| Rallarmuseet Finse (The Navvy Museum) |
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Displays and exhibitions at Finse’s Rallar Museum are managed by the Norwegian Railway Museum. In 2009, a new exhibition opened as part of the 100th anniversary of the Bergen Line. The completion of the Bergen Line in 1909 marked the end of Norway's most extensive government construction project of its time. A link between Bergen and the rest of the country had finally been established, and the country had every reason to celebrate its achievement. This overwhelmingly difficult and much-opposed development was carried out by innovative and skilful engineers backed by hard-working navvies known as “rallarer”. Year-round work up in the mountains and the use of power drills set a new standard for construction work in Norway, and so did the workers’ wages and living conditions. Ever since the opening of the line, clearing the mountain stretch for snow during winter has been a mammoth task requiring a large workforce. The Bergen Line still presents more challenges than other railway stretches in the country. It runs from fjord to mountain, and is exposed to winter conditions for much of the year. Exhibitions at the Rallar Museum provide an insight into the construction work and the efforts to clear the snow in the years to follow. An authentic Rallar hut and forge, film clips from 100 years of operation as well as old and new Rallar songs vividly illustrate what life was like along the railway track. The museum is based in the eastern locomotive shed at Finse. Fagernut lengthman’s cottage, located along Rallarvegen, is also part of the Rallar Museum.
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