FLMJ-Nytt. Adnalms Förlag (Järnvägar) Edition 1/10 80P

FLMJ-Nytt. Adnalms Förlag (Järnvägar) Edition 1/10 80p

T21 troubles

Winter Activities

New Wagons

And all the usual regulars… FLMJ-Nytt Edition 1/10; January 29th, 2010.

Published by Adnalms Förlag (Järnvägar).

“Siljan” Readers are welcome to copy parts of “FLMJ-Nytt” 38 Brookside Park provided that such copies are not used to harm the welfare Farnborough of Adnalms Järnvägar or any of its associations. All views GU14 9AZ expressed in this publication are those of the contributors England and do not necessarily reflect the official views of Adnalms

+44 (0)1252-377647 Järnvägar or any of its subsidiaries or associations.

[email protected] Contents: www.adnalm.org.uk 03 … Editorial 04 … New loco — T21 from Heljan 06 … Extra December Trains EDITOR: 08 … Snow Chaos Adrian Allum. 09 … Magazine Review 10 … New Hobby-Trade wagons Front Cover: 12 … DVD Review T21 64 easing onto the 13 … Website Questions turntable at Småtorp, 14 … News in Brief Patrick Grace’s new Including Stock Reviews, Rumours, and the usual. layout. Read our report about this loco in this Next couple of Editions: edition; we’re not very pleased with Heljan, yet Edition Press-stop Published again, and a second loco 2-10 April 9th April 19th has been ruled out! 3-10 June 18th June 28th Produced with Microsoft Publisher on Windows XP. [C:\Data Files\Publisher\1-FN] Annual Subscription costs £4 (2010), post-free to UK addresses. Elsewhere at cost. To advertise in “FLMJ-Nytt,” A5 portrait = £4; A6 landscape = £2. We will only consider advertisements that are related to our subject; Swedish railways, prototype and model. All information published in good faith; no liability accepted. Photos by A. Allum, Also available online (as PDF) at www.adnalm.org.uk unless credited. E&OE.

2 … FLMJ-Nytt From the Editor…

I despair! I had a week off work recently, and the plan was that on one of the days, I would bring these newsletters up to date. Then the power went off…! At the time of writing this, the Park has had a diesel generator for two weeks for one third of the homes affected by the faulty cabling, and I am hopeful of reaching the end of this edition before it runs out of fuel. Typically, it took the landlord roundly 48 hours to provide any power at all (he took the view that as he was away on holiday, we would have to wait until he came home - I think the Local Authority “read the Riot Act to him” to get him to wake up to his responsibilities), and the damage is something that he will pay for; whether or not he wishes to oblige. The in-house journal, AJ-Nytt has also been affected, and I have now cancelled two consecutive editions, the next will be due in May. Also, of course, work on the railway has been affected by the lack of power. The generator can only produce 10A per outlet which has to be shared between two homes, so I have to turn off the heating to boil the kettle, and so on!

Progress upon the railway has been adversely affected by the bitter winter that the northern hemisphere has endured. When we do manage to get some work done, the lightweight roofing felt that got put down at Lövhöjden is so lightweight, and tears very easily; that we’ve got to start again. I think I can safely say that there is now, no chance of an Open Day in July! So, instead, I am looking at the third weekend in September (both days) for an Open Event. With the ongoing publication problems (oh yes, the HP printer even struggles with single- sided copies, now, not just double-sided; and look at the print quality on the pictures...), the website is probably the safest way to keep up to date. Best, though, is to make sure that we have your contact details so that we can notify you especially when the next event is. The much altered track layout for Lövhöjden has now been more-or-less settled, and once we have started actually putting the track down, then we’ll have some pictures and news for you…!

Adrian Allum.

