ETR // Stage 17 // Ørje - Trollhättan

59°28'49.2"N 11°39'36.9"E
59.480323, 11.660253
Ørje - Trollhättan
VR EXPO - 60 Stages
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Distance

Ørje - Trollhättan
Radius 100 km
201 km

Highlights

Brudfjellsvegen
Kopparskogen
Dalsland Canal
Håverud Aquaduc
Dalsland Center
Kanalmuseet
Upperud Sawmills
Vänersborg Museum
Saab Car Museum
The Doll Museum
Trollhättan riverside
Höljebacka Fire Museum

Brudfjellsvegen in Dalsland

Take a ride along Brudfjellsvegen in Dalsland, one of Swedens best riding roads connecting Tisselskog and Håverud. This winding road will wake you up and make you focus. Take a rest at Kopparskogen in Dals Långed for a unique forest experience.

Cross the Dalsland Canal at Håverud

At Håverud, you can find the interesting confluence of canals, lakes, roads and train tracks. The waterways traverse a series of four locks with a total change in water level of 10 metres. A feat of aquatic and municipal engineering, the grestest tourist attraction of Dalsland’s Canal is definitely the aqueduct, a masterpiece by Baron Nils Ericson. Instead of building a railroad between the lakes he developed the concept of building locks and an aqueduct across the stream. These days, you can cross the stream in all directions, depending on what type of vehicle you're in. Or on foot.

Håverud Aquaduct & Dalsland Center

The aqueduct is constructed of iron and joined together by over 33,000 rivets. These days, it still works without fail, even though as early as 1891 the mill at Håverud was producing electric light with its own generator, supplying power to over 80 carbon filament lamps, each using 16 watts and a voltage of 110 volts direct current. You should also visit Dalsland Center, and take a walk round this interesting area.

Kanalmuseet at Håverud

Kanalmuseet (The Channel Museum) displays the history of the canal through exhibited objects, photos, account books and interesting documents in both a Canal Museum and an Archaeological Museum. The building used to be owned by the archaeological society of Skållerud, and was the office of Håfreströms AB until 1968. There is a lot of history to be uncovered in this compressed location, flanked by lakes on both sides.

Upperud Sawmills

The Upperud river, running from the lake Vänern as far as Lake Stora Lee in the southwest of Värmland, was enlarged during the years 1864-1868, with the building of locks from Köpmannebro to Lennartsfors, and by doing so, the movement of industrial freight to the industries along the canal was simplified greatly. This stretch was given the name of Dalsland’s Canal.

The length of the canal from Lake Vänern to Lake Stora Le is around 80 kilometres, and today, the canal has 21 locks as far as Bengtsfors and Lake Lelången, and at Lennartsfors there are another three locks up to Lake Stora Le. The difference in water levels between Lake Vänern and Lake Stora Le is about 58 metres. The length of the locks in Dalsland is 22,75 metres, the width is 4,05 metres and the depth is 1,80 metres.

Industrial Revolution in Upperud

Before the existence of the canal, from the beginning of the 17th century until about 1870, iron industry was dominant at several locations along the river. At Glyxhult, 2,5 kilometres north of Håverud, a blast furnace was constructed about 1640. The iron ore came manly from Bergslagen and was shipped by boat across Lake Vänern to Upperud, from where it was transported by road.

Dalsland’s largest industry in those days was a steel mill with nine hammers and three saw mills. The country’s first German forge was constructed in 1664, between Lake Upperudshöljen and Lake Spången. By the end of 1600’s Upperud had been granted forging rights for 450 skeppund, which equals approximately 765 tons per year. The foundry, which until 1840 was Dalsland’s largest, was shut down in 1871 after 200 years of operation, but in 1866 a paper pulp factory was constructed, which in turn was shut down at the end of the 1950’s.

Sawmills and timber floating were industries of considerable size in those days, and Upperud has played host to a number of industries throughout the centuries; a saw mill, a roller mill, a grinding mill, a brickyard, a boat yard, a straw braiding school and even a large farm. Still standing are Upperud Mansion and the four blacksmith's houses with adjoining buildings. After the steel works were relocated, the paper industry was introduced along the canal, also at Upperud and Håverud.

Photos

Dave O'Byrne
European Touring Route AS

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Vänersborg and the Egyptian connection

Vänersborg has a wide range of museums where you can immerse yourself in the exciting history of the area. Take a trip back in time in Swedens oldest preserved museum, Vänersborg Museum. Just like a British Museum on a smaller scale, Vänersborg Museum is filled with art and natural history collections, and exotic (stolen/borrowed/expropriated) artefacts from all over the world. Everything from rare Egyptian sarcophagi to endangered wildlife is stashed here, hiding in plain sight.

Trollhättan culture & heritage

Arriving in Trollhättan (from either direction), you'll find a wide range of museums. Immerse yourself in the exciting history of the area at the Canal Museum, or visit Höljebacka Fire Museum for a collection of fire vehicles and equipment from the 1940's to the 1970's - in a museum built like a 1950's fire station. Check out the Doll Museum, also.

When you're finished with all the museums, culture, nature, history and hertage, enjoy a nice cold beer (or two) and some good food at one of the many nice restaurants lining the waterside in Trollhättan.

Saab Car Museum

Saab Car Museum’s collections includes around 120 cars with about 70 of them on display. The first one being the Saab 92001, more known as the Ursaab from 1947. Most of the cars has their history with the company and belongs to categories such as prototypes, test cars, service cars, competition cars and so on. You can see everything from the classic Saab 92 to the prestigious Saab 9-4X and Saab 9-5. Saab Car Museum is based in Innovatum District, Trollhättan, in one of Nohab’s old industrial estates. Discover Saab Automobiles story in a modern but industrial environment.

The museum opened its doors in 1975, in the basement under the Saab-ANA resale facility. At Saabs 50-year anniversary, a new museum opened up at the Nohab-area where we are still located today, more than 10 years after the bankruptcy of Saab Automobile.