Glava Glass Mill Railway in Sweden , Bo Justusson
History The Glava line went down from Glava glass factory to a small harbour in Bergsviken at the lake Glafsfjorden, 50 km west of Karlstad. Goods were transported by boat and then railway. Line length 9 km, gauge 750 mm, operation 1886-1938. It had one zigzag as the track passed a mountain ridge. The zigzag length was only a few hundred metres. The line is a nice example of early Swedish railways connecting an industry or mine to a nearby harbour, see my webpage History of Early Swedish Railways.
Literature
(in Swedish)
- Forsaeus, Svante, Glava glasbruks järnväg 1996-1938 (2002, 18 pages, 21 photos) in SPÅR 2002, Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum (Yearbook 2002 from the Swedish Railway Museum)

- Nordenberg, Reidar, Järnvägen Bergsviken-Glava glasbruk (1996, 9 pages, 7 photos) in the book På Värmländsk räls, Värmlands nation och Frank Stenvalls förlag, www.stenvalls.com)
 
Lower switch Lower switch in the zigzag, with water pipes from a small stream for the steam locos.  
Typical
train		 A train with three open cars and two passenger cars.

Photos: Probably from G.Ödvall photo studio. Reproduced from Nordenberg's paper. 		 
Map Railway from Bergsviken to Glava glasbruk (glassmill).
Transports by boat and train.

Height over sea level: 45m - 170m - 141m
Map: B.J. 2002
Glass
Mill		 Glava glassmill
  Glava glass mill around 1900. It produced window glass.
You can see a small train to the left at the shore, just behind the bridge.
Left: Buildings for the workers. Right: Industry. Center back: Mansion for the owner. Today only a few of these buildings remain.

Drawing: source "Sällsamheter i Värmland".

Zigzag Railways - Start Page

Last updated 7 November 2004