Skara – Hönsäters hamn railway line

Skara – Hönsäters hamn
Route number :	SKWJ
Route length:	30 km
Gauge :	891 mm ( Swedish 3-foot track )
Maximum slope :	12.5  ‰
Minimum radius :	300 m
Top speed:	35 km / h
Operating points and routes
Legend 30th Hönsäters hamn Connection of lime pits and cement factory (600 mm) Lidköping – Forshem railway line Mariestad – Gössäter line from Forshem Connection cement factory (600 mm) 157.029 Gössäter 155.142 Kärrgården Malma – Haggårdens Järnväg to the quarry (600 mm) 152.961 Kinnemalma ( Malma until Oct. 1, 1915, then Kinne-Malma ) 147.423 Götene (formerly Götened ) 146.100 Vättlösa 12 - Lundsbrunn health resort 11 140.502 Lundsbrunn Järnvägens grustag (SKWJ gravel pit) 10 - Dala kvarn 9 - Skogsmark 8 137,388 Myråsen 4 133.900 Tveta Railway line Skara – Timmersdala (STJ) from Timmersdala (from 1912) Lidköping – Stenstorp (LSSJ) railway from Stenstorp (until 1912) Lidköping – Stenstorp (LSSJ) railway line from Lidköping (from 1912) Gothenburg – Skara railway line from Gothenburg (until 1912) 0 129.315 Skara 1874 113  m o.h. Railway line Skara – Timmersdala (STJ) to Timmersdala (until 1912) Railway line Lidköping – Stenstorp (LSSJ) to Stenstorp (from 1912) Railway line Lidköping – Stenstorp (LSSJ) to Lidköping (until 1912) Railway line Gothenburg – Skara (VGJ) to Gothenburg (from 1912)

The railway line Skara – Hönsäters hamn ( Swedish Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns Järnväg (SKWJ) ) was a narrow-gauge railway line between Skara and Hönsäters hamn on Vänern in Skaraborgs län in Sweden . The section between Skara and Lundsbrunn is now operated as a museum railway.

history

In the region around Kinnekulle , discussions and proposals for various railway lines between the cities of Lidköping and Skara as well as Mariestad were held in the 1880s . One of the reasons for the interest was the large deposits of limestone on Kinnekulle, and Kinnekulle was also a tourist attraction.

Three of these proposals specifically ended with Mariestad – Kinnekulle Järnvägsaktiebolag (MKJ), 1889, Kinnekulle – Lidköpings Järnväg (KiLJ), 1897 and Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns Järnväg (SKWJ).

Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns Järnvägsaktiebolag

This railway line was first discussed in detail at a meeting in December 1885. At a later meeting on January 28, 1886, Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns Järnvägsaktiebolag was founded. The share capital was 342,200 crowns . The first board consisted of Professor GV Hofling (chairman), Skara; Dealer Alfr. Andersson, Skara; Director Lars Wilhelm Kylberg (technical director), Gössäter; Farmer Carl Johansson, Hede ; Ironworks director Fredrik Sköldebrand, Hällekis and Carl Tham, Stora Lund. They applied for the concession for the route and a government loan for the construction.

The plans for the route were drawn by engineer H. Östrand and the cost was estimated at 638,000 kroner. The concession was granted on June 11, 1886, and in the same year a government loan of 324,000 crowns was granted. For the route between Skara and Vänern, two proposals were discussed at this point: on the one hand from Skara via Lundsbrunn and Husaby , then west past the church of Husaby and along the eastern slope of the Kinnekulle via Gössäter to Hönsäters hamn am Vänern and on the other hand from Skara via Lundsbrunn and Götene east of the church from Kestad (Malma) to Gössäter and Hönsäters hamn am Vänern.

Due to the strong influence of board member Carl Johansson from Götene, the second proposal was carried out.

Construction of the route

The engineer and member of the Reichstag, Anders Theodor Wallenius, was commissioned as general contractor for the construction of the railway and the associated bridges and buildings . The contract was worth 638,000 crowns. The construction of the line began in the spring of 1887 and was carried out without major disruptions. Between Myråsen and Dala, the embankment and the tracks crossed a swamp via a wooden substructure . After a few construction trains had already driven the route, the entire embankment slipped into the moor . Thanks to the attention of the staff and the low speed, the approaching train managed to stop in front of the gap. Around 100 freight wagons had to be filled in to stabilize the embankment.

On December 14, 1887, the route was opened by Governor Sjöcrona, and opened to public transport the day after. In the Statistical Yearbook 1889, construction costs were recorded in the amount of 674,751 crowns. The track was built with English-made steel rails that weighed 14.3 kg / m per meter .

In addition to the stations, seven guards' houses were built along the route. For the operation and maintenance of the vehicles, a two-hour locomotive shed and a repair shop were built in the southern section of the station in Gössäter . A 10-meter turntable was also built. A roundhouse with two parking spaces and a 10-meter turntable were built in Skara.

vehicles

Steam locomotives

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
1	CHILD	Tank locomotive	C t	Lidköping Mekaniska Verkstad , Lidköping	1/ 1887	Wheel arrangement later changed to B 1, 1904 to Västergötland – Göteborgs Järnvägar , No. 12, there again the wheel arrangement changed to 1 B, scrapped in 1916
2	WENERN	Tank locomotive	C t	Lidköping Mekaniska Verkstad, Lidköping	2/ 1888	Wheel arrangement later changed to B 1, 1904 to Västergötland – Göteborgs Järnvägar , No. 13, there again the wheel arrangement changed to 1 B, scrapped in 1929

These two were the only locomotives that Lidköpings Mekaniska Verkstad ever made. The cars came from the same workshop: six two-axle cars were bought for passenger transport. These were the first wagons to have platforms with entrance doors. Two two-axle luggage carts were also purchased. Freight traffic was carried out with four covered and 18 open freight wagons , six lime wagons and a snow plow were available on special vehicles . These wagons were all biaxial. 

