Loviisa–Vesijärvi Railway (Loviisan–Vesijärven rautatie)

Loviisa–Vesijärvi Railway (Loviisan–Vesijärven rautatie) (Narrow-Gauge)

The Loviisa–Vesijärvi railway was in operation between 1900 and 1960, a narrow-gauge railway built on a gauge of 750 mm , which ran from Nieme, located on the shore of Lake Vesijärvi , north of Lahti , to the port of Valko , located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, in Loviisa.

Planning for a railway in the area started already in 1871, and after more than 25 years, an approving decision was received for the construction of the track. For the railway, Loviisa-Vesijärvi Rautatie Oy was founded in 1898, and temporary traffic started as early as February 1900. The line length of the line opened for public traffic in 1904 was 81.9 kilometers, and it was the longest narrow-gauge railway in Finland ever opened for general passenger and goods traffic .

There was both passenger and freight traffic on the track, a large part of which was timber coming from Vesijärvi and Päijänte . At one time, the railway also effectively served the transport needs of Lahti, Loviisa and Valko harbor. The traffic of the railway, which operated with varying success, gradually decreased and passenger traffic stopped completely in 1952. The railway company, which changed owners several times, ended up being owned by the state in 1956, which operated it as a narrow gauge until 1960.

Today, the railway section is a broad-gauge part of the state railway network as the Lahti–Loviisa railway , with the exception of the approx. 9 kilometer railway section that ran from the shore of Vesijärvi through the center of Lahti to near Ämmälä , which has been demolished in its entirety. Of the scarcely preserved equipment, the 2-8-0 -type superheated steam locomotive number 6 (LWR 6), which initially ended up as a monument in Loviisa, has been preserved for posterity, and has since been restored for museum traffic on the Jokioinen Museum Railway.