Pålsboda – Finspång railway line

Pålsboda – Finspång
Finspång Railway Station (2011)
Route number :	PFJ
Route length:	58 km
Gauge :	891 mm ( Swedish 3-foot track )
Maximum slope :	16.67  ‰
Minimum radius :	270 m
Top speed:	25 km / h
Operating points and routes
Legend Västra stambanan from Katrineholm 30.4 Pålsboda Örebro – Pålsboda Järnväg to Örebro Västra stambanan to Hallsberg 36.5 Svennevad 42.5 Glottra Junction Glottrasjön 50.6 Hjordkvarn 55.0 0.0 Tornfors 2.0 Bjornhammar 57.4 Trolleflod 60.5 Ormon 63.8 Skönnarbo 66.4 0.0 Ljusfallshammar 4.0 Grytgöls Bruk (gauge 600 mm) 70.1 Prästköp 73.4 Borggård Stora Tron junction 74.9 Hallestad 78.3 Otherwise or Finspång – Norsholms Järnväg to Norsholm 87.9 0.0 Finspång (formerly personal stop) Finspång – Lotorp railway line

The Pålsboda – Finspång railway was a narrow-gauge railway line between Finspång in Östergötland and Pålsboda on the Västra stamban in Närke in Sweden . It had a track width of 891 mm and was built by Pålsboda – Finspångs Jernvägsaktiebolag (PFJ). Of the 58 km long route, 31.6 km were in Örebro County and 26.4 km in Östergötland County .

history

In the 1870s there were only poorly developed roads from Närke to Östergötland. With the beginning of industrialization ore and coal were mined and processed into iron, which had to be transported to or from the foundries and forges. Companies sprang up wherever water and wood were available. The transports were cumbersome, but the transport costs were not that important and wages were low. There was ore and other mineral resources in the mining area of ​​northern Östergötland, but these were not of the quality that it was worth processing. However, attempts are being made again today to develop these mineral resources, as was the case recently with the gravel pit in Sätra.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, there was an upswing in industry and craft throughout Europe . The demand from abroad for iron and wood increased, so that improved transport options had to be found. After Västra stambanan opened in 1862, the owner of Finspångverken in Finspång , Carl Edvard Ekman , realized that you couldn't keep up with the competition away from the main traffic arteries. Finspångverken was Sweden's largest cannon foundry for more than three centuries. Ekmann suggested building a railway line from Finspång to a suitable connecting station on Västra stambanan. The other factory owners in the area and the communities also recognized the need and benefits that a railroad would bring.

Pålsboda – Finspång Jernvägsaktiebolag

A meeting was held in Finspång on December 30, 1870 with Ekman as chairman. There concrete plans were presented and it was agreed that the planned railway in Pålsboda should connect to the Västra stambanan. It was also agreed to open shares for subscription. 1.4 million crowns in shares of 200 crowns each were proposed for financing . In addition, a five-member provisional board of directors was formed, including Ekman.

Ekman had already contacted Claes Adolf Adelsköld a year earlier , who prepared the plan and the cost estimate for a railway between Finspång and Pålsboda. As early as February 1871, he also estimated the cost of the route at 1.4 million crowns. The track width was set at three Swedish feet , thus 891 mm. The greatest slope should be 16.67 ‰. The minimum radius should not be less than 800 feet and the rails should weigh ten pounds / foot (about 15 kg / m) per meter. A license was applied for with these requirements . At the same time a government loan was applied for and the articles of association of the public limited company were drawn up. The concession was granted on January 19, 1872, but the government loan was refused.

Therefore, the original financing proposal was changed. The capital was now only 700,000 kroner in 7,000 shares of 100 kroner. The statutes stipulated that the same amount could be taken out as a loan. The company should be jointly and severally liable. Under the direction of Ekman there was another meeting in Finspång on February 3, 1872. There it was decided to borrow 700,000 kroner, with which the necessary capital for the construction of the railway was available. O. Kamph was employed as site manager - he later became traffic manager for the PFJ, FNJ and NÖJ and remained in this position until 1901. Adelsköld took over the construction supervision.

