Lecture tour in Vesterålen
Published 30 September 2026
Liv Helene Willumsen and Gøril Karlsen have been on a lecture tour in Vesterålen
09 January 2026
Did you know that Narvik Museum has its own electric ore locomotive? The locomotive set is called El. 12 and consists of two sections 2119 and 2120, and has been in the museum’s ownership since 1992. The locomotives transported many tons of iron ore on the Ofotbanen Railway.
From scrap to a jewel
After many years of decay, the process of restoring El. 12 began in 2018. The locomotives were cleaned of dirt, droppings and seagulls’ nests and given new paint. El. 12 went from being scrap to becoming a jewel! But how could we make the locomotives available to the public?
Narvik Museum is located in NSB’s old administration building, a building with a historical context. In the autumn of 2021, the work of moving the locomotives to a permanent location outside the museum began after almost two years of planning and obtaining funding. Watch the impressive moving of the locomotives in the video below:
El. 12’s two sections are now located behind the museum on railway tracks. El.12 has been there for a few years, before the next step of the project got underway.
With support from the Norwegian Railway Museum and the Norwegian Railway Directorate, the final step of the project was launched in the summer of 2025. Then work began on building a roof for El.12, to shield the locomotive from the weather.
The superstructure was completed in late autumn, and the locomotive was lit just before Christmas, so now El.12 is ready to receive new and old guests!
