we can offer you.

(Teddy) as we enter the hallingdal

Valley you see why norway is called 'the stone country'.

One of the many amazing things about norway is that more than

50% of the surface area of the land here is made up of

Mountains so that gives you a sense of how difficult it

Is to build railways here through all that stone.

It's really amazing.

(Teddy) and difficult to maintain

Those picturesque peaks can cause serious damage.

The mountains and cliffs that make the bergen line

So spectacular also make it dangerous.

Geologist trine helle simmenes is looking for trouble spots.

(Teddy) trine and her crew

Touch down 600 meters up bjornafjellet or bear mountain.

350 kilometers west of oslo,

It looms over the bergensbanen track,

Waiting to strike again

In 1971 blocks of rock fell down from the mountain

Right here we're standing and hit the road

And the railroad, and swept it out in the fjord.

(Teddy) fortunately, no trains were passing when an estimated

145 tons of rock fell, demolishing a 150 meter-long

Section of track and dumping it in the fjord below.

(Teddy) to warn against future catastrophe trine uses

A laser-guided prism system to detect any movement on the rock face.

This is a prism, and we're drilling

The small thing into the rock and it works like a mirror.

(Teddy) once the prisms are drilled into the mountain

A laser is beamed from a station one kilometer away.

To record the prisms' precise coordinates.

Geology teams check the prisms a few times a year,

Looking for movement.

If the prisms' coordinates have changed it means the rock

May have become loose and could be ready to fall.

(Teddy) once in position they drill

Holes into the rock face so they can screw the prism into place.

The work we're doing up here is very important work.

If we see that the rocks move then we need to take preventive action,

That could be put up a rockfall fence at the base of the slope

So that the rocks cannot hit the travelers.

(Teddy) it's impossible to prevent every kind of debris hazard,

Which is why the driver's cab is like a fortress on rails.

The front window is reinforced, so if a stone is one kilo,

It can hit the front window at 360 km/h and not go through.

(Teddy) driver stian, is nearing the end of his shift.

A new driver takes over at ål station

For the most grueling part of the upcoming journey.

(Teddy) from al station the train begins the climb into

The hardangervidda mountain range.

Where rocky terrain and steep inclines place a unique strain on a locomotive's wheels.

(Teddy) which is why the bergen line maintains

A specialized wheel maintenance center in oslo.

Mechanic, arne nilsen ensures every wheel

Sticks tight to the track.

We fix wheels for them, and any other parts they need fixed.

(Teddy) the norwegian railway system

Has trusted this lathing machine to keep its train wheels

Pristine for three decades.

What's special about this machine is that there is one,

Maybe two operational ones in norway.

This is an elderly lady from 1985 and she demands

To be treated with respect.

(Teddy) using preprogrammed measurements

The lathe shaves material from the wheels to make them uniformly round.

This is like a photocopier, and it follows whatever profile

We program it to.

(Teddy) the wheels are heated to make

The metal easier to shape but not so hot that they warp.

Now I'm removing the shavings that have come off the wheel.

This stuff is about three or four hundred degrees celsius

So it's a good idea to avoid it.

(Teddy) just one cracked or warped wheel can cause an incident.

Regular maintenance keeps the wheels turning smoothly.

It's alpha and omega, simply put.

If the train doesn't have wheels you can't drive it, you know?

(Teddy) falling rock and steep mountainous terrain aren't

The bergen railway's only challenges.

The line's wooden sheds protect against snow build-up,

But are vulnerable to fire

And on isolated stretches of track

Passengers are at risk.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) I'm discovering norway

On the legendary bergen railway.

240 kilometers west of oslo,

We're climbing into the hardangervidda mountains

Towards finse station.

On the outskirts of geilo the green ski hills show why

The bergen railway is just as popular in the winter.

A lot of tourists take this train,

People come from all over the world, but do you find

A lot of norwegians it as well?

Yes, especially in the holidays during

Winter because y'know, norwegians love skiing!

Right!

(Teddy) the snow is good for skiers,

But it can be a disaster for trains.

Up here, the winter can last for seven months

One-and-a-half meter high snowbanks are common and

Can stop a train in its tracks.

Like a covered bridge, snow sheds shield the most

Exposed stretches of track.

Snow sheds were built to protect the tracks.

We're actually going through one right now.

One of the major problems though, is that a lot of

The sheds were made of wood, so they're

Easily destroyed by fire.

