Mariestad – Gössäter railway line

Mariestad-Gössäter
Route number :	MKJ
Route length:	27 km
Gauge :	891 mm, since 1962 1435 mm
Operating points and routes
Legend Gårdsjö – Mariestad railway from (1910) Gårdsjö Mariestad hamnspåret 39.045 Mariestad (1874) Katrinefors Pappersbruk Mariestad – Moholms Järnväg after (1874) Moholm 42.5 Leksberg 47.7 Prästkvarn (1892) 50.252 Lugnås (former train station) 52.051 Svaneberg 56.250 Äskekärr (former train station) 57.4 Kvarntorp 59,400 Österäng (former train station) 63.774 Forshem Lidköping – Forshem railway line to Lidköping Railway line Skara – Hönsäters hamn to Hönsäters hamn 66.1 Goessater (1887) Railway line Skara – Hönsäters hamn to Skara

The Mariestad – Gössäter ( Swedish: Mariestad – Kinnekulle Järnväg (MKJ)) was a narrow-gauge railway between Mariestad and Gössäter in Skaraborgs län in Sweden that was put into operation in 1889 .

It is part of the Gårdsjö – Håkantorp railway in Västergötland , which has been called Kinnekullebanan since the name reform of the Swedish railway lines by Banverket in 1990 .

history

On December 15, 1887, the narrow-gauge Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns reached Järnväg (SKWJ) Gössäter. The also narrow-gauge Mariestad – Moholms Järnväg (MMJ) had reached Mariestad. This gave rise to the desire to connect the places between the district town of Mariestad and Gössäter by a railway line. This made it possible to get from Skara to Mariestad without taking the detour via Västra stambanan .

Mariestad – Kinnekulle järnvägsaktiebolag

Therefore, in 1887 a license was applied for for this route. This concession was granted on June 8, 1887. At a meeting on September 29, 1888 , the Mariestad – Kinnekulle järnvägsaktiebolag, with share capital of 333,000  kroner and a credit of 305,000 kroner, was constituted . The first board consisted of State Secretary AM Bolinder (Chairman), Mariestad, Freiherr C. Klingspor, Råbäck, engineer AT Wallenius (President), Svaneberg, Dr. PG Södermark, Mariestad, ironworks owner Ms. Sköldebrand, Hällekis and managing director V. Lundstedt, Mariestad.

KG Wallenius, the son of AT Wallenius, was commissioned to build the line. The early spring of 1889 facilitated the construction of the railway, which began in May. The laying of the rails began in late July and the work was completed just seven months after it began in December 1889. Only at the Österang train station had further ballast work to be done. The route was opened to traffic on December 19, 1889.

When calculating the costs of the entire railway system, 522,207 crowns were calculated. The rails on the route were made of Belgian steel and weighed 14.3 kilograms per meter . Two large bridges and six stations had been built. The train stations were unusual for the period as they were built of brick.

Mariestad train station

Until 1910, Mariestad was the terminus with the exception of the port railway to the north. To the east in the direction of Moholm , a connection to Katrinefors Pappersbruk was built from 1890 parallel to Mariestad – Moholm Järnväg , which provided the largest volume of goods traffic on the route. From 1905 Katrinefors had its own locomotives and wagons for local traffic. When the line was re-gauged in 1962, the industrial railway was also converted to standard gauge.

business

A cooperation with Mariestad – Moholms Järnväg (MMJ) began for the operation and maintenance of the vehicles . At the expense of the MKJ, the MMJ expanded its round shed in Mariestad with stands. In Forshem, MKJ built a round shed with two stands and a 4.9 meter turntable in 1889.

Six passenger cars were bought for passenger transport, two of which were bogie cars, the remaining two-axle cars. 20 two-axle freight wagons were acquired for freight transport.

In total, the following steam locomotives were procured:

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
2		Tank locomotive	C t	Fox, Walker & Co , Bristol	196 1873	1889 by Mariestad – Moholms Järnväg , MMJ No. 2, scrapped in 1905
4th	MARIESTAD	Tank locomotive	1 B t	Kristinehamns Mekaniska Verkstad , Kristinehamn	52 1889	1909 to VGJ, No. 21, scrapped in 1916
6th		Tank locomotive	1 B t	Motala Verkstad , Motala	196 1898	1909 to VGJ, No. 22, 1941 to Byvalla – Långshyttans Järnväg (BLJ), 1968 to Museum Railway Jädraås – Tallås Järnväg
8th		Tank locomotive	1 C t	Nydqvist och Holm , Trollhättan	726 1903	1909 to VGJ, No. 23, scrapped in 1942

The first two locomotives were soon no longer sufficient for traffic, so a third machine was bought in 1898. The tank locomotive had a 1 B wheel arrangement and was given the number 6. Another locomotive followed in 1903, this time from Nydqvist och Holm. It had a 1 C wheel arrangement and was given number 8. It was the last locomotive before it was sold to VGJ. With their acquisition, it was soon possible to dispense with No. 2, this was scrapped in 1905.

The numbering of the locomotives was based on an agreement with MMJ. Thereafter, the MMJ locomotives had odd numbers while the MKJ locomotives received even numbers.

From the opening, MJK and MMJ cooperated in the operation of the routes and the maintenance of locomotives and wagons. In terms of train operations, there was a collaboration between MJK, MMJ and SKWJ with continuous trains between Skara and Moholm on the Västra stambana. The locomotives and the locomotive staff were exchanged in Gössäter or Mariestad.

Sale to Västergötland – Göteborgs järnvägsaktiebolag

SKWJ was bought by Västergötland – Göteborgs järnvägsaktiebolag (VGJ) in 1904. This led to a discussion about the purchase of MKJ in order to build a new Skara – Timmersdala – Mariestad railway line in order to manage the connection from Gothenburg to Mariestad under one administration. VGJ bought MKJ on August 22, 1908 for 445,136 kroner and 85 ore, the Mariestad – Kinnekulle järnvägsaktiebolag was dissolved and the vehicles were integrated into the VGJ. In 1910, VGJ built the extension from Mariestad to Gårdsjö on Västra stambana.

nationalization

As part of the general nationalization of the railways , the state bought VGJ in 1948 and integrated it into the organization of Statens Järnvägar . The Mariestad – Forshem section was converted to standard gauge by SJ 1962 and is now part of the Gårdsjö – Håkantorp railway. The Forshem – Gössäter section was discontinued and dismantled from SJ 1970.  

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gössäter – Forshem – Mariestad. Bandel 423, SJ district 36 bs. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved May 5, 2016 (Swedish). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Station maps to Stig Lundin
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Association of Central European Railway Administrations (ed.): List of stations of the European railways . (formerly Dr. Koch's station directory). Barthol & Co., Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1939.
4. ↑ ^{a b c} History of Mariestad – Kinnekulle Järnväg (swed.)
5. ↑ Data on the start of locomotive operations
6. ↑ Hanomag locomotive at Katrinefors
7. ↑ Locomotives to Pospichal
8. ↑ Järnvägen i Gössäter. kinnekullehembygd.se, accessed May 5, 2016 (Swedish). 

Web links

• Station maps to Stig Lundin