image046-Mariager-F-653
Mariager-Handest Veteranjernbane, 19 Aug 1984
In August and September 1984, I was in Karup, Denmark supporting a NATO exercise with my Air National Guard unit. As we had weekends and every other weekday off, I had the chance to explore the railroads of Jutland.
I rode three Veteranjernbaner or veteran railways in Jutland while I was there. The first two I rode my first weekend in Denmark. I posted the album of the line that runs between Bryrup and Vrads a few days ago. The day I rode it was a cloudy Saturday. The next day was a sunny Sunday and I went out to ride the Mariager Handest line.
As the information I had about the line was in Danish, it is only now that I'm posting these photos that I learned a bit about the history of the route.
Mariager is a town in north eastern Jutland on a fjord. It has a port and to make the port more useful, a private railway was constructed to Mariager as late as 1927. The line ran from Mairager to a crossing of the DSB east Jutland north-south mainline at Farup, between Randers and Hobro and continued west to Viborg, which is near where I was staying at Karup.
The line did not have a lot of traffic and had road competition from the beginning. It was shut down west of Farup in 1965 and passenger service from Farup to Mariager finshed the following year, but it turns out some freight continued to be carried until 1985. The DSB had taken over freight operations when the private line shut down. Although out of service, the line appears to be intact to Farup on Google Maps.
On weekends the Danish Railway Club runs trains to Handest, about 17 km each way and a short distance from the DSB main at Farup. Despite the line having been intact to Farup in 1984, the passenger service did not directly connect with the DSB there and I had to take a bus from Hobro to Mariager.
My route to Hobro was bus from Karup to Herning, train to Arhus via Silkeborg, on a line that I had not yet ridden, then north from Arhus to Hobro.
I checked out a 2-4-0T and 2-6-0T in the railway museum and an old diesel stored outside. Class F 0-6-0T 653, the same class of engine I'd seen in Bryrup the day before, was handling the wooden 4 wheel cars on the steam excursion train. A Triangle railcar was alternating runs with the steam train. I rode the steam train.
The line has some nice views, especially along Mariager Fjord at the beginning and end of the round trip.
After riding the train, I hiked back along the ROW and shot the railcar arriving along the fjord.
The line's website is at mhvj.eu/ It is in Danish, but Chrome will translate
I then seem to have taken a bus back to Hobro and then a train south to Langa, where I connected to the Lyntog Nordjylland, which took me to Viborg, from where I got a bus back to Karup.
I was looking forward to more trips as I still had several weeks in Denmark.
image046-Mariager-F-653
Mariager-Handest Veteranjernbane, 19 Aug 1984
In August and September 1984, I was in Karup, Denmark supporting a NATO exercise with my Air National Guard unit. As we had weekends and every other weekday off, I had the chance to explore the railroads of Jutland.
I rode three Veteranjernbaner or veteran railways in Jutland while I was there. The first two I rode my first weekend in Denmark. I posted the album of the line that runs between Bryrup and Vrads a few days ago. The day I rode it was a cloudy Saturday. The next day was a sunny Sunday and I went out to ride the Mariager Handest line.
As the information I had about the line was in Danish, it is only now that I'm posting these photos that I learned a bit about the history of the route.
Mariager is a town in north eastern Jutland on a fjord. It has a port and to make the port more useful, a private railway was constructed to Mariager as late as 1927. The line ran from Mairager to a crossing of the DSB east Jutland north-south mainline at Farup, between Randers and Hobro and continued west to Viborg, which is near where I was staying at Karup.
The line did not have a lot of traffic and had road competition from the beginning. It was shut down west of Farup in 1965 and passenger service from Farup to Mariager finshed the following year, but it turns out some freight continued to be carried until 1985. The DSB had taken over freight operations when the private line shut down. Although out of service, the line appears to be intact to Farup on Google Maps.
On weekends the Danish Railway Club runs trains to Handest, about 17 km each way and a short distance from the DSB main at Farup. Despite the line having been intact to Farup in 1984, the passenger service did not directly connect with the DSB there and I had to take a bus from Hobro to Mariager.
My route to Hobro was bus from Karup to Herning, train to Arhus via Silkeborg, on a line that I had not yet ridden, then north from Arhus to Hobro.
I checked out a 2-4-0T and 2-6-0T in the railway museum and an old diesel stored outside. Class F 0-6-0T 653, the same class of engine I'd seen in Bryrup the day before, was handling the wooden 4 wheel cars on the steam excursion train. A Triangle railcar was alternating runs with the steam train. I rode the steam train.
The line has some nice views, especially along Mariager Fjord at the beginning and end of the round trip.
After riding the train, I hiked back along the ROW and shot the railcar arriving along the fjord.
The line's website is at mhvj.eu/ It is in Danish, but Chrome will translate
I then seem to have taken a bus back to Hobro and then a train south to Langa, where I connected to the Lyntog Nordjylland, which took me to Viborg, from where I got a bus back to Karup.
I was looking forward to more trips as I still had several weeks in Denmark.