#levahn

A new chance in life? Granfos has been stored under a tarp since 2002, when he was sent from UHB to Lommedalsbanen (LB) as UHB no longer needed him and Odda… Sadly LB has a different gauge, and Granfos couldn't be regauged any smaller as he had already been regauged from 1435mm to 750mm. But they didn't want to scrap him, so they stored him instead. Last fall… we visited LB with the railway club and my daughter begged the staff to have a peek under the tarp to see her favorite locomotive… and she was allowed! She was the first person to enter his cab in 21 years… A few weeks ago I was working at the Norwegian Railway Museum and had a few beers with a staffmember there after work. He mentioned that the museum needs a narrow gauge diesel for light work on the line, and he asked me about it since he had seen photos of my daughter in the cab, knowing I had seen the locomotive up close. And then the ball started rolling from there… Today, we went to LB to have a closer look at Granfos, the volunteers there had removed the tarp, cut down some shrubs and even used a leafblower to clean him up a little bit. I was the first to arrive, so I examined the electric wiring closely and was surprised to find it in good condition despite all these years outside. The cables were still intact and there weren't many loose ends and damages. Then the team from the museum arrived and took a closer look at the engine, gearbox and overall condition of the machinery. We were pleasantly surprised to find the locomotive to be in such a condition restoration is highly possible. Now we just need to get the admins at the museum to say yes… 😉 So… maybe after all these years, Granfos will get a new life at the museum at Hamar?

This is an NRS OC made for my longtime patron, Javier. Having been a patron of mine for years, I decided to give him a little extra price, that is usually a higher tier award.

This, little yellow Levahn diesel is named Sulis after the mines they worked in. After the mine shut down in 1991, they were stuck underground along with several other mining engines until 2011 when it was decided that they were going to be brought to the surface and repaired. They are now among the engines that pulls tourists and visitors inside the mines during tourist season. Sulis is non-binary. They are also fairly small and has a few dents and imperfections after a rough life inside the mines. Questions about personality and other things needs to be directed to Javier as it is up to him to decide. Hope you like it, Javier! If not, you can give it to someone else, just make sure they get a nice, loving home. ;-)

NB: All NRS OCs runs a risk of getting a cameo in the books... especially if based on real engines at Norwegian railways, like this one. There will be a mention of the Sulitjelma mines in book 4, so who knows... maybe Sulis will peek in? ;-)

Memento Mori...

Granfos at the scrapyard...He narrowly escaped the cutters torch as he was found by a UHB volunteer who was at the scrapyard by chance that day, looking for scrapmetal to be turned to parts. The UHB volunteer bought Granfos with his own savings and brought him to UHB to be regauged and put to use at their railway along with Odda, who arrived at the same time.

Coloring page from the upcoming coloring book. The scene is from the NRS story "Granfos".