In June 2011, it's believed that sparks from a welding accident

Set fire to a snow shed near finse.

A bergen railway train with over 250 passengers was trapped inside.

(Teddy) the train was evacuated,

And nobody was hurt, but the shed and the train

Were consumed by the flames.

With 170 wooden snow sheds along 13 kilometers of track,

There's a major push to replace them before another

Fire threatens lives on the line.

We don't want high risk of fire.

So with the steel construction, we take that risk away.

(Teddy) this new 65-meter-long shed

Uses 305 structural steel beams, with steel plates for the walls and roof.

Each beam weighs nearly 1,000 kilograms and must be

Trucked in from oslo.

Because the site is perched on a cliff in a remote area

It's risky business for the workers.

We have to deal with the nature around us.

And the rocks above us have to be secured.

(Teddy) carl turns to the expert guidance of

Geologist trinne helle simenes.

These are challenging conditions because the cliffs are very steep,

There's a lot of fractures making blocks that could easily

Fall down and damage the railway.

We have rocks with very different properties,

Lower down in the valley, we have soft phyletic rocks,

And here we have very hard gneiss.

It's a hard rock with lots of fractures.

These rocks are so hard and sharp that even

The small fragments can make a lot of damage.

(Teddy) another challenge is norway's epic winters,

Which limit construction to just five months a year.

On the bergen line, we have now replaced

700 meters with the steel construction.

(Teddy) replacing all 13 kilometers worth of bergen railway sheds

Will take nearly 40 years.

♪ ♪ ♪

So we are a good ways into our journey now

And you can tell that the landscape

And the terrain has changed drastically.

Now we're approaching finse which is the highest

Station on the entire line.

It's actually the highest elevation station north

Of the alps and I'm told that it's really, really

Beautiful and already you can see the scenery is just breathtaking.

(Teddy) in winter, the exposed plateau

Gets hammered with snow.

So the track west of finse has been covered by a tunnel to cut down delays.

Soon we're coming up on the finse tunnel.

It's a major feat of engineering.

It was built in the 1990's and at over 10 kilometers long

It's the longest tunnel on the entire line.

And the opening to the tunnel is really narrow,

There's only about a meter of clearance on either side of the train.

(Teddy) like so much of the bergen railway,

The finse tunnel is a single-track.

Slowing down.

Which means when the train in front of us gets stuck inside

There's no way we can pass.

There is a freight train in front of us which have some

Problems so we have to wait until we can go further.

So what happens now with our train?

We have to stay and wait.

There is no, we are in the middle of nowhere!

This is finse station.

We're over 1200 meters above sea level right now.

We're also very, very, remote up here,

There's no road access to this area.

That freight train you see is blocking our line

So we can't go farther on.

(Teddy) so, all 440 passengers on board are stranded.

Until they can unblock the tunnel.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) the bergen railway's

Finse station is more than 1200 meters above sea level,

In norway's hardangervidda mountains.

We're stopped here because the freight train in front

Of us lost momentum when climbing the mountain.

Now it's stuck in the finse tunnel,

Waiting to be rescued.

(Teddy) norway's rail traffic

Controllers like bjorn jullumstrø

In the oslo center, are trained for exactly

This type of emergency.

It's not often that we have freight train stuck in the tunnel.

But it can happen.

(Teddy) custom track-view software has mapped every

Detail of norway's rail network from the train drivers' perspective.

In this situation it's to have the help from the finse side.

We have a trains there, we will use them to help

The freight train to get out of the tunnel.

Our team in finse gets their orders.

We have a plan.

Our train is going to pull that train, that way.

(Teddy) our el18 locomotive and all eight passenger cars

Will pull the 1,000-ton freight train out of the finse tunnel

Deliver it to the station's sideline.

Then we'll pass beside the freight train to continue our journey.

Okay, everyone has to come on board.

Hurry up. Come on!

I'm almost the last passenger to get on and we've gotta go quickly.

(Teddy) inside the snow shed,

Engineers couple the trains.

We have pulled the freight train back and we're going

To deposit it on a parallel line right beside us here.

Thankfully though, we have this siding here and that's

What's going to save us today.

(Teddy) our journey is underway again.

But this delay will affect dozens of passengers' travel plans.

(over telecom) we have left finse station.

The train is now one hour and forty minutes delayed.

We are getting information from the norland.

Maybe they will have a new ferry for you.

So, you've got a bit of a travel delay?

What's happening?

