Restoration of SRJ No. 33 and other notes from Swe

These are our near neighbours and preserve another part of the old Stockholms Roslagen Järnväg, or Roslagsbana as it is now known.  They run from Uppsala (about 60km / 40 miles  north of Stockholm) for 33 km through an area with some beautiful woods and lakes to Faringe, where they have their main engineering base. As I was passing last friday, I dropped in briefly to see how they were doing.  Here are a few photos, more later when I get the chance!

Faringe Station.  The station building burnt to the ground in 1980, the volonteers have completely rebuilt it since then.  The works lies in the trees beyond and there are 3 large storage sheds as well as stock stored outside, plenty to see.

A litt X6 class shunter at the works.  The striped markers above the cab window mark the a-end of the powered vehicule, which seems a little pointless on a centre cab —

This is one of a pair of electric locos (we’ve got the other one in Stockholm!) built by AESA in 1946 for SRJ to operate the longer distance trains.  To cope with the heavier trains they were given 2 aircompressors for the brakes, which contributed to their survival as they were retained to operate the snowploughs, which are pneumatic.

The air reservoirs and the pneumatic spreaders and flangers on one of these ploughs.

End platform now growing enough moss to feed a reindeer for a week!

They were finally withdrawn a few years ago when spare parts became scarce, with No. 55 coming to Faringe.  As this section of the SRJ was never electrified, the guys at the ULJ are converting 55 to diesel-electric with a large motor and genny in the central compartment.

55 on one of the turntable roads beside a quite incredible vehicle, which I believe is for regulating the ballast, but equally looks like a mechanised engine cleaner!

No. 54 was originally destined to become a roof ornament for the Stockholm Spårvägsmuseet (transport museum) until it was pointed out that if you put a 36 ton locomotive on top of the museum, you would very soon get a 36 ton locomotive inside the museum! It eventually came to us.

more soon! best regards from Stockholm, George!

The railway opened in 1854 to carry limestone from the quarries at Gortin and Creggan to the mill and harbour at Carnlough.  At its maximum extent it was approximately 7 km long, had 4 different gauges and even owned a steam locomotive! It also boasted a connection with Winston Churchill, who at one time owned the hotel though the roof of which the mainline passed.

Now, if you read a history like this in a railway journal you would be thinking Yeee Riiiight. Another modeller whose imagination has got away with itself, or you would be checking the front cover to make sure it really was the April edition.  The Carnlough Railway, or the Carnlough Lime Company Tramways as it was also known, did in fact exist!

On a recent trip over to Ireland I had the opportunity to visit and photograph the remains of the line.  If, like me, you love some of the more eclectic corners of our railway world, I would highly recommend a visit if you are in the neighbourhood.

The earliest part of the system opened in 1854 and was built by the landlords, Lord & Lady Londonderry in part to provide some relief to the Irish potato famine (they also built the wonderfully scenic Antrim coast road, which passes through Carnlough, at the same time for the same reason).

The initial 4’8½” railway (narrow gauge, by Irish standards!) was a continuous 1:25 gradient from the quarries to the harbour worked by gravity and horse, but this proved somewhat hazardous to horse and man so was soon converted to 2 cable worked inclines with a winding house half way up.  The incline has recently been converted to a paved footpath and is well worth the 1 mile walk.

The purpose of the line was to transport limestone from the quarries at Gortin and Creggin to the limekilns at Carnlough.  One of the kilns survives and has to be the best garden shed I’ve ever seen!

From the kilns and the “Whiting works”, the line then passed through Carnlough at just below rooftop level, cutting through some buildings and crossing the streets on a pair of substantial bridges that also survive as part of the footpath, before dropping into the harbour, which is still largely intact. One of the buildings the railway passed through is the Londonderry Arms (which still does a good meal and a spot of the black stuff), once owned by Winston Churchill!

Londonderry Arms on the left.

The mainline passing through the roof of the Londonderry Arms.

Carnlough Harbour.  The loading shuts came from the embankment / harbour wall on the right.

In 1890 a 3’6” line was laid from the Tullyaughter quarries, 2 miles to the west, joining the original line near the mill and running as a mixed gauge line from there to the port. By 1898 this line had acquired a second hand Barclay A-class locomotive named Otter, which continued working the mixed gauge lines long after the Tullyaughter line closed in 1922. A 3’ gauge A-class Barclay is currently being restored by the SRPS at Bo’ness for use on the Fintown Railway in Co. Donegal.

I think this is the remains of the water tower for the 3′6″ Barclay “Otter”

An old photograph of a similar 3′ gauge Barclay, the “Fair Maid of Foyers”, currently being returned to steam at SRPS Bo’ness for use in Co. Donegal

Within the whiting works ran two separate narrow gauge hand worked systems, a 1’8” system on the first floor and a 2’4” system on the ground floor.  The entire system worked until 1965, latterly by a Davy Brown tractor with buffers.  It is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area, the info boards have some excellent early pictures and there is a good write up with some pictures from the 1950s in the recent reprint of EM Pattersons’ The Mid-Antrim Narrow Gauge (Colourpoint, 2007)

cheers fer noo, George!

