Steam Locomotives
on Narrow Tracks.

The picture of the train comes from an old share certificate.
Please note that the train has no driver. A problem first solved in our days, to the fright of the passengers.

The History of Railways Trolleys on tracks of wood have been found in mines and pits since the fifteenth century. Tracks of steel since the end of the eighteens century. The train was a couple of carriages drawn by one or two horses, finally by a steam engine. The great locomotive contest at Rainhill in 1829 decided the type of traction power and it's appearance for long time ahead. George Stephenson's "Rocket" beat John Ericson's "Novelty", and British works came to deliver thousands of engines to railways all over the world. The Swedish State Railways The first collection of steam engines was British, manufactured by the firm Beyer, Peacock & Co in 1856. The track gauge was standardized to 1435 mm, or about 5 english feet, once the track width of roman paved ways in Aquetanien. The first line to open in 1861 was between Gothenburg and Hallsberg, in 1863 to Stockholm. The first trains were drawn by the type 1 B (litt.B) engines, later made up with 1A1 (Litt A) and C types (Litt F). The engine "Prins August" still moveable off the Railway Museum at Gävle, is a good representative of this period. The museum, 170 kms north of Stockholm, has a number of steam engines at display, and is well worth a visit The type 1A1 engines were nicknamed Spinning Wheels. Though fast when on the line, they had difficulties in starting when wet leaves or icy snow appeared on the track, and they were soon replaced with or rebuilt to 1B types. For heavier trains or goods train type C engines were preferred. More modern steam engines got three or four, even five driving axles, and were used till the beginning of the 1970-ties when all main lines were electrified or the trunk line trains pulled by diesels. In 1901 the electrification of the iron ore line "Malmbanan" begun, in 1923 Stockholm - Gothenburg was finished and in 1939 all main lines were electrified. Normal gauge railways are expesive to build and maintain. The idea was that the state should build some main lines connecting the principal cities, other communities and smaller towns had connect with private trunk lines. A few were built to normal gauge, a lot to narrower gauges, 4, 3 or even 2 feet, to keep the costs down. Narrow gauge railways As the initial cost of building a railway is about proportional to the track gauge, economic facts often talked for a lighter structure, which however limitid the transporing capacity. Thus a number of tracks appeared: Blekinge Kustbanor (BKB) with 1067 mm (about 4 eng foot), Stockholm - Roslagen and others 891 mm (3 eng foot) and Kosta - Lessebo and some industrial tracks 600 mm (2 eng foot). That the choise of track gauge for a project could be a devastating enterprise, Köping - Uttersberg - Riddarhyttan railway 4 feet, is a good example of. The steam engines were bought second hand in England, the carriages ordered from a number of Swedish works and the line built under private management. As there were a number of feet in use at the time (English, old Swedish, new Swedish) the gauge had to be a compromise, and finally fixed to 1032 mm. The most common narrow gauge track was 891 mm (3 feet) and Sweden had a lot of railways of this type, both diesel driven and electric. The only one remaining to day, is the recently modernized Roslagsbanan, still in use for commuters north of Stockholm. At the world trade fair in Paris 1889, the local traffic on the area was taken care of by an innovation: M Decauvilles invention, a 600 mm gauge light railway. In princip it was a number of 6 m long pieces of prefabricated tracks with sleepers attached,lto be laid out directly on the ground. A cheap way to make working railways for farms, lumbering and industries without time delay. The militay use was evident and all armies on the kontinent built complete railway systems behind the lines to supply their troops. Hummel's Railway Bureau at Kosta got the agency for Decauville in Sweden and built a couple of lines. The most wellknown was the line Jönköping - Gripenberg, an other Nättraby -Alnaryd - Erlingboda, a third Stafsjö Bruk. The material from the exhibition was sold to the community of Helsingborg which built the line Helsingborg - Råå - Ramlösa. A special engine design by Mallet was employed at helsingborg. The boiler was carried by two separate engine bogies, one firmly bolted to the frame of the machine and the other pivoting around a tap under the boiler making the whole system extremely flexible for running on unevenly laid tracks. Railway as a hobby I am the fourth generation of railway men. My greatgrandfather built on the state railways in south Sweden from 1856 to 1863, my grandfather was factory foreman building engines, my father was the shop superintendent and I myself was for a period of my life occupied with running a narrow gauge museum railway just south of Stockholm. I was born and lived in a small town during my school years almost behind the engine sheds. I spent all my spare time there as soon as I could. The engines were of the type 1 C or 2C1 for passenger trains and D or 1 D for the freight traffic. When Svenska Järnvgsklubben was founded in the late 50-ties it was natural for me to become a member. The club has an engine of their own and a train and makes interesting trips to places of railway interest all over the country. He who wants to know more about their activities should apply to SJK. Östra Södermanlands Järnväg Normal rail systems have big trains and heavy engines and equipment. In 1959 some enthusiasts formed a club of their own with purpose preserving material from the seven passenger carrying 2 footers (600 mm) that once existed in Sweden. Temporary track was a small industrial line at a brick work south of Stockholm. In 1966 the State Railways laid down the trunk line Läggesta - Mariefred, and we were lucky to be allowed take over the 3 km line with authentic and historic environment and buildings. The old heavy rails were sold to an iron ore mill company, and for the money we bought more suitable rails, switches and other equipment. For years we had collected and stored 2 foot rolling stock at several places around the country and now was time to bring it together. The collection has now been worked on for almost 40 years and we can to dayshow up with 9 steam engines, 4 diesels, 1 electric tractor and 1 rail car, 15 passenger cars and 35 carriages, in various conditions. The workshops at Mariefred are impressive, and most of the maintenance is made here, from boiler revision to wheel turning. If you want to know more about ÖSlJ, click here! Also e-mail Phone numbers: Station master Mariefred, tel +46 159 21 006 ÖSlJ Travel Service tel +46 159 21 000.

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