This blog aims to follow the restoration of SRJ No. 16, later SJ No.33, by the Roslagsbanans Veterantågsforeningen in Stockholm, as well as our ongoing maintenance of a vintage train on the Roslagsbanan. This is a personal view of our activities, the official site of our group (in Swedish) is linked above.

Please note: all pictures on this blog are taken by me unless otherwise stated, and are copyright. If you wish to use them elsewhere, please contact me.

Monday 22 June 2015

Catching Up : 2015, the first half

The year started with everything on the roof pretty much complete.  Here you can see the resister bank covers in place as well as a smoothing capacitor and a vent.  Mounting the pantographs will have to wait until we take her out of the shed as there is not enough headroom inside!

A myriad of small fittings have been added inside

Including a pair of these rather nice original drivers desk lights

Interior work has moved to painting of the ceiling, Peter has taken on most of this, while the two Lasse's are replacing windows and frames

Remounted drop- and fixed-lights in B-end saloon

 Anything metal on the outside has to be earthed.  Many of the earthing strips we were able to recover and reuse, but some were made new.  Here, a lamp bracket ...

 ... a handrail ...

... and even the headlamps are all earthed via the chassis and wheels.

Henrik took on the repaint of B-end vestibule, the last major section of the interior to be repainted.  Antique White ceiling and our own mixed yellow based on a recovered sample from a door-jam where it had not faded.  Note the speed he is working to get that gloss ...

 Each April we take part in Tågsläpp, the annual behind-the-doors event at many of Swedens preserved railway sites organised by Järnvägsmusei Vänner (the Swedish Friends of the National Railway Museum)

 As our motorwagon shed and running set lie on the far side of the Roslagsbana's mainline, we run escorted tours across the tracks.

 I've been busy making new wooden trim for the ceiling to replace bits lost or broken.

 There are major upgrades going on at Stockholms Östra, including the laying in of new cables.  Excavations for this project revealed the old turntable pit.  Here Micke is doing a bit of archaeology to show the remaining walls.

The following week it had all been dug out.  Most of the fill appears to be old wood, maybe the turntable deck, but we did find a number of old car exhaust pipes.  We had a carefull look for old locomotive parts, but no luck!

 Back inside, renovations have moved to the footsteps.  A pantograph makes a great place to lay them out while the paint dries!

 So, with a picture of our two operational railcars basking in the sun, that brings me pretty much up to date.  There will be a short pause While I am working in the Swedish sub-Arctic again, but I will endeavour to update this blog every couple of weeks.

best regards from Sweden, George!



Sunday 21 June 2015

Catching Up : 2014

The year started with further work on roof equipment, specifically the compressed air system that raises and lowers the pantographs.  This carried in all new copper pipework supported in oak blocks.  In the foreground is thebase for one of the pantographs (almost all the oak blocks for that could be reused from before) and the grey cable will carry the power from the pantograph.

Air pipes disappearing down into B-end cab

The air system was hooked up to our big compressor and tested.  Leaks everywhere but many things worked.
 
  
Including the horn!
 

 Cable way covers now canvased and painted in.  Vents in place and the copper earthing strips being laid out

 Final set-up and wiring in of the resistor banks by Bosse and Henrik

 Maintainance on the running fleet.  Micke and Soren on the 2-man spanner!

 Use of our flat wagon for storage of pantographs lost us our barbecue place!  We endure ...

 Moving inside, work has commenced on the inside of the roof.  New wood let in where splits or unnecessary holes occur.

 Light fittings being installed

 Windows are being renovated.  New teak let in where needed, putty renewed with original style red coloured linseed putty, and varnished, several times!

 Windows and frames being installed in A-end saloon


 And finally, No.37 decorated and ready to go out on our Luciatåg, pre-Christmas specials that run weekends at the end of November and beginning of December.






Catching Up : 2013

The year started with attaching the new canvas to the roof.  Lasse had made up a prop to hold the canvas under the edge of the roof while he nailed it down
 
 Inside I was almost done renovating B-end driving cab, so the electrical guys moved in to wire everything in

Control cables being wired back into the electrical cabinate
  
Once the canvas had been well bedded in with home made roof paint (to the original recipe of carbon and cooked linseed oil) we started building up the various cable runs and equipment mountings.  When we laid the canvas, it covered all the holes for screws, bolts, vents, cables etc., so before starting, Lasse and Micke marked the position of each on the roof above.  Lasse is now transfering those positions back onto the canvas with a plumb bob.
 
Cable runs being laid out.  Almost all of the original (1940s) boxes were re-useable, only the tops needed replacing.

 Resistor banks being trial fitted.

With the main canvas down, the headlamp housing could be re-fitted.  Note the extra strips of canvas to seal the join.

 Maintainance on the operational set was ongoing throughout the year.  Here we are brushing off loose varnish from 880 and feeding the wood with teak oil.  A re-varnish is a high priority once we get it under cover, meanwhile we maintain it as good as we can.

Inside, I had moved into B-end saloon.  This is what it looked like to start with.

 On removing a bulging panel, a large number of old tickets, dating back to the 1940s, fell out.

 Building up a good gloss finish takes a while, I think this one had 2 undercoats, followed by 4 topcoats.

But the result is worth it!

 3 pantographs were renovated during the year

 Towards the end of the year we started to refit the window surrounds.  As you can see nothing is straight anymore, but not bad for nearly 100 years old!  Note also the black metal strip that holds the edge of the roof canvas in place.

 New covers on the cable runs on the roof.

 An excellent end to the year was firing up the lights for the first time!


Saturday 20 June 2015

Catching Up : 2012

 I will try and summarise the work over the last 4 years, year by year.

The main focus of 2012 was the roof. 

 Peter, in particular, had spent a considerable amount of time smoothing off the roof boards and building up the corners with new wood

 Pele and Tomas on theroof running new cables along the cable runs.  The wooden channels for the cables are largely original (1940s) and we have been able to re-use them

The new canvas arrived from a local sailmaker and had to be manhandled up onto the roof

We bedded it in with a traditional mix of cooked linseed oil and carbon.  Here Micke seen adding another layer before the canvas is rolled out

 At the same time we were cleaning up and painting many of the roof fittings.  Here one of the covers for the resistor banks in the paintshop.

 Renovating pantographs.  Two needed so we renovated three to give us a spare as they are a common design to all our vehicles

Interior renovations continued.  This was the state of the corner of one drivers window, the joint rotted away by water ingress.

 New (recycled) wooden board incorporated

 Electrical rewiring has reached B-end cab, here the guts of the controller exposed
How the same area looked by the end of the year

Interior doors being renovated.  Stripped down, new wood inserted where needed and repainted

 Some hardboard panels in B-end saloon needed replacing.  We will restore this saloon to its 1940s hardboard panelled appearance, while A-end saloon has been restored to the original tounge & groove style.