Sarpsborg is one of the most important industrial cities in Southeastern Norway.  Daily, the Orkla-Borregaard Paper Mill gets large quanitites of timber from the forestial districts northeast of Oslo, as the products leave the city by container trains.

The last 35 years, the main locomotives for heavy freight duties have been the class El 14 (wheel arrangement Co-Co).  In the beginning, these machines were used in long distance passenger trains as well as in freight trains, but when newer and faster locomotives were introduced to fast passenger trains, this class were mainly transferred to freight work.  With an effect of 6930 hp and a tractive effort of 350 kN, they still are reliable and hard workers.   

The upper picture shows an El 14 in the original colour scheme of the Norwegian State Railways, resting after having transported a large stock of timber into the shunting yard of Sarpsborg.  The picture below shows another El 14, painted in the new colour scheme of Cargo Net, a joint venture between the former freight divisions of the Norwegian and Swedish State  Railways.

Leif-Harald Ruud (leifharr@online.no - http://home.online.no/~leifharr)