FLMJ-Nytt … 3 Heljan’s new T21 diesellok

Several years ago, Heljan approached a number of Swedish railway modellers to ask what locomotives they would most like to see as models. From the responses, Heljan proposed a number of new models, including Da, Ma, Mg electric locomotives, plus T21 diesel and F steam locomotives. Since then, Roco has produced the Da-lok, and Jeco/DJH has just released a rather expensive Ma-lok. Heljan did manage to get the steam loco out a short while ago, but the FLMJ was put off it by the price, and that was a good thing to happen. The model is such a lousy performer that one magazine has devoted three editions to an article about how to modify the loco just to get it to work properly, and it starts with identifying the need to change almost all of the wheels! At the beginning of this year, the T21 diesel locomotive appeared. It is roundly £300, which is actually a bit more than the FLMJ would usually pay for a non-steam outline loco, but a T21 is such a useful loco to have, that we decided to “bite the bullet” and buy one. Heljan has produced three versions (well, just three running numbers); two of them have the earlier

4 … FLMJ-Nytt oval number plates, but our sample is a later version with printed number and SJ “meat-stamp” logo. There is also the option of blocking off the window on one of the cab doors, as well as fitting ‘A’ end markers (but these should only be on the earlier version). In a bid to out-do Roco, the T21 comes in a box that is even bigger than the one for Roco’s Da-lok. With so much packaging around the loco, we were disappointed to find a large number of loose items in the box, some of which were actually broken off (because their tabs were still in the locating holes)! When we tried to refit them, we found that the reason these were off is because they were not a good fit in the first place, and considerable modifications have been necessary to the loco to fit them. After many hours of work, the loco was taken to a model railway exhibition where Patrick Grace was exhibiting Småtorp. It was intended for static display with the adjacent stand for the Scandinavian Railways Society, but towards the end of the day, we tested it on the layout (it is actually too modern for this layout). Thankfully, it runs well. It is smooth, quiet, the lights work very well; but we didn’t get access to the NEM coupling pockets to be able to test it for haulage power. The buffer beams are covered with coupling hoses and a working chain-link coupling (which is very odd, as the loco does not have sprung buffers — back to school for the Heljan designers)! Normally, there is no advantage in having sprung buffers, unless of course you are using chain-link couplings. So, the fact that this loco is the “other way around” (compared with the usual trend these days), is a peculiarity that only Heljan can explain. We have subsequently found that the NEM boxes are too far in, and the buffer beams need modifying! According to one review, another three models are due. No thanks! Well, if we find good pulling power with this model, and Heljan produces a non-motorised version in the same later livery (for a sensible price), then we could possibly be tempted. If you do buy two (or more), remember that for authentic working in multiple, you must couple both ‘B’ ends together (shorter bonnets)! _ Left: T21 64 at Småtorp, a most authentic background and setting for this sort of goods loco. Right: T21 64 on the workshop table. The motor drives only two axles, but the other two are driven by the coupling rods (the centre crank is not load-bearing). Some of the handrails are not attached to the loco, they fall off too easily; you have only to look at them! FLMJ-Nytt … 5 Extra December Trains.

As the temperatures plummeted, we reached our December club session with a railway still in working order! So, with favourable weather on the day, we made an almost impromptu decision to operate the railway instead of pulling it up! (This is a decision that we were later to regret; the heavy snow at the beginning of this year pushed back the start date even further, and so a July 2010 event is now unlikely!)

Some of the photos taken from the session were used in the previous edition as that was running late, but here we present some scenes of the general activity upon the railway. Both T44 diesels were in use, as well as the Green Cargo Rc4 1277. The K24 steam loco brought “Abbatåget” out with an excursion towards the end of the day. _

6 … FLMJ-Nytt FLMJ-Nytt … 7 Snow Chaos.

The year has got off to a particularly cold start, with the heaviest snow seen for many years! There was an attempt to run the FLMJ in these conditions, but it was just too deep and too cold (we couldn’t get the ice off the rails)!

The picture above shews one of the tracks though Lövhöjden, which was cleared in an attempt to run trains; whilst Månstorp is shewn to the left. We made a bigger effort at Månstorp, in the hope that we could operate some points, but at –4°C, we were really fighting a losing battle. We were able to clear the track and have a loco follow us around, but by the time it had completed a circuit, more ice had formed where we had cleared it! By the time that these photos were taken, the locos had been taken in and put on the kitchen table to dry out! In fact, strange as it may seem, we didn’t get any snow-photos this winter, at all! _

8 … FLMJ-Nytt Magazine Review.

Modelljärnvägsmagasinet Geographica Antikva Förlag, Åstorpsgatan 3, 660 50 Vålberg, Sweden. Tel: +46 54-54 27 30 Web: mj-magasinet.se A4, 96 pages, Colour, 99:- SEK.