We were hoping to go along the fjords on the boat.

The problem is that there is only one boat left today

And we hope that we will be able to catch it.

(over telecom)

We will arrive at myrdal in about five to six minutes.

(Teddy) at myrdal station,

Some of our passengers will hop on the train

To the village of flam where they'll board ferries

And cruise ships that glide through norway's fjords.

Luckily for passengers heading to the fjords

We arrive in time for them to catch their train.

Myrdal station is 336 kilometers west of oslo

And the flåm railway branch runs north of the bergen line.

The twenty kilometer trip descends 866 meters to sea level at flåm.

(Teddy) the flåm line began

Construction in 1924 to open up the flåm valley

One of norway's hidden treasures.

It's easy to see why it was so well hidden.

The track is short but steep.

It's a feat of railway engineering.

Bengt hammer specializes in the history of the flåm line.

I know that descent from myrdal down to flam is

Quite steep for a train, isn't it?

Yes.

And before they built the line as a normal gauge railway

They had a long discussion in the parliament and by the engineers,

So they send many to study the swiss railways.

Switzerland's glacier express uses a cog-and-chain

System to pull itself up the steep slopes of the swiss alps.

(Teddy) as a standard gauge line, the flam railway is built to

Gradually travel the twenty kilometers to and from flåm.

So no extra mechanical devices are needed.

Here on the flam railway, there are several waterfalls

But they're not just part of the scenery,

They also help power the train.

The kjosfossen falls are one of the line's first stops.

The cascade runs through a two-generator power plant

Beside the falls creating enough electricity to power

The flåm line, flåm village, and the bergen line railway.

Wow, look at that!

It's the most spectacular waterfall on the line,

And spectacular doesn't even do it justice.

Incredible!

After the kjosfossen falls the train crisscrosses

Down the flåm valley.

The scenery is incredible.

It's hard to imagine that they've built this so many years

Ago using hand tools, it just boggles the mind.

(Teddy) in flåm travelers can either

Extend their trip out on the fjords, or head back

Up to myrdal to continue their scenic journey by rail.

(Teddy) back on the bergen railway,

I'm on the final leg of my west bound journey,

But we're in for one more travel surprise.

We have some traffic information.

When we come to voss, this train is cancelled

Between voss and bergen.

(Teddy) after pulling the 1,000 ton freight train

Our e.L. 18 locomotive must head back to oslo

For an immediate inspection.

So, at voss, our last big stop before bergen,

We're going to switch trains to a new train?

Yeah. That's right.

This is a lot of logistics for you to work out.

Yes!

(Teddy) odd has spent 38 years working

On the bergen railway.

His passengers are in good hands.

As we pull into voss station

There's a brand new commuter train that's been

Brought into service one week ahead of schedule

Just to keep me and my fellow bergen-bound passengers on time.

Yes, just a moment.

Yes this is the train to bergen.

There is no reservation so you can take a seat anywhere.

So now we're jumping on our new train here in voss which

Is going to take us to bergen.

Not part of the original plan, but part of the adventure!

We'll roll through stanghelle and past bear mountain.

Then we'll hug the sør fjord

Before our final 15 kilometer stretch into bergen.

Hey!

So this is your new office on the new train!

Yes, yes it is.

(Teddy) the final 100 kilometer stretch

From voss to bergen takes us through the western fjords that define norway.

This is one of the fjords in norway.

The other side is called osterøy.

(Teddy) it's a truly awesome end

To the first leg of my amazing journey.

Well, we made it to bergen a little late but what an adventure,

And we're not done yet.

Next up we're headed on an epic journey from

Trondheim to bodø on the nordland line.

(Teddy) the city of trondheim is

629 kilometers north of bergen.

It's called the viking capital of the world,

And it's where my rugged trip north begins.

(Teddy) it's 5.30 am at trondheim station

And time to fire up the nordland line's diesel locomotive.

It's one of the few engines that reliably

Runs on this line into the arctic circle.

It sounds like american, yeah.

It's a gm diesel.

That rumble is a magical sound for einar ulriksen

Who's worked on this line for four decades.

Very good engines.

Yah, like a muscle car!

The nordland locomotive, known as the nsb di 4

Measures 4.34 meters high, 3.17 meters wide,

And 20.8 meters long.

The di 4 locomotive has nearly 3300 horse power,

And pulls five passenger cars.

That includes a café car in the middle,

And a family car near the back.

