TågSläpp 2016

On the 24th of April, we will as usual be participating in the annual "Behind the Scenes" event organised by the Swedish Friends of the National Railway Museum:

Here is a direct link to the original poster with clickable links to individual organisations.

If you are in the area (or indeed near any of the participating organisations) please drop in and have a look around.  We will even provide coffee!

In anticipation, last week we started a major tidy-up of our shed and railcars:

We hope to see some of you on the 24th, best regards, George!

A grand day out

On a recent trip back to Scotland my father and I took a day trip down into Northumberland and Cumbria to Alston.

Alston is the home to the South Tynedale Railway, a 2' gauge line built on the trackbed of an old North Eastern Railway branchline.

Much of the old standard gauge infrastructure remains or has been recreated.

I was particularly pleased to find the engine of the day was Barber, built 1908 by Thomas Green of Leeds.

Green's did not build many engines and I believe this is the only one operating and the only one left in the northern hemisphere

The engine is ex-Harrogate Gasworks, which had low clearance in the works, hence the odd shaped cab.

The wagon, a representative of the hopper wagons used by the gas works but built on an ex-war department chassis, houses the compressor for the airbrakes.  During restoration it was decided not to spoil the outline of the engine by mounting the pump on the locomotive itself.

The railway runs a variety of home built stock, and one ex. Sierra Leone carriage, in this attractive livery, based on the old North Eastern Railway I believe.

Both the big plus (in terms of conservation) and minus in terms of photography) is the large amount of covered accommodation that the railway has.  They do open the works to visitors when they have personnel available, but not during our visit.

Still, there are quite a few interesting wagons around the site

An old Hunslet mine locomotive acts as gate guardian.

The museum in the old goods shed is also worth a visit.  A real gloryhole type of museum, short on interpretation but a huge amount of interesting material stuffed into the shed.  they are very happy for you to poke around, handle most things and are always happy to answer questions.

The width of the viaduct betrays the lines origins.  The Standard gauge dimensions of the line means there is plenty of room for a lineside footpath, great for photography and just watching the trains go by.

More paint, visitors and light modifications

Greetings from Stockholms Östra Station!

I have finally admitted that it is time to stop fettling the paintwork in A-end saloon, clean up, let the flooring guys put down the lino and move on to finishing B-end saloon.

Up on the roof.  With the guttering complete, Micke is adding the final coat of roof paint.  He seems to be getting plenty of advice ...  Actually he is also getting plenty of help from Bengt and Lasse!

These are the original style of headlight bulb with a distinctive long neck.  They are no longer available and we currently only have 1 spare.  This particular one is a little past it ...

Soren has therefore been modifying a spare headlamp  to take shorter necked bulbs of which we have a few, and which are still available.  The knob and butterfly nut at the top are for adjusting the focus of the lamp.

Job done with short necked bulb in place.

We had a local journalist plus photographer visiting this evening, so Micke took them for a quick run up and down our siding in No.37.  This left an unusually clear view of No.35 in the railcar shed.

 And here is No.37 creeping back in after her run up the siding.

best regards from Stockholm, George!

Roofs, floors and visitors

Lasse and Bengt have been refitting the gutters to the roof of No.33

 These are oak and are a mix of cleaned up originals and new profiles screwed and sealed in.

The water is taken clear of the sides and corners by these small copper drains that Micke cleaned up.

Meanwhile, inside, the other Lasse has continued to lay the new hardboard sheets on the floor.  He has now reached the drivers position in B-end cab, the awkward bit around all the brake pipes and the control box.

We had 3 visitors this week and Micke gave them the tour.  This included a trundle up and down our siding, with No. 37 doing the honors this time

Elsewhere, painting the interior and general fettling and cleaning of the running set is ongoing.

as ever, all the best from Stockholm, George!

Holes and floors, a radiator and a special

We found two almost identical holes beneath the end doors on 33 that led into the gap between the double floor.  We are not sure of they were meant to be there, but we certainly didn't want them ...

... so we plugged them.

Inside, the floor of B-end cab shows why.  The lighter groove behind the door strip is where Bengt has dug out the rotten oak.  He then made a couple of inserts (one can be seen to the right of the door) that were then glued and screwed into place.

Then he laid new floorboards leaving this area ready for new hardboard and lino.

Over on the operating set, Soren was replacing a radiator on No.37.  I presume one of the drivers compained it was not working during the pre-Christmas specials ...   Still, 78 years from a heater is not bad going!

No. 35 is going out on a charter this Sunday and the request was for tables.  So Micke set up the tables and gave the interior a good clean.  Elsewhere I continued painting the ceiling of No.33 while Henrik was painting the luggage racks.

All the best from Stockholm, George!

'twas a dark and stormy night ...

Yep, winter is finally here! With most people however back from Christmas and  New Year celebrations / holidays, it was business as usual with us at Stockholms Östra.

It was however nice and warm in our shed.  The flooring guys had got as far as B-end cab, but when they lifted the old flooring they found the boards underneath in pretty poor condition in the centre, so the decision was made to replace them.  You can see how the floor is constructed here, with a double skin of boards filled with what looks like it was sawdust as insulation in between.

Soren was busy renovating these battery racks.  I think these hold the cells for the emergency lighting

Micke was cleaning up and straightening out some brackets, there must have been about 50 years worth of paint, varnish and crud on this one!

Someone even managed to get ahold of my camera and catch me doing some work!  Final coat of gloss going on the A-end saloon ceiling.

Best regards from a chilly Stockholm, George!

Cleaning and decorating, painting and electrics

 This evening we cleaned and decorated the operating set for our traditional pre-Christmas Luciatåg.  Micke starting up No.37.  The pantographs are pneumatic, so once the compressed air has leaked off, we need to hold them against the overhead line until the compressor recharges the system.

We then proceeded to decorate,

stars in the from windows of each railcar.

 Tinsel and other decorations inside.

We have had a few electrical issues with No.35.  Here the electric team are checking the schematics.

Work continues on No.33.  More painting inside and down below.  The recovering of the floor in new hardboard is almost complete.

Best regards from Stockholm, George!