Culture & nature

Along Rallarvegen you can experience some of the most dramatic ecological contrasts Norway has to offer.

Over short distances the landscape shifts from lush, mild deciduous forest to barren wind-scoured slopes or cold, wet snow beds. Climate conditions change with altitude; the relief of the terrain creates variation in exposure, snow cover and drainage. In addition, the geology determines mineral nutrients available to plants. If you read the colours and life forms in the vegetation and landscape, these ecological transitions are easy to observe, even from a moving bicycle.

Wildlife follows the shifts in vegetation. In Flåmsdalen you can see many different small birds. Above the tree line, mountain species take over: ptarmigan, dotterel and snow bunting. Birds of prey such as gyrfalcon and golden eagle are also present. Migrating geese use Hardangervidda as a staging area.

Hardangervidda has Europe’s largest wild reindeer herd. There is also a large population of lemmings. Lemmings are a key food source for many animals and birds. Arctic fox, wolverine, stoat, snowy owl, raptors and many other mountain birds depend on a healthy lemming population. A link between lemming numbers and Arctic fox numbers has been documented.

Being the son of a famous father, sharing the same profession and almost the same name can have odd consequences. Paul Armin Due designed many of the stations that were long credited to his father.

Paul Due (1835–1919) is one of Norway’s best-known railway architects. He started as a railway architect in 1891 and until 1910 was involved in all of the Norwegian State Railways’ projects. His son Paul Armin Due (1870–1926) worked with his father from the late 1890s. Both were educated at the technical college in Hanover; the son graduated in 1896 and joined his father’s firm a few years later.

Most of the stations on the Roa–Voss line were designed before 1899 and signed Paul Armin Due or simply Paul A. Due. Nevertheless, the father was credited later because the son’s role was not clearly established. The buildings along the Bergen Railway reflect the style of the time, Art Nouveau, of which Paul Armin was a clear proponent. Good examples are Haugastøl station with outbuildings and line keeper’s house, and the Fagernut and Grjotrust line keeper’s houses.

The demanding work on the line across the high mountain and the sharp rise in traffic made it necessary to increase the number of line keeper’s houses and stations as early as 1913. Architect Harald Kaas (1868–1953) was employed as building assistant at the Norwegian State Railways Directorate from 1908–14. He designed a building type with the same form for line keeper’s house and station. This applies among others to Sandå line keeper’s house with annex and outbuilding.