Chief conductor, inge bekken checks the passenger cars before they're coupled.

I see on every wheel, looking down to see if

Something on the wheel is damaged or something.

(Teddy) the train is set for our journey

Into one of the most rugged landscapes in the railway world.

I'm going to drive for five and a half hours.

What makes this line different is all the unmarked crossings.

You have to pay attention.

You have to be prepared to stop the train immediately.

(Teddy) the nordland line spans

729 kilometers from trondheim to bodø.

And it's one of the few railways on earth that

Crosses the arctic circle.

It's also built across incredibly difficult terrain,

That required 293 bridges and 154 tunnels.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) the nordland line departs

Trondheim by hugging the shore of the trondheimsfjord.

At steinkjer station we'll veer inland through the town

Of mosjøen, before journeying way north

Into the arctic circle, and past saltfjellet or salt mountain.

We'll head west at fauske along the skerstadfjord

To our final destination of bodø.

And it seems like we're kind of getting out of civilization now,

We're getting into a rural area.

Yeah, you see it's a farming land,

People living here,

But it's a long distance to the next town.

(Teddy) that remoteness can leave trains

Vulnerable to the destructive forces of mother nature.

So maintenance crews fight back with some

Destructive forces of their own.

Dynamite actually always wins.

It crushes everything.

(loud explosion)

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) I'm rolling north on norway's spectacular nordland line.

We've followed the trondheimsfjord

Through tunnels and over bridges

To the depths of hell.

One of the biggest engineering difficulties of the nordland

Line came from the hundreds of bridges that needed to be built,

And now over a century after construction first began

On the line keeping the bridges standing

Is an ongoing battle.

How's it looking, stefano?

(Teddy) this is a section of the original hell bridge.

It was replaced in 2016 by a modern double-track structure.

This bridge was on the original nordlandsbanen.

It was put into service in 1902.

A lot of the details of this bridge are identical

Or very similar to the details of bridges in service.

(Teddy) this antique section now has

A second life as a structural test-lab, near hell station.

It allows engineers like gunnstein to get a unique

Look at how norway's old bridges are aging.

There's a sensor in the tip of this sledgehammer

That is read by that computer.

(Teddy) researchers start with a "hammer test"

To figure out where the bridge might be most vulnerable.

When I hit the bridge here, we see the read-out on this computer.

The impact from the hammer.

(Teddy) sensors are placed on two identical bridge components.

The hammer hits a point connected to both parts,

Causing vibrations.

The sensors read the vibrations' frequencies to

Determine which points on the bridge are structurally sound

And which parts are in need of repair.

And if the signals from the sensors are different,

Then we suspect that there is a damage in one of the joints

On either side of the beam.

(Teddy) to simulate the stress load of trains crossing the bridge,

They use a 'shaker test' where sensors read the bridge's

Total structural integrity.

We found some severe damages that have not been found

In the regular inspection scheme.

But that just shows the work we're doing here

Is important and producing results.

(Teddy) this old bridge helps extend

The working life of norway's rail infrastructure.

180 kilometers into our journey, and the farmland of the midland

Region gives way to the forests of the nordland.

(Teddy) several of the line's 44 stops

Are by request only and seem to be in the middle of nowhere.

In remote locations, the rail crews need to look out for each other's needs.

This was a call for another train we're going to meet in lassemoen.

And they wondered we have some coffee for them, for the crew.

I get a green light and we have to leave the coffee on the platform

To take it on themself.

(Teddy) 300 kilometers ahead on the line

These workers have something stronger than

Caffeine to perk up their day.

Ready?

Fire!

Çloud boom!)

My favourite part of the job is getting paid to blow stuff up.

(Teddy) here, a section of track runs

Along a rock face that's dangerously close to crumbling

Into the river below.

(Teddy) tommy karlson and his explosives

Team are preparing a new rail bed on firmer ground.

But they need to remove twenty meters of cliff to do it.

Today we are blasting around 350 cubic meters of rock.

(Teddy) they have to blast away an entire rockface

Without damaging the tracks.

Then clean it up before my train passes.

The train is coming in around

2 hours so they need around 1 hour to clean the tracks.

(Teddy) they're using 200 kilos of

Explosives to blast a 50-ton section of the cliff.

But they can't afford to blow this job by rushing.

We have a lot of dangers with this job, the height,

We are 14 meters down, and of course you've

Got all the dynamite.

Dynamite actually always wins.

