Take the Røros Railway from Hamar to Trondheim and watch the changing scenery outside your window. Not long after departure from Hamar, you enter the wilderness.
The area along the Glomma river is the largest wilderness area in Scandinavia, with fantastic opportunities for lovers of the great outdoors. The great forests from Rena towards Koppang are home to moose and bears; you may just be lucky enough to spot one through the train window.
Amazing old station buildings
Along the track are many charming old station buildings, some of which are listed architectural gems. There are 39 stations in all along the 382 kilometre stretch from Hamar to Trondheim.
The Røros Railway is Norway's oldest trunk line and was built in stages from 1862 to 1877. It is not yet electrified, and powerful diesel locomotives currently take five hours to complete the journey between Hamar and Trondheim. These two stations are considered the termini of the Røros Railway, even though the train begins its northward haul in Oslo.
When it opened in 1877, the train journey took two days between Trondheim and Kristiania, which Oslo was known as at the time. Back then, passengers spent a night in a hotel at Tynset or Koppang. Later on, Norway’s very first sleeping carriages were employed on the line.
The mining town of Røros
The history of Røros stretches back to 1644 when copper was discovered in the mountains around Røros, creating a Norwegian Klondike which led to Røros being founded two years later, in 1646.
Using German mining technology and labour from Norway and other Northern European countries, Røros grew into a town and culture so unique that in 1980 – only three years after the closure of the mining operations - its name was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The slag heaps from the smelting houses where the copper was extracted lie heavy on the landscape and are an important part of the special cultural heritage that Røros represents. The street layout and buildings in the centre are almost frozen in time.
The Røros museum contains much to see, and at the Olavsgruva copper mine, you can get an idea of how the workers toiled underground.
In winter, Røros is one of the coldest places in Norway. The record temperature stems from 1914 when it reached minus 50.4 degrees Celsius.
Find out more about Røros at worldheritageroros.no.
