Sandbekk Line
| Length: | Starts: | Ends: | Status: |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 km | Sandbekk | Rekefjord | Abandoned |
The Sandbekk Line was a five-kilometre narrow gauge railway which ran between the mines at Sandbekk and Rekefjord in Sokndal municipality. Ilmenite and magnetite were transported on the line when it was in operation from 1917 to 1965.
Sandbekk Mine. Photo: Widerøe Flyveselskaps flyfoto/Nasjonalbiblioteket
Construction Time
When A/S Titania was founded in 1902, they focused on the titanium content itself (ilmenite). To transport the ore to Rekefjord quay, the Blåfjell Line was reopened from Åmot. Two kilometres of track were built from Åmot to the mining area at Sandbekk with a tunnel and a railway bridge over the river Sokndalselva. The narrow-gauged line was completed in 1917.
Closure
The mining started in 1919. Magnetite and ilmenite were transported in wagons pulled by battery-powered locomotives, but from 1937 the ilmenite was transported by funicular to Jøssingfjord instead. In 1965 Titania moved to an open-pit mine at Tellenes and the Sandbekk Line closed.
Rail Trail
Today the railway corridor between Sandbekk and Åmodt is a rail trail. The remaining part of the railway line to Hauge i Dalane has been reconstructed as a cycle and footpath. The Blåfjell Line to Blåfjell mines has also become a rail trail today, which passes the picturesque Ruggesteinen – North Europe's biggest movable boulder.