It crushes everything.

Therefore you have to be careful with it.

(Teddy) once the dynamite's in place,

The crew fills the blast holes with heavy gravel.

The extra weight directs the dynamite's energy into the rock face.

Then we can control it a little better,

It won't go down straight into the river.

(Teddy) thirteen hundred kilo mats

Made from old truck tires and thick steel wire

Keep rockfall off the track, and control the blast.

We don't want rocks to fly up in the air,

We want them to stay in this area.

We're going to blast now.

Okay!

Fire!

Çloud boomñ

The blast went perfect!

When the blast goes off you can feel

The vibrations in the mountains and in the ground.

It's a good feeling.

(Teddy) one hour later all the rubble is cleared

Just in time for my train to pass.

(Teddy) we're in heart of the nordland

And approaching the historic town of mosjøen.

So we've stopped at mosjøen station,

And the next stretch of this line has a really troubled history,

The tracks themselves were laid by prisoners of war who were

Forced to complete this section of the railroad by nazi forces in world war ii.

(Teddy) 12,000 soviet prisoners built

140 kilometers of track north deep into the arctic.

It's a stretch of track that reveals a history many in norway

Are ashamed to admit.

♪ ♪ ♪

(Teddy) I'm on norway's remote nordland line.

After mosjøen station we're heading towards

The arctic circle, through a stretch

Of track with a dark past.

12,000 soviet prisoners of war built the line for

The occupying german army in world war two.

Just hundred meters from here, you can still find a lot of

Relics of prisoner war camps.

This was about supplies to feed their war machine, right?

That's right.

This part of norway, the winter conditions

Are extremely harsh, what sort of work

Conditions would these p.O.W.'s have had?

(over intercom) this train is now on saltfjellet

680 meters above the sea level.

(Teddy) as we enter the barren tundra of the saltfjellet national park

It's easy to see how the prisoners building this line

Would have been exposed to punishing weather.

We cross the arctic circle in just a few moments

And after that we'll officially be in the arctic.

I've been looking forward to this part of the trip for a long time.

It's really exciting!

You can feel it mentally.

You're crossing a line to another world.

The arctic world.

(over intercom) and you will see

The arctic circle on the right.

(Teddy) the train has slowed down because that monument that

We are just passing now officially marks

The arctic circle from this point on,

For the rest of the journey, we are way up in the arctic.

(Teddy) as we enter the polar region,

We're still a few hours from our final destination.

The train is traveling north towards the saltdalsfjorden.

Then it will weave its way along the forty kilometer coastline

Of one of norway's most spectacular fjords.

All the way to bodø.

(Teddy) the route takes us back into

Rocky alpine forests, where loose rock risks

Damaging the tracks, trains or both.

Maintenance crews are constantly clearing the tracks,

But they also try to fix the problems before they start.

(Teddy) 200 kilometers down the line

An 83-ton section of loose cliff threatens to fall

Onto the nordland track below.

If we don't fasten the blocks then maybe rain snow and ice loosen them.

They fall on the tracks and make the trains, ah, collision.

(Teddy) the situation calls for reinforcement.

The crew bores holes one point five meters

Deep into the rock face.

(Teddy) a stick of super glue ensures

The support rods won't budge.

These two components are mixed.

And then it fastens in about one and a half minutes.

This bolt alone prevents ah, sixteen tons from falling down the railway.

(Teddy) even though we're in a polar zone

The northern summer sun is taxing the equipment.

Compressor can't get enough cooling, too hot.

(Teddy) the team removes the engine

Cover of the machine and a cooling breeze

Puts the compressor back on track.

For drilling the nut.

And then we tighten.

Not too much, not too less!

Now it's safe!

(Teddy) now this stretch of the nordland

Line is protected from the rock above.

In the running battle against the forces

Of gravity and nature the norwegian rail service

Has its prime directive.

Keep those trains chugging.

We have powerful, very powerful uh, engines.

And they run and they run and they run.

Everybody knows that these locomotives,

They are the nordland line's soul.

(Teddy) the last stop on this line is bodø,

It's got one of the most beautiful coastlines in

The whole world and it's the perfect view to end an epic journey.

Across two of norway's most remarkable railways.

We're here in bodø, and this marks the end

Of our norwegian train adventure.

And in about an hour, this train is going to

Do it all over again, after being refueled

And topped up with supplies.

On a over night run back down to trondheim

Through the land of the midnight sun.

♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