All sorts of odds and ends from Stockholm this week:

First, the Roslagsbanans Veterantågsförening (i.e. us lot with No. 33).

Micke and I have fettled up and painted a windscreen wiper motor for A-end cab and last night I fitted it.  It is a 2-cylinder, compressed air powered motor seen in the upper centre of the photo. The black handle on the left is a “manual override” – i.e. you can wipe the windows by hand!

Below you can see both the railcar and the train brake (yellow valves with black handles), the horn (brown) and the forward-reverse control on top of the (black and chrome) power control column

Another shot of the cab.  The steel device with brass levers in the centre of the photograph (above the drivers seat) is the compressed air valve for raising and lowering the pantograph.  It normally has a key in it, the same key as opens the electrical cabinets.  i.e. you need to lower the pantographs and release the key (oh, and turn off the power ..) before you can go messing around in the electrical cabinets!

Most of the group spent last night fettling up a “new” diesel powered steam cleaner that Lasse had obtained.

Meanwhile the Svenska Spårvägssällskapet (The Swedish Tramways Society) are back running their vintage trams from the city centre to the museums and funfair area on Djurgården after a major track renewal program.

Remember all those cold snowy and night shots on the Roslagsbana (our mainline)?  Well, this is the other side of Sweden, long warm sunny evenings in the summer. mmmmm

And finally, I hope you will allow me this small digression / indulgance. I know (hope?!) that many of you have an enthusiasm for vintage transport that goes beyond trains …

One of the many attractions of Stockholm centre is the 3-masted barque the AF Chapman.

She was originally built in Whitehaven, Cumbria for a Whites of Dublin in 1888 and was named the Dunboyne.  She was transferred to Swedish ownership in 1915, largely to stop her being torpedoed during WW1 (it didn’t save her sister ship, the Fingal, but that’s another story ..) and was saved by the city in 1947.  Since then she has (and still does) serve as a 285 bed youth hostel.

She has just undergone a £2 million refurbishment (one of those do it now or loose it forever restorations) and they have done an absolutely magnificent job of it!

And this time, in addition to providing cheep accommodation in the centre of Stockholm, the city have included a cafe in the deck-house so now anyone (not just guests of the hostel) can get on-board the ship and even enjoy a coffee, beer or light meal on board!

and why my interest?  Well, my great grandfather used to be the first officer on this ship when it was still the Dunboyne!  Imagine my surprise and please pleasure when I worked out this connection!

image courtesy of the Swedish Maritime Museum

OK, digression over, normal service will resume soon!  Best regards from Stockholm, George!

The only casualty from our first day of summer running was our Fp class passenger rated goods van. Designated for 10 tons of goods plus guards accommodation and an internal handbrake, this van provides the vital roles of pushchair and pram stowage as well as hosting the fridge for the catering and a large bank of batteries to run the fridge when away from a shore-line. It was built for the Stockholm-Roslagens Järnvägar in 1944 as F class No. 229 and re-numbered as Fp class 162 after nationalisation.

The damage? One broken window.

So, on Tuesday, I stripped out the window frame (which is held by 4 pieces of wood screwed in from inside the van), cleaned out the broken glass and old putty, re-glued some broken joints and re-varnished the frame. Micke ordered up the new glass and refitted everything on Friday and the van was back in traffic today.

Meanwhile, on No.33, we have finished re-panelling the east side in new teak.  This means we are exactly half way round with replacing or renovating the panelling (and underlying oak frame).  Here you can see Micke and Christe reattaching the corner pillar, a specially shaped teak piece, at the end of the east side

Each tongue and grooved panel is held by 3 brass or copper screws lower down.  When Micke said he was going to use his head when working on this problem, we didn’t think he meant it literally …

The top of the panel is held by a nail, which will eventually be covered by the metal strip that anchors the roof canvas.

We are going to need a couple of these pretty soon.  Micke, Bosse, Pelle and Christe examin some of our stored pantographs.

I mentioned catering earlier.  We are not exactly haut cuisine, more like a couple of planks laid across seat backs.  However the tea, coffee, soft drinks and home made pastries are always appreciated!

Lars-Henrick was our driver last weekend (in No. 35, our 1934 built railcar).  Here seen chatting with Gunner (aka Micke’s dad), a retired Roslagsbana driver, and a couple of his grand-kids.

And finally, the two teak clads out on the mainline.  1934 built X3p class railcar No. 35 and 1914 built Bp class carriage No. 880 at Ormasta.  Best regards from Stockholm, George!