Train traffic

On the route between Skara and Gössäter there was passenger and freight traffic, while the remaining three kilometers to Hönsäters hamn were only used by freight trains. Passenger trains only ran here in exceptional cases.

Another exception to the regular passenger traffic was on the two-kilometer stretch of the Gössäter – Falkängen between December 20, 1897 and December 17, 1898. The reason for this was that Kinnekulle – Lidköpings Järnväg (KiLJ) initially had its trains end in Hällekis . Travelers between the two companies had to change trains there and walk the 400-meter route between Hällekis and Falkängen. When the KiLJ was completed in 1898, this temporary arrangement ended.

The passenger traffic of SKWJ and MMJ was managed jointly. There were continuous trains Skara – Gössäter – Mariestad – Moholm. The locomotives, the locomotive crew and the train crew changed in Gössäter and Mariestad.

The Malma station was renamed Kinnevik on October 1, 1915.

sale

In 1902 the board of directors of Västergötland – Göteborgs järnvägsaktiebolag considered expanding its own railway network and accepted the SKWJ's wish to merge the two companies. The result of the negotiations was approved by the SKWJ's shareholders' meeting on August 4, 1903, and the SKWJ sold its route for 434,361 kroner. The VGJ paid with a state loan of 296,200 kroner with an annual repayment rate of 4,661 kroner, with 13,500 kroner in cash and with own shares for the remaining 120,000 kroner. The agreement included the takeover of all employees by VGJ.

On January 1, 1904, the SKWJ was taken over by the VGJ, after which all vehicles were assigned to the VGJ.

As part of the general nationalization of the railway , VGJ and with it this line were sold to the state.

For details see under: Nationalization of the VGJ .

The freight train route from Gössäter to Hönsäters hamn was shut down in connection with the conversion of the route between Lidköping and Forshem to standard gauge in 1954. On August 24, 1970, traffic on the route between Götene and Forshem and passenger traffic between Götene and Skara ended. Freight traffic between Götene and Skara ended in 1984, the tracks between Landsbrunn and Gössäter were dismantled in 1985. The Skara – Lundsbrunns Järnvägar museum railway was set up between Skara and Lundsbrunn . Most of the embankment on the former Lundsbrunn – Götene – Gössäter to Hönsäters section has been preserved.

Conversion of the Skara

From Skara, the route ran parallel to the LSSJ route to Lidköping until 1912, and then swiveled north ( old SKVJ ). To avoid the turning of the trains in Skara, the station was redesigned so that the trains in Skara left the station in an easterly direction like the Skara – Timmersdala railway line . The new route led over a loop and after a few kilometers met again on the old way to Gössäter.

Malma – Haggårdens Järnväg

From the Kinnemalma station a 2.1 km long narrow-gauge railway with 600 mm gauge, the Malma – Haggårdens Järnväg , led to the limestone quarry at Haggården.

A cement factory was served from the Gössäter station, and a freight railway led to limestone quarries and a cement factory from the Hönsäters hamn station.

Museiföreningen Skara – Lundsbrunns Järnväg

The Skara – Lundsbrunn railway is owned by Museiföreningen Skara – Lundsbrunns Järnväg , which is responsible for maintenance. The subsequent section between Lundsbrunn and Forshem was dismantled in 1985.

The VGJ locomotive No. 29 was placed in Verkebäck in 1966 after it was decommissioned as SJ Gp 3119. Then a campaign was started to set up the locomotive in Skara, the former railway junction with routes in five directions. The city of Skara decided to set up an association to keep the locomotive. This association was called "29: an" and took over locomotive no. 29 on January 25, 1967 in Skara.

VGJ 29 was originally intended as a memorial for the railway age in Skara, but the members of the newly founded association had higher expectations. Even before VGJ 29 was restored, there were special trips with historical railway material in connection with Ostmässan in Skara as early as 1965 . When SJ stopped freight traffic to Skara in 1984, the situation became problematic because the plan was to dismantle the former VGJ line. The association managed to take over the Skara – Lundsbrunn section from the state and thus establish the railway museum as a permanent institution.

In a fire in 2008, one of the oldest DEVA railcars and other vehicles were destroyed.

literature

• Malke, Alfred, Skara – Kinnekulle – Vänerns Järnväg 1886–1903. Historik och minnen , Bergers Bokhandel, Skara 1947, 40 pages, stapled.

Web links

• Station plans at Stig Lundin (swed.)
• Järnvägen i Gössäter
• Skara – Lundsbrunn Järnvägar

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Skara – Kinne Malma – Gössäter – Vänern / Hellekis hamn. Bandel 422, SJ district 36 bs. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved February 16, 2015 (Swedish). Spår åt sydväst (nordväst) t Hönsäters hamn. Bandel 429, Gössäter – Hönsäters hamn. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved February 16, 2015 (Swedish).   
2. ↑ From locomotive statistics pospichal.net
3. ↑ Järnvägen i Gössäter (Swedish)
4. ↑ Description by Stig Lundin (Swedish)
5. ↑ Description by Stig Lundin (Swedish)
6. ↑ Description by Stig Lundin (Swedish)
7. ↑ Special trips to Ostmässan, page 108 (Swedish) (PDF; 664 kB)
8. ↑ locomotives VGJ at pospichal.net
9. ^ Locomotives from Skara – Lundsbrunns Järnvägar at pospichal.net
10. ↑ Storbrand förstörde järnvägsvagnar i Skara , Lidköpingsnytt, June 18, 2008