Our News
A set of Roco Uad/Uadp wagons arrived in November, but not without problems. The set comprises one Uad and three Uadp. According to resources, none of these wagons would duplicate what we already have. But the set was second hand. The Uad has been exchanged at some time, and the one in the box is a duplicate! All Uadp had ac wheel-sets, so these needed to be changed at further expense! We need to get into the habit of taking a magnifying glass with us to exhibitions because these wagons’ numbers are very tiny, and with second-hand purchases, there is always a risk that we’re not getting what we’re expecting. (Hopefully, a future order to Byggsvenskt.nu will give us a unique wagon number!)
To the casual observer, the purchase of the Roco model of the Co8a would seem a bit strange, especially when one considers that we’ve had two of these before, and sold them. Why? Because we could not find any information supporting their authenticity, and we suspected that they were 1:100 scale length, given that they are quite short. The fact that they also had the older style gangways did nothing to encourage an interest in them. NOW, however, we know that the OKB had two of these, built as copies of very similar carriages purchased new from Germany in the 1920s. They were indeed much shorter than other carriages in use on SJ (though the model is still a bit short; in scale terms by about 60cm), and unlike the ‘composite’ carriages, for which we were able to easily find reference, they were withdrawn quite early. With the restructuring of proposed train formations (for a new railway), a use for this carriage became apparent, so we’d been on the look-out for a while; but the model had to fit certain criteria, It needed to be complete without damage; it needed NEM couplings; it needed a box. The inner tray for the box was damaged, but with the experience of building a new one for a Heljan model recently, satisfied that the outer box was OK, we went ahead with the purchase of a suitably priced model.
As the month drew to a close, a second Heljan T21 was purchased! Its price was below the limit that we had set, and it was in reasonable condition. Again, one might ask why? A second one had been wanted since before the railway closed, and being common for these locos to work in pairs, that interest still existed. Having worked extensively on the first (T21 64: see updates during 2020), we were ready for the challenge! Naturally, many things had fallen off, but all the essential parts (except for one plough) were present and correct. This now gives us a full time (evening) job; to prepare the model for reliable service; and this includes remedial measures to the motor cover so that we don’t need to replace it. With our existing one, the motor gear rubbed on the white-metal casing causing a lot of friction and a lot of swarf adding to the friction—then it died completely! The remedial work included the purchase of a third party motor and grinding down the space inside the cover! During the initial investigation with our newer acquisition, we refitted all the glazing and one underframe item. We also fitted the window to the ‘B’-end door because it looked a bit silly with the badly fitting blanking plate! With one plough missing (and one loose in the packaging) we removed the others (there are four in total; one under each buffer, not full width). Looking back through photos of the work on the other loco, that also has no ploughs fitted! Getting the body off was as usual, tricky, despite following the instructions in Heljan’s manual. They have used a tape at the ends to block the light from shining through the plastic body and this had become sticky on both sides. But once off, we removed the tape and painted matt black inside. At the end of the initial investigation, some of the loco was put back together, but without the cab or hoods, seeing that more work would be required here quite soon and we didn’t want to risk unnecessary damage!
Manufacturer News
Not content with delighting modellers with a new loco, the T23, Jeco had on display at Hjulmarknaden, two new trailers for the Y6-series of railbuses. One is a combined seating/luggage trailer (of which one type is now in service at the Nene Valley Railway in England), and the other is an all-luggage trailer (full length on bogies). These are long overdue and no doubt purchases will be made in the FLMJ’s favour! There is no mention of them on the website presently, and no supporting literature was at the event!
Another interesting thing from Hjulmarknaden was a new-ish firm selling track setting templates, rather like the ones we had in England, but for much larger radius curves. Quite possibly we will be investing in a complete set once a start has been made on the new railway.
Other News
A short article in the current “Tåg”, mentions that this autumn (2022) is the 100th anniversary of the start of what we know as H0-scale! Well, to be correct, one should say the track gauge of 16.5mm. In the infancy of model trains, it was the gauge rather than the scale that was the starting point. Larger scales had been available before then, but as space became a premium, something smaller was desired. In the late autumn of 1922 the first small trains of this type were introduced. They were manufactured by the German firm Bing in Nürnberg but were initially introduced to the British market. Scale and accuracy was not important, they just needed to represent something vaguely familiar. Electric models arrived a few years later, operating at 4-8v. In 1935, Trix and Märklin came out with their respective ranges of model trains in Bing’s spirit. The development of modern H0 models was thus underway. But “Tåg’s” writer observes that the honour of being first goes to Bing!
(The term ‘H0’ simply means “Half-0” as in half 0-gauge; which is actually 32mm, so there is a slight discrepancy! The ‘0’ is a number, not a capital (or upper-case) ‘O’. The term ‘00’, like small paint-brushes, just adds an extra number 0 for the next size down – so yes, TT was originally known in the UK as ‘000’!)
We mentioned the 1409 website recently; and using it, we were able to track and then go out to get a photo of this train at Myrbacken! We understand that the train started with just the two Rc-locos, but after hitting a moose, causing minor loco-damage, the leading loco was brought to the rescue!
In our update from September, we commented about an event that had been advertised, but didn’t seem to be taking place. In conversation with a trader at Hjulmarknaden in November, we were told that the event did take place at another location, but it was VERY poorly attended. No prizes for guessing why!
Behind the Scenes
Mini-Series about the FLMJ, 12: Faring up for the Future
It is impossible to make any plans for the new railway until the location has been found. A perfect situation would be for us to be able to recreate what we had; maybe with the original track plan reinstated at Månstorp (before the truncation mentioned earlier in the year). More space, however, would give us bigger station areas at Lövhöjden and Månstorp; less space would need further thinking about. But this is not a doom-and-gloom prospect. We did look at a location near Karlsborg which would have been much smaller, but the shape of the area available inspired a new layout design, whilst enabling us to keep the FLMJ title! We just need to be creative and think outside the box; and as the saying goes, “only dead ideas stay inside the box”!
Since the FLMJ was closed we have kept the timetable and scheduling up to date, so that we can land on our feet when we are able to start again. Nothing (important) has been forgotten, nothing has gone to waste. We have also created a so-called ”Fantasy Layout” which enables us to trial other timetabling elements, other signalling practices, other track layouts, and many more other things that are essential to the making of the successful operation and development of a model railway. Many aspects of the new railway can be planned at this stage, and this will help us when we are ready to plan it in finer detail.
It is just over four years, now, since the FLMJ was closed. In the time since then, personal commitments have taken priority, and many hurdles have needed to be overcome; a process that continues. It is said that a bad situation is the condiment that gives the eventual good situation its flavour. Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. Over this last year, we have given you a slight insight to the Railway. A more thorough description will be in our forthcoming book.
Next month: we start a new series looking at the publications (Adnalms Förening (Järnvägar)) that have been produced over the years, from the regular journal to the year books and everything in between.