Construction of the Pålsboda – Finspång line

At the beginning of March 1872, construction of the line began. The rails were manufactured on site by Finspångs styckebruk , and the freight wagons for ore transport were supplied according to drawings by Adelsköld.

In 1873 the money ran out. It turned out that Adelsköld had calculated the costs too low. He had underestimated the number of necessary railroad man's houses and the subsequently specified, stronger superstructure was an unforeseen cost factor. In addition, the wage and material costs rose more than expected. Additionally necessary locomotive and wagon orders caused the costs to explode.

It was estimated that the capital shortfall was 413,000 kroner. The shareholders' meeting decided to issue preferred shares for 500,000 crowns primarily for former shareholders in proportion to their holdings. Most of the preferred shares were signed by Ekman. This guaranteed the company's financial position.

The official inauguration took place on September 19, 1874 in the presence of King Oscar II . The line was the third line in Sweden with 891 mm gauge that was opened to general traffic. The 57.8 kilometer long railway had around five kilometers of side tracks, the smallest radius was 270 meters and the maximum speed was set at 25 km / h.

vehicles

In total, the following steam locomotives were procured:

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
1	FINSPONG	Tank locomotive	C 1 t	Nydqvist & Holm , Trollhättan	31 1873	Retired in 1930
2	BOO	Tank locomotive	C 1 t	Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhättan	30 1873	Retired in 1923
3	SONSTORP	Tank locomotive	C 1 t	Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhättan	32 1873	1918 to Maltesholms Cement AB, retired in 1930
4th	HADDEBO	Tank locomotive	1 C t	Nydqvist & Holm, Trollhättan	56 1875	1919 to Spitzbergen , retired in 1939

In addition, there were nine passenger cars and 105 freight cars , which were sufficient for the traffic. Between 1875 and 1877, the railway generated surpluses. In 1878 the income fell and in 1879 the wages of the employees had to be reduced. The employees earned between 360 and 600 crowns a year, a railway attendant around 300 crowns. When the economic situation got better again, wages of about five kroner per month for most employees followed.

Connecting railway Grytgöl – Ljusfallshammar

Adolf Burén from Grytgöl, owner of Grytgöls Bruks AB, paid for the Ljusfallshammar station for the construction of the line with the stipulation that all trains of the NÖJ should stop there. He also had a railway line from Ljusfallshammar to Grytgöl built, which was put into operation in 1913. Although the railway line was designed with a 600 mm track gauge and made reloading in Ljusfallshammar necessary for all goods, it greatly simplified the traffic conditions, as carts with oxen and horses could now be dispensed with.

In 1954, all the material on the track was very worn out. So it was decided to close the line. During all these years only one locomotive was in service. It was the locomotive manufactured by Orenstein & Koppel in the Deutsche Feld & Industrie-Bahn-Werke , Danzig, with the factory number 1602 in 1905 with the B t wheel arrangement. The machine came to Grytgöls Bruks AB via the dealer AB Järnvägsmateriel AJMA in 1913, was given the name GRYTGÖL and was retired after the line was closed in 1955.

Expansion plans

The PFJ also had a connection and joint traffic , consisting of the Fiskeby Järnväg with the shipping line on Lake Glan . The steamboat Glan sailed between Finspång and Fiskeby. With the opening of the Östra stambanan , the ship went to Eksund, which had a train station on the route. This boat traffic had disadvantages because the goods had to be handled several times. Transports were difficult in winter because the lake was mostly frozen over.

