Narvik Museum’s largest object is the old locomotive El. 12. The locomotive consists of two sections, 2119 and 2120, and has been owned by the museum since 1992. But before that, it transported many tonnes of iron ore on Ofotbanen railway.
El. 12 project- an iron horse from the Ofotbanen. Read more about Narvik Museum plans for this unique historical object.
In order to transport iron ore from the mines in Kiruna to the port of Narvik, NSB needed increasingly powerful locomotives. The market demanded more iron ore for its production of steel and the loads became heavier. In the early 1950s, NSB bought eight new locomotives from Motala in Sweden. The locomotives were set up in pairs, two and two locomotives together. The new locomotives had stronger engines, and each section had electric motors with an output of 2395 kW (3260 hp)!
This is how El. 12 looked when the museum started the long process of restoration in the spring of 2018.
El. 12 at the Bane NOR workshop in Narvik.
The museum’s plans for the locomotives are to move them up in Administrasjonsveien 3 so that they are accessible to the public, and establish an escape room in one section while the other is preserved as it was when El. 12 was set aside.
In the Autumn of 2021 El. 12 was moved to Narvik Museum.
El. 12 on new rails outside Narvik Museum.