This booklet is not an official item issued by Norway Post and
you cannot find it in the stamp catalogues. Since 1991, several
local post offices in Norway have produced their own booklets
using ordinary commemorative stamps in printed covers and sold
as souvenir items, mostly to tourists.
On both the front page as on the back page of the cover there is
a picture from the
Flåm Railway showing EMU sets of the
type 69. Both photos are taken from the upper part of the
line, not far from Myrdal station. The Flåm Railway, opened in
1940, is a part of the Norwegian State Railway system and a
branch line of the
Bergen Railway. It runs between two small villages in
western Norway, Myrdal and Flåm. Myrdal, situated 865 metres
(2840 feet) above sea level and between two tunnels, is a
junction at the Bergen Railway. Flåm, the terminal station, is
only 2 m (6 feet) above sea level. The distance is only
20 km (12,5 miles), so this makes the line one of the
world's steepest non-rack-operated railways. 80 per cent of the
line has a gradient steeper than 1:35 [28‰], and more than 40
per cent has a 1:18 gradient [55‰]. Nearly 6 km (4 miles)
has curves with a radius of less than 180 m (600 feet).
The minimum curve radius is 130 m (427 feet). From the
top, the line descends in long helical tunnels. There are 20
tunnels totalling 3,5 miles. In addition, large parts suffer
from occasional avalanches and rock falls. The scenery is, of
course, spectacular.
The
Flåm line booklets are issued by the Voss Post Office (Voss
is a station village at the Bergen Railway) in 3 different
editions, 21.000 totally. The edition number is printed inside. |