Merger of the railway companies

At the beginning of 1895 there were considerations to merge the narrow-gauge railways in the province of Östergötland. After Pålsboda – Finspångs Järnväg (PFJ) went into operation, four new railway companies were formed in the region around Pålsboda and Hultsfred. These were Finspång – Norsholms Järnväg (FNJ), Norsholm – Ristens Kommunikationaktiebolag (including the Norsholm – Bersbo line) (NBJ), Västervik – Åtvidaberg – Bersbo Järnväg (VÅBJ) and Västervik – Hultsfreds Järnvag ( Hultsfreds Järnvag). PFJ and PNJ shared management, as did NBJ, VÅBJ and HWJ. The proposal was to investigate whether it was possible to merge the five separate railroads into one common administration. It turned out that the companies had too different views, so the proposal did not go ahead.

Independently of this, there was an extraordinary general meeting of the FNJ in the same year, at which Carl Edvard Ekman proposed to sell the railway to a consortium which the FNJ and the PFJ should operate as a joint company. The meeting approved this proposal under the conditions that the new company must assume the liabilities and commitments from the pension fund. Ekman made the same proposal to the general meeting of the PFJ, whereby he was supported by Ax. Ekman received support from Finspångs styckebruk . This proposal was justified here with the weak financial position of the stock corporation and the poor future prospects. After the resolution of the meeting, a sale was approved because the new consortium guaranteed greater future security.

The shareholders of the two companies then agreed in an extraordinary general meeting in 1895 to sell them to the consortium. This resulted in the founding of Norra Östergötlands Järnvägsaktiebolag (NÖJ).

Norra Östergötlands Järnvägsaktiebolag

The Norra Östergötlands Järnvägsaktiebolag was founded on November 30, 1895. The purpose of the company was to acquire Pålsboda – Finspångs Järnvägsaktiebolag and Finspång – Norsholms Järnvägsaktiebolag in order to operate their routes together. The first board consisted of Lieutenant Colonel GK Falkengren, bank director B. Söderbaum and hut owner O. Lundqvist. Falkengren was elected as chairman of the board. The company's articles of association were approved on December 6, 1895. The seat of the company was Norrköping . One could take over the state loan of the FNJ as well as concessions of the two railway companies for their routes.

While the ownership of the two companies had previously been kept strictly separate and even passengers in Finspång had to transfer to the trains of the other company, continuous trains ran between Pålsboda and Norsholm from the time the company was founded. The NÖJ formally took over the operation of the PFJ and FNJ on January 1, 1896.

The further history of the route can be found under Örebro – Norrköping railway line .

literature

• Bodstedt, Ivan A [ugust], Historik över Sveriges småbanor. Bruks-, gruv- m. fl. banor under tiden 1802–1865 , Statens järnvägars museum, Stockholm, Esselte, 1945.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Association of Central European Railway Administrations (ed.): Station directory of the European railways . (formerly Dr. KOCH's station directory). 52nd edition. Barthol & Co., Berlin-Wilmersdorf 1939.
2. ↑ Route in Ljusfallshammar near Stig Lundin
3. ^ Runeberg, Nordisk familjebok 1881 - Finspång – Pålsboda – banan
4. ^ Runeberg, Nordisk familjebok - 1913, Norra Östergötlands Järnvägsaktiebolags Järnvägar
5. ^ Locomotive statistics according to Pospichal
6. ↑ Description of the hut railway. (No longer available online.) Finspang.se, archived from the original on August 11, 2007 ; Retrieved August 12, 2016 (Swedish). 
7. ↑ locomotive Grytgöls Bruk AB at pospichal.net

Web links

• History of Pålsboda - Finspång Järnväg at historiskt.nu (swed.)
• Kimstad – Finspång. In: järnväg.net. Retrieved February 7, 2016 (Swedish). 
• Lars-Erik Thorsell: Järnvägen mellan Finspång och Pålsboda. Archived from the original on August 11, 2007 ; Retrieved February 6, 2016 (Swedish, source: Hällestad Marknadsallians årsalmanacka). 
• FNJ, Finspång - Norsholms Järnväg at historiskt.nu (swed.)