Waterfalls and saw mills

Travelled: 247km 

Visiting: Fiskumfoss and Norwegian Sawmill, Namsos

Stay: Stjørdal - E6 rest area with WC and free service point 63.49061 10.88190

It was no surprise that it was still raining this morning and then for most of the day...so we pushed on until we came to the Fiskumfoss hydro power station.

 Due to the Namsen river being full to the brim they say that over 1 million litres of water can cascade over the spill way creating a very impressive waterfall. 

Along the side of the falls a fish ladder has been built to allow the salmon to migrate up the river. Up to 25 ton of salmon each year are fished out the 70km section of the river. 

A little further on the E6 we deviated back onto the Fv17 to Namsos where we went to visit the Norwegian Saw Mill (50nok each). It was established in 1884 and originally used steam to drive the machines until 1947 when they were replaced to electric. In 1986 the mill was closed and it became a museum.  Due to its 2950m2 area, it is Norway's largest wooden building. 

Before the timber was cut it was kept in the water in the timber boom.

Like most industries back 150 years ago there was a smithy do do quick repairs on broken machinery.

The conveyor brought the logs from the water up into the saw house.

Then the logs were saw cut into blocks and the slabs (outer portions) were sent below to make fish crates. 

The wood chips and shavings were shovelled up and sent to the silo where it was used as fuel for the furnace that produced the steam for the engines. Some steam was also used to artificially dry the timber as well as to create a sauna for the workers and their families.

After the timber was dried either outside or inside with steam, they were cut as required.

Then they went into the planer to plane the surface and to make profiles, tongues and grooves. This is still being used today to produce copies of mouldings etc for restoration projects.

After our visit we made our way back to the E6 to Steinkjer where we went to Norge LPG to fill up not only on LPG but also refill our french gas bottle. They will refill ALL European gas bottles. 

We think they are building an oil rig.

As the weather had still not improved we decided to continue southwards until the rest area in Stjørdal as tomorrow we hope to visit Trondheim.