Striberg – Degerfors railway line

Striberg-Degerfors
Vikersvik Railway Station (1930s)
Route number :	WMJ
Route length:	54.5 km
Gauge :	802 mm ( narrow gauge (Sweden) )
Operating points and routes
Legend Railway line Striberg – Grängen von Grängen (from 1887) Striberg (standard gauge from 1907) Nora – Karlskoga Järnväg to Gyttorp (standard gauge from 1907) Striberg ovre Fogdhyttan Roedberg Nora – Karlskoga Järnväg from Nora Vikersvik Nora – Karlskoga Järnväg to Karlskoga Skrikarhyttan Dalkarlsberg Rösimmen Snöbergshyttan Immetorp Standard gauge line from Bofors (from July 1, 1907) Valåsen Värmlandsbanan by Kil Degerfors Värmlandsbanan to Laxå

The Striberg – Degerfors ( Vikern – Möckelns Järnväg (WMJ)) was a narrow-gauge Swedish railway line . It was built by Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag between Striberg and Degerfors in Bergslagen . It got its name after the two lakes Vikern (formerly: Wikern) and Möckeln at the ends of the route. The line connected to the Striberg – Grängen railway line in Striberg .

history

The oldest narrow-gauge railway, which over time belonged to the lines of the Nora Bergslags järnvägsaktiebolag , was Vikern – Möckelns järnväg .

The route began in Striberg, leads on the west bank of Lake Vikern to Vikersvik , where it crossed the Nora – Karlskoga järnväg at the same level , which also started from Striberg. However, this led along the east bank of the Vikern. After the junction in Vikersvik, the two routes led to Lake Möckeln at a distance of between 2.5 and 7 kilometers from each other. They followed this on both sides to Nordvästra stambanan , where the WMJ in Degerfors and the NKJ in Karlskoga (Strömtorp), 3 kilometers from Degerfors, followed.

The two lines originally formed an elongated figure eight. They received the concession around the same time and were built around the same time. The reason for this was the strong, different interests of the users, each of whom wanted a railway line in their own location. They were so strong and independent that they could build tracks at the same time, and in different gauges. The fact that there was also a concession for both companies shows how the authorities at the time promoted railway construction in Sweden.

Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag

Representatives of a number of companies as well as Dalkarlsbergs aktiebolag constituted Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag on January 26, 1871 . Among other things, it was decided to build the railway with a gauge of 802 mm.

Initially, it was planned that the railway would only be built between the lakes that gave the company its name. The concession was granted on July 28, 1871 only for the route Valåsen – Vikersvik. Later it became known that Nora-Karlskoga järnväg should extend its route from Karlskoga kyrkoby to Strömtorp and from Gyttorp to Striberg. Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag then decided to extend its route from Valåsen to Degerfors to the south and from Vikersvik to Striberg in the north. The concession was granted on September 18, 1871.

On September 24, 1872, provisional freight traffic was started between Degerfors and Dalkarlsberg. On July 15, 1873, the provisional expansion between Dalkarlsberg and Striberg took place in freight traffic. In December 1875 provisional passenger traffic began on the 54.5 km long route and on July 4, 1876 it was officially opened for general traffic. It cost 1,313,376 crowns , of which 544,250 crowns were covered by stocks and 550,000 crowns by a bond. The rest consisted of short-term loans. The rails used weighed twelve kilograms per meter.

In the first three years of its existence after it was opened to traffic, the company was able to award a six percent dividend for 1874 to 1876. After that, the debt predominated and there was no more dividend. In the following years, instead of paying dividends, loans were paid off.

In 1878 there were three two-axle passenger cars and 131 two-axle freight cars. Three steam locomotives were procured to transport trains:

Steam locomotives

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
1	DEGERFORS	Tank locomotive	C 2 t	Kristinehamns Mekaniska Verkstad , Kristinehamn	4 1872	1907 to Gulsmedshyttan Gullblanka 1, retired in 1956
2	DALKARLSBERGET	Tank locomotive	C 2 t	Kristinehamns Mekaniska Verkstad, Kristinehamn	5 1872	1907 to Gulsmedshyttan Gullblanka 2, retired in 1956
3	STRIBERGET	Tank locomotive	C 2 t	Kristinehamns Mekaniska Verkstad, Kristinehamn	7 1873	Shut down in 1953, retired in 1956

From 1887, the Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag took over the management of the Striberg – Grängen line, the Striberg-Grängen järnvägsaktiebolag and their only steam locomotive.

Bredsjö – Degerfors Järnväg

1893 applied for Nora-Karlskoga Järnvägsaktiebolag , the railway line Striberg-Degerfors the Vikern-Möckelns järnvägsaktiebolag , the railway Striberg-Grängen the järnvägsaktiebolag Striberg-Grängen and the railway Bredsjö-Grängen the Bredsjö-Grängens trafikaktiebolag into a single 97-kilometer railway line to merge. In November 1893, the king approved the merger. On April 20, 1894, the 97 km long narrow-gauge Bredsjö – Degerfors Järnväg (BDJ) was formed.

