Patrick Grace cuts the ribbon at the entrance to Lövhöjden station to allow the first train to arrive. [Photo: Sören Wallmark.]
FLMJ - Invigningsdag.
The FLMJ was officially opened at 1pm on Saturday May 11th, 2002 by Patrick Grace, Chairman of the Scandinavian Railways Society.
Patrick Grace cuts the ribbon at the entrance to Lövhöjden station to allow the first train to arrive. [Photo: Sören Wallmark.]
For some, the event started at 6pm on the Friday evening. It should have been earlier, but traffic chaos in Farnham prevented that! There were many last minute adjustments that were needed, and this continued into Saturday morning. During the evening, one of the invited guests turned up to enquire about the times of the event and ended up staying to help with the preparations. He went home with a membership application form, and returned on the Saturday with it completed! Preparations on the Saturday were interrupted by a Full English (!) Breakfast. This was provided for two reasons. One was to encourage the members to turn up early enough to help with the preparations. The other was to ensure that we would not need to stop to eat during the day! By 1pm, the railway was just about ready! On the previous Monday, (a bank holiday,) one of the AJK members became qualified as a driver, and this made operation of the railway much closer to the requirements of the rulebook! (On the Saturday evening, another member became qualified also.)
Left - Director General, Adrian Allum, watches over a train on this, the first day of operations upon the new railway! [Photo: Hilary Hill]
Right - AJK member Daniel Hill (left) with his Certificate of Competence as a driver, presented by Adrian Allum. [Photo: Hilary Hill]
For the opening, the 'Sa' steam locomotive with its set of three wooden bodied coaches ran parallel with the 'X2-2', to represent the old and the new. These were stopped at the Lövhöjden home signals, where a blue and yellow ribbon had been placed across the track. At that point, a one minute silence was observed in respect of the victims of the rail accident at Potters Bar on the day before. Then, after a little speech, Patrick Grace declared the railway open and cut the ribbon, allowing both trains to proceed into Lövhöjden. (This was followed by the newly qualified driver being presented with his certificate.)
Left - Lövhöjden, with an InterCity train in track 2 flanked by the two trains that took part in the opening of the railway. In track 1 (left), there is the 'Sa' steam locomotive and train (representing the old) and in track 3, there is the 'X2-2' (representing the modern) [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
Right - Patrick Grace, our official guest, pauses from attending to his Roco model of the IORE locomotive. [Photo: Hilary Hill]
After this, there was a parade of different trains, representing Sweden's railway history (which called for the running of some of Patrick's models, as the FLMJ has very little 'heritage' models) before normal operation could take over. In true FLMJ style, during the latter part of the afternoon, the Swedish models gave way to visiting models - mostly British, though one Finnish locomotive was seen at one point! Unfortunately, it appears that Hornby models still have a 'back-to-back' problem, and these were quite troublesome. We also found that the Fleischmann 'Da' locomotive (which in true Fleischmann fashion is built to 00 scale) will not run into the platform lines without hitting the platforms!
Left - Whilst guests and AJK members look on, Adrian attends to a minor problem on the Lövhöjden control panel! [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
Right - 3 AJK members and a guest look over events at Lövhöjden. [Photo: Hilary Hill]
Sunday was a more relaxed day. Of the three AJK members present, (there were six on the Saturday,) only two were conversant with the procedures. Nevertheless, all ran reasonably well. Peco's Diamond crossings have irritated us before, and these new ones were no better. One needed emergency repairs during the Sunday, and it was decided that all of them will be modified before the next operational session.
Left - Lövhöjden control panel is functional, but untidy and unclear. [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
Right - The control panel at Månstorp was built with lessons learnt from that at Lövhöjden - it is a much neater design, with less of a mess with the wiring! [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
Following a major overhaul, the UGJ 'X10' set was back in operation, and this operated a timetabled service on the Sunday - once it had been run-in. On the Saturday, the 'Y2' did make one trip round, but not without problems. This set needs running in, and we're reasonably confident that it should be able to run upon the railway without too many problems, soon.
Rc6 1328 on route from Ålunden to Lövhöjden, approaches Månstorp, whilst X10 3149 awaits its next turn of duty in a siding that will eventually become the "Siljansbanan" circuit around the home! [Photo: A. Allum.]
This is the improvised view into Ålunden. The tunnel conceals pointwork, and will be one of the first areas to have scenery applied! [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
At the end of the Sunday, another guest departed with a membership application form and the FLMJ received a very useful gift. Absolute Block working had been in place between Månstorp and Lövhöjden, but two very cheap 2-way radios were in use between Månstorp and Ålunden. We were presented with a set of radios, much more business-like, and much more suited to the work required of them. The benefactor was a guest from the Saturday who had seen us struggling with the 'toys!'
Left - A view along the line at Månstorp, during a quiet moment. [Photo: Kelvin Hill]
Right - Daniel Hill on duty at Månstorp; see the British 'Absolute Block' instrument behind him! [Photo: Hilary Hill]
We had a total of 39 guests, neatly divided between 26 on the Saturday and 13 on the Sunday. None of Saturday's guests returned on the Sunday. 14 of Saturday's guests were present for the 1pm opening. The next proposed Guest event upon the railway is in September 2003. E-mail for more details.
Left - An interesting view of Månstorp. The control panel is seen to the lower left, whilst the up end of the station is in the foreground. Also in view, are the two temporary controllers and the now obsolete "walkie-talkie" that was used for communication with the operative at Ålunden. Over the next few months, this area will be cosmetically improved - with scenery! [Photo: A. Allum.]
Right - Roco's IORE locomotive made an appearance at the FLMJ in April, but was so faulty that it had to be returned to Roco. (Thankfully, we had the use of Patrick Grace's IORE during the Saturday.) Here, our model is on static pose near Ålunden. [Photo: A. Allum.]
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Construction of the FLMJ ))