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Espern is an area tightly connected with the coming of the railroad, conecting Hamar to Kristiania (Oslo),in 1894. The old railroad workshop and athe engine stable is prominent landmarks. After the coming of the railroad the Espern area caught the interest of industries depending on heavy transport.
The most well known industry in the area is Hamar Jernstøberi og Mekaniske Verksted or HamJern. It is a former industrial conglomorate Hamar, today known as Furnes-Hamjern Holding, after having been sectioned into a number og different companies. The iron forgery was founded May 21st 1895 at Espern, between the railroad yards and lake Mjøsa, and was soon well known for their cast iron products including ovens and stoves. Later commercial cast iron product was develped, amon those railway material and farm equipment like pøughs, harcs, hay collectora, threshing equipment and cutting machines.
The drive to produce locomotives was started inble startet i 1901 after a succesful development of a wagons for iron ore. In all around 200 steam engines was produced by HamJern, one of them the famous engine "Dovregubben". Later electrical locomotives were also pruduced at the factory.
HamJern was for a long time on of the biggest employer in Hedmark county and in 1943 more than 400 worker and 75 persons in the administration. From the 1960's and into the 1980's the factory facilities were modernized and expanded and at the same time Munck Cranes stepped in parts of the avtiviaties by producing martime cranes. In 1984 the sheet metal part of the busines was transferred from to Ameco.
Some of the Ham-Jern buildings and all the buildings in the railroad worshop building are today protected by preservation legislation.
The Espern area is somewhat larger today, due to landfill into lake Mjøsa.Today there is a fitnes centre in one the old industrial buildings. A number of smaller building have been built, holding a number of companies among them Smedvig that is responsible for the development of the Espern area.
The cache is now a filmcan. It was bigger and contained the usual plus some goodies and a FTF-pin for the first finder, when it was new.
This cache was originally publisher as "X_mjøs #16 Outer Espern" on the 16th of December 2011.
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