Dalkarlsbergs järnväg

The owners of the two parallel routes led a ruinous competition against each other. The result was that both railways were placed under common management. On August 12, 1905, the various administrations were merged into the new Nora Bergslags järnvägsaktiebolag (NBJ), which then began with renovation and route adjustment.

It was part of the plan to partially abandon the Bredsjö-Degerfors järnväg route and partially convert it to standard gauge. That was to be done with the four-kilometer stretch from Dalkarlsberg to Vikersvik; the name of the route should be retained. The reason for the conversion was that there were important iron ore mines near Dalkarlsberg that were off the road. These should remain connected to the rail network with a good railway connection.

For the Nora-Karlskoga Järnväg it was desirable to have a complete route network with the same gauge. The mining company Dalkarlsberg had to pay for the handling of goods in Vikersvik. The mining company and the railway company negotiated a conversion to standard gauge. These negotiations stalled. After the mining company did not want to contribute anything to the conversion, the narrow-gauge line was retained. Another reason was the poor prospect of selling the vehicles from Bredsjö-Degerfors järnväg with the rare 802 mm gauge. It was therefore economically advantageous to leave the existing narrow gauge on the Dalkarlsberg – Vikersvik section. To reduce reloading costs in Vikersvik, the mining company built a large loading facility with a ramp. Presumably the costs for this construction project were so high that it would have been better to pay a contribution for the route renovation.

In 1907 the Striberg – Bredsjö section of the subsequent Striberg – Grängens Järnväg was converted to standard gauge. The Striberg – Lerdalen and Degerfors – Dalkarlsberg sections were closed at the same time. Dalkarlsbergs Järnväg was now 3.9 kilometers long. The remaining, about 16 kilometers long section of the Dalkarlsberg – Vikersvik – Rödberg (–Lerdalen) was used by NBJ as an industrial siding and only for individual ore transports. Around 1930 this route was shortened to Röbergs gruva.

In 1908 Dalkarlsbergs Järnväg owned the following rail vehicles: three steam locomotives, one passenger car, one covered and 55 gondolas . The vehicles kept the signature BDJ.

The existing locomotives were:

Steam locomotives

number	Surname	design type	Wheel alignment	Manufacturer	Fabr.-No./ year of construction	Special
5		Tank locomotive	1 C t	Nydqvist och Holm , Trollhättan	387 1894	Shut down in 1953, retired in 1955
6th		Tank locomotive	1 C t	Helsingborgs Mek. Verkstad , Helsingborg	16 1899	1907 to Woxna-Lobonäs Järnväg (WLJ), No. WLJ 1; 1934 at Hällefors – Fredriksbergs Järnväg (HFJ), no. 9, retired in 1957
7th		Tank locomotive	1 C t	Helsingborgs Mek. Verkstad, Helsingborg	7 1900	1907 to Woxna – Lobonäs Järnväg (WLJ), No. WLJ 2; 1934 at Hällefors – Fredriksbergs Järnväg (HFJ), No. 10, retired in 1959

From 1914 onwards, only reduced public transport was carried out on the remaining route. From August 28, 1932 passenger trains only ran on Saturdays, in 1940 passenger traffic on the Vikersvik – Dalskarlsberg section was discontinued. In 1953 the freight traffic ended and in 1954 the line was dismantled.

literature

• Erik Sundström, Hans Eriksson: Smalspår och sjöfart i Bergslagen - 802-banorna . Stenvalls förlag, Göteborg 2004, ISBN 91-7266-160-7 .

Web links

• Overview map. Retrieved December 4, 2013 (Swedish). 
• Gerhard Köhler: Nora - the cradle of the Swedish railways. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on December 12, 2013 ; accessed on February 12, 2016 . 
• Om Järnvägar i Örebro County. Wikerns – Möckelns järnväg (WMJ). Retrieved December 4, 2013 (Swedish). 
• Bergslag canals. (PDF) (map). 2009, accessed March 7, 2014 (Swedish). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Laxå – Svartå – Degerfors – Strömtorp – Kristinehamn. Bandel 388. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved December 2, 2013 (Swedish). 
2. ↑ Karlskoga Härad Aren 1867-72. Immetorp. Retrieved December 4, 2013 (Swedish). 
3. ↑ Bofors – Valåsen. Bandel 275: 2. In: banvakt.se. Retrieved December 8, 2013 (Swedish). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} from pospichal.net locomotive statistics. Retrieved April 14, 2013 . 
5. ↑ Sveriges officiela statistics, Allmän Svensk Jernvägsstatistik 1893. (PDF) Retrieved on April 11, 2013 (Swedish).