First day of our summer public trains out on the Roslagsbanan today.  Train consisted of (from right to left) 1934 built railcar No. 35, 1914 built carriage No 880, 1944 built van No. 229, and (off camera) 1938 built railcar No. 37.

OK, so No. 37 is metal skinned, but still built on an wooden frame! Here seen at Stockholms Östra next to a modern Xp10 unit on a regular service train.

Conditions today were far from conducive for photography, but all the kids (young and old!) had fun.

No. 35, inside and out.  The first shot at Ormsta while the train was reversing, hence the lack of passangers! The second at Roslags Näsby while we waited for a service train to overtake us.

best regards from Stockholm, George!

Fairly quiet at the moment with many people off on their holidays but we continue to push forward

Lasse & Bengt have almost finished re-panelling the east side

Not far to go now! At the top of this photo you can see one of the pieces of stainless steel studding that we are using to replace rusted truss-rods . The panelling on the right had side (along the side of the recessed door) should be saveable.

The non-driving side of B-end cab is up to second gloss.  The yellow will need another coat s some of the white undercoat is still grinning through.  Note however that many of the lighter patches you see are just reflections of the flash off the tongue & groove on the right!

Meanwhile, on the other side of B-cab, Thomas has finished wiring control cables into the terminal block. All the cable covers have been painted and are in store, as soon as the sparkies are done I will paint up the remaining parts of the cab and we can begin to put it back together. Pelle and Anders were somewhere under the other end of the rail-car with an ammeter, not quite sure what they were up to!

When things got a little crowded in B-end cab, I made a start on painting the southern passanger saloon (photo by Micke Hillbo) Note the cable runs along the base of the wall.

Covers for the cable runs are now up to first gloss in the paintshop.  The unpainted areas are where steel strips are recessed into the woodwork between each set of seats to protect against feet (and prams, etc!)

other comonents currently in the paintshop include the air powered windshield wiper motor, a sandbox and 2 sandbox lids, all in first gloss, as well as assorted brackets in red primer.

Micke and Johan were over in our other shed preparing the operational railcars, carriage and van for this summers public running.  Our set will be out on the Roslagsbana on the 25th of July, the 1st, 8th and 15th of August.  If anyone happens to be in town … Cost of travel is covered by any of the normal Stockholm public transport ticket options!

And finally, we don’t let a bit of rain interfere with our barbecue! This is what the stanchions are for on our flat wagon!

best regards from Stockholm, G!

Thought this might give you a laugh, the Harley tank!

A closer inspection reveals its true identity

This is one of the numerous TKh class, or Ferrum class tanks from Poland, about 480 of these and their close derivatives were built between 1948 and 1961. As they worked well into the ’90s many are preserved, including !believe 9 in the UK: Spa Valley Railway (2 + 1 for spares), Northampton and Lamport (2), Scunthorpe, etc.

Despite a somewhat nomadic existence since arriving in Sweden (including plinthed outside a shopping centre in northern Stockholm) this one is remarkably complete, including fire irons!

It currently sits outside a Harley-Davidson dealership in Täby Kyrkby, north of Stockholm.  While not operational (and with no prospect of being so in the immediate future), it is kept very presentable by the dealership, hence the Harley colours!

I was somewhat surprised to see that, on what is a relatively modern steam engine (1952) that it only had one gauge glass on the boiler, the other side being equiped with two drain-cocks.  Does anyone know if the UK examples are the same? Is it even legal anymore?

finally, self portrait in one of the front lights.  If the image looks a little odd, that’s because it is upside down!

best regards from Sweden, George!

As always, keep clicking on images to get larger versions!

Not a lot to say about the restoration of No. 33 at the moment except that progress continues on all fronts. We were however approaching a serious problem.  During the track relaying operation at Stockholms Östra last year, someone had placed our spare wheel-sets on our flat wagon.  This wagon is also our Grill Plats, or Barbecue Deck! With the long warm summer evenings (it is 11 at night as I write this, and still light) we wanted to use this!  So, when we arrived on Tuesday evening to find a large truck with a hydraulic arm clearing the last of the track materials from the yard, Lasse quickly chatted up the driver.

Lasse eyes up the job.

First wheel slung and on its way.  The larger spoked wheels belong to the earlier Xp2 railcars such as our No.33

Back on the rails.  Note Pelles coffee cup still firmly in position ….

The smaller solid wheel-sets belong to the later railcars such as our No. 35 and No. 37  Meanwhile a service train comes off shed to join the evening rush-hour.

One of the drivers from the Roslagsbana stops by to see what we are up to.  They are a really friendly bunch and usually give us a wave or a toot on the horn as they pass our shed, and often drop in to see how we are doing.

… and the reason for all this activity!  By the time we took our kaffepaus / grill, trains were beginning to filter back on shed after the evening rush-hour.

