Report - Traction substation - Bastuträsk - Sweden - May 2024

[Kennex418]

A bit of background
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In the 1940s the Swedish state railways, at various stategic locations across Sweden, started building traction substations with the purpose of ensuring an undistrupted power supply to the core electrified sections of its network even in the event of war and other national crises. Without getting too technical, traction substations convert electricity obtained from the local or national power network to a voltage and frequency more suitable for the railway. The electricity that the Swedish Transport Administration buys is delivered as 132 kV, 3-phase high voltage with a frequency of 50 Hertz, whilst the trains are powered by 15 kV, 1-phase with a frequency of 16.7 Hz. Hence the need for these converter substations to transform the energy so it is suitable for railway use.

When designing these traction substations for sections of the network of critical national importance they would often blast into or cut into sheer rockfaces or mountains to create a dead end tunnel in which the substation was located thereby providing protection from aerial enemy attack, and it also meant that they were more hidden reducing the chance of sabotage or other nefarious interference.

The now disused traction substation just outside Bastuträsk (Västerbotten region) is located on Stambanan genom övre Norrland (The main line through Upper Norrland), which is railway of such critical importance to Sweden due to its vital role in transporting iron and other mineral ores from the mines at Kiruna and Gällivare to the rest of Sweden, as well as for distributing timber from the significant forestry industry in the North of Sweden, that it was built inland through the dense forests, avoiding all the major population centres along the coast to reduce its vulnerability from attack by hostile forces, such as the soviet union. The railway line itself was built in stages between 1883 and 1894, but was electrified between 1939 and 1942, so the traction substation near Bastuträsk would have been built at around a similar time period.

The Explore​

The actual explore was very relaxed with easy access and the whole place and probably the surrounding 20km2 of forest, if anything the 45 minute bike ride from Bastuträsk Station along gravel roads was more disconcerting, given that upon leaving Bastuträsk Village i did not pass a single house or person until i got back to the station several hours later, it was just endless forest. Very beautiful and peaceful but did make you feel somewhat vulnerable. Given that i did this explore in late May the snow had finally melted in the Västerbotten region, with the temperature being roughly 22 degrees C, but inside the tunnel it was so much cooler, so much so that there were large pillars of ice encompassing the ladders to the upper parts of the substation, which, when the weather outside was so warm, felt pretty sureal.

The Photos

Just a small disclaimer these photos were taken using my phone as i haven't yet gotten round to investing in a proper camera so i apologise in advance if the photos aren't of the best quality given the suboptimal lighting.

This was some form of outbuilding next to the substation tunnel

The entrance to the tunnel with only a smattering of snow left

The tracks that connected the traction substation to the mainline have been lifted so it was nice to see that they still were in place inside the tunnel.

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With all the ice inside the tunnel it did make me wonder whether Bastuträsk is far enough north to be within the permafrost region where the ground stays frozen all year long and thus whether it would ever be possible to climb up the ladder to the upper sections and the surface level building above. I also found on the way from the station, a little wooden hut with some matches and tealights, hence an attempt at a tealights in the tunnel lighting effect (albeit not wonderful with a phone camera)

A short climb up the hill in the woods led me to the upper level building on the surface, which was fairly well camouflaged in the scenery making it hard to spot from a distance. The flooring inside the upper section building consisted of some wooden planks that felt rather unsteady so i avoided that as i wasn't too keen to fall down several meters if it were to collapse under my feet

Thanks for reading

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[wormster]

A stonking big diesel locomotive banging out 3phase will heat the place up.

Nice find and well documented even if with a phone.

 

[pastybap]

that is belting!!! disused rail infrastructure, nice one!!