Our sites and facilities:

Smedjebackens hamn & lokstall
The Smedjebacken harbour and engine shed, the highest situated harbour in Sweden, 100 m above sea. The beginning of the Strömsholm Canal.


Opening times:
Self-guided tour in the old harbour. To visit 
the Lokstallet museum, please contact 
the tourist office nearby to borrow a key. 
Only possible during summer. For a guided
tour please call +46(0)70-610 99 59.
Café in the harbour. 
Tourist office +46 (0)240-66 01 45.
Information: Ludvika & Smedjebacken tourism.

Lake, Guest harbour, Leisure boats, Engine shed, Old railway, Storehouses

The completion of the Strömsholm canal in 1795 greatly facilitated the transport of goods from Smedjebacken, and the route by water to lake Mälaren and Stockholm was kept open all the year round. This led to a boom in the iron industry and in transport. Some of the harbour warehouses and storage sheds in which the iron was stored are still standing.
A narrow-gauge railway (the Wessman-Barken railway, WBJ) was opened in 1859. It operated along a stretch that corresponds in parts to today’s highway 66 to Ludvika. There were four steam engines on this line, all of which had names. The first engine, the Wessman, was delivered in 1857. In 1874, the Smedjebacken locomotive was delivered and the new engine sheds built. The rolling stock comprised 70 goods wagons, 5 or 6 passenger coaches and a number of special wagons. The engine sheds are built of slagbrick—a common building material in the Bergslagen region.

The WBJ railway ran until 1903, after which the standard-gauge Stockholm-Westerås-Bergslagen railway (SWB) was extended from Engelsberg via Smedjebacken and Ludvika to Vansbro.

The harbour district of Smedjebacken has been extensively restored and, today, a steam engine still chuffs through the docks, moving goods to and from the rolling mill. A special narrow-gauge railway line has been laid for this purpose. The timber-built harbour warehouse has been given a facelift, and is now used for exhibitions and includes a ticket office. A special jetty has been built for the SS Najad, a steamer dating from 1861, which will soon be plying its route on lake Barken.

Kyrkogatan street, which runs through the harbour area, still offers a view of Smedjebacken at the turn of the century. Several of the original buildings have been preserved and some new ones in a similar style have also been built.