And here is most of the crew this week (with Micke on the camera)

A very grateful thank-you to the guy from Last och Grävmaskiner (Carriers & Excavators) who stayed back to give us a hand, making a job that would have been very difficult for us, easy!

And Finally!  After much research (procrastination?) I have bought myself a dedicated slide scanner.  The Plustek Opticfilm 7600i.   Here is one of the first results from it.  When I have got used to it and put it through its paces I will, as promised, put a review of it up on the “All things Photographic” part of this site, but meanwhile:

These are 2 1947 built 800mm gauge rack and pinion electric railcars at Grindalwald in Switzerland.  They are currently the oldest operational railcars on the Wengernalpbahn that runs from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg under the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland (for Clint Eastward fans, see Eiger Sanction)

best regards from Sweden, George!

as always, keep clicking on images to get a larger version, they should eld up about 100 x 600 pixals

We continue to add pieces to A-end cab. Here you can see the half-door that folds out to provide one side of the connection to the next carriage. A matching door on the next vehicle provides the other side. Yes, we even let the public use these crossings while the train is moving – at line speed! Try that in the UK and Elf & Hasty would have a fit! (BTW, I’m not anti H&S by any means, I’ve worked in way too many potentially hazardous situations where thought, good procedure and regulation minimise … etc.  I am just a strong believer in personal responsibility)

Anyway, Here you can see Mike eyeing up the location to mount the hook that holds the half-door in place. He pulled 4 different hooks from our stores, and they were all different lengths! So I guess you take your pick and you makes your choice and you drill your holes appropriately!

This is how everything looks when all folded up for travel when not connected to another vehicle.  The fall-plate (black) is hooked up to the half-door/side (brown) which is hooked to the body. We have also added the various covers for the handbrake mechanism (left) this week.

The drivers wing mirror also added at A-end. Lasse seen checking out the controls.

Elsewhere I continue the repaint of B-end cab interior while Pele was trying to rewire the same – we managed. Re-panelling of the east side continues as well as repainting of many of the smaller interior components, such as the cable covers.

I thought I’d give you some images of the somewhat unusual bogies under No. 33.  Unlike most railway bogies, the main frame of the bogie, the lowest piece of black U-channel, lies under the axels in a design that owes more to tram practice than trains.  The large grey object between the wheels is one of 4 traction motors.

The weight of the railcar is transferred to the bogie frames by these transverse leaf-springs.

The rather substantial castings riveted to the top of the bogie frames allows the transfer of weight to the axle via the grey coil springs and pins that connect to top most beam in the above photo.  A further pin bears down on the axle-box itself, now a roller bearing but I believe originally a more simple design.

And finally, for Adrian Allum, out on the big railway.  This is A TMX class, originally built (by Nydqist & Holm AB of Sweden between 1960 and 1962) for the Danish State Railways. These are lightweight Co-Co diesel electrics introduced for use on the lighter lines during the conversion of Danish state railways from steam in the late 50s and early 60s.  Now that these first generation diesels are being withdrawn by the state railway, many are being bought up by private companies, including in their country of manufacture, Sweden! This particular example belongs to a small (4 – loco) company that specialises in the spot-hire market and has, for the last couple of weeks, been working the goods yard in southern Stockholm.

… or Genesis, chapter 1, verse 3.

picture by Lasse Carlsson

picture by Lasse Carlsson

No caption really required here!  The headlights at A-end are now wired in, and they work! Note also the handbrake mechanism on the left hand side which Micke and Lasse reassembled last night.  Re-paneling of the east (right hand side in the above shot) has reached the last seating bay, replacement of the control wiring on the west side continues as well as repainting of B-end cab.

Peter continues repairing the roof boards and the new canvas, here seen sitting on a spare pair of traction motors, has just arrived from a local sailmaker.

This is No. 35 our 1934 built railcar which is currently operational and was the one called up for snow ploughing duties by the Roslagsbana last winter, see earlier post.  Here seen outside our second shed being fettled for public service next weekend.  The front end of No. 33 will look roughly similar when finished.  The main differences are more squared off corners (with a uniquely shaped corner pillar rather than the continuation of the tongue and groove as seen here) and the handbrake linkage running down the outside.

Both No. 37 (left) and No. 35 back in their shed at Stockholms Ostra

photo by Lasse Carlsson

And Finally.  While we welcome visitors, however they arrive.  We would however like to remind those that wish to drop in, literally, of the presence of the 1500v overhead lines …

No, really, Stockholm is one of the few cities in the world where it is legal to fly over in a hot air balloon.  I suppose that it is due the the large amount of open water we have, so they can ditch if things go wrong without hitting something expensive.  One of the regular take-off sites is the park near our shed, so, like last night, we occasionally get a good flypast.

best regards from Stockholm, George!