During last year, we happened to mention about a new railway magazine that had appeared for sale in Sweden, “Modelljärnvägsmagasinet.” We hadn’t seen a copy, but the railway press had been quite positive in their comments about it. Well, now we have a copy, and praise indeed, this is a full glossy, professionally produced magazine, on the same professional level as the British “Railway Modeller” magazine! A selection of articles in edition number 2 include model reviews of the NMJ 1960’s coaches (the AB3 in particular), the Hornby-Rivarossi ‘Fb-u’ wagons, a study of modern electric locomotives as deployed in Sweden, reviews of other models such as the Trix T44, a special feature on water towers in Sweden, and a lot more. Of course, the magazine is printed in Swedish, for that is the reader and modeller market that the magazine is aimed at, but like with SJK’s journal, ‘Tåg,’ anyone with a basic knowledge of Swedish should be able to work their way through the articles and enjoy the overall quality of the magazine. We understand that there are to be three editions per annum, and this is probably a very wise decision. Consider the size of the Swedish population and speculate how many would buy a railway modelling magazine that is dedicated (mostly) to the Swedish scene, and you may realise that a more frequent magazine may run out of articles—or drop in quality. Neither would be desirable, and we would indeed like to see this magazine go from strength to strength—and maybe one day, carry an article from the FLMJ (as already invited)! Adrian will be buying these as they are published (and hopes to find a copy of edition #1). _

FLMJ-Nytt … 9 Hobby-Trade ‘Hbis’ and similar wagons.

Many years ago, the FLMJ purchased some UGJ kit wagons of type ‘Hbis.’ As usual, there just wasn’t the time to build them, so they got put away and forgotten about. Recently, Hobby-Trade advertised that they were going to produce models of the ‘Hbis’ wagon, r-t-r, so naturally, we took an interest. These appeared mid-January and arrived at the FLMJ soon after. There are five wagons in the range, but six actual wagon bodies … there are two marked up as SJ ’Hbis’ vans suitable from Epoch IV onwards, one as TGOJ ’Hbins,’ one as Green-Cargo ’Hbillns’ and a pair as SJ “Nordwaggon” ’Hirrs,’ these latter ones only suitable for Epoch V onwards. Close study of the “Nordwaggon” variety reveals that the numbers are only printed on one side, and indeed these are designed to operate as a semi-permanently coupled pair. To mark this, irregular couplings have been fitted at the inner ends on the FLMJ’s pair! The couplings are a major disappointment, however. Last year, we reported on a disappointment with their insulated vans, where the NEM boxes are too far in for close-couplings to be used. With these new wagons, Hobby-Trade has gone to the opposite extreme at one end. If two wagons were to be coupled with the ’brake platforms’ nearest, then fine, the buffers are almost touching. Turn the wagons so that the ’brake platforms’ are away from each other, and you could probably park a ’Smart’ car in between! Sadly, the “Nordwaggon” pair are designed to run this latter way round, and the visual effect is far from pleasing. When we purchased the UGJ wagons, we were warned about assembling them correctly because the NEM boxes were set differently for the two different end styles; a shame that Hobby-Trade didn’t take a leaf out of their book!

The two wagons in the left picture are close-coupled with the brake platforms nearest, and they are correctly, almost buffer to buffer. The two in the right picture are the other way around and the buffers are much farther apart! 10 … FLMJ-Nytt The TGOJ wagon also has an incorrect UIC digit! Apart from the grumbles, these are actually nice wagons, which with a bit of added weight, compare fairly with the bigger brands, and we look forward to running them this summer. NMJ has just released several new wagons (type “G…” vans of various sorts) and when they arrive at the FLMJ, we’ll carry a review. _

-o0o-

So what can be done about these ‘wrong’ couplings?

Where Roco have advertised their conversion kits for non-NEM wagons to have the pockets retrofitted, they have warned novice modellers about the amount of work involved, including the milling that is required. This has rather put us off making any modifications to our wagons. After all, we struggle to find the time to work on the kits, and the railway itself takes up a lot of hobby-time. The prospect of having to reposition a coupling, especially where axles and other artefacts might be in the way, was no happy thought. There was the idea of cutting the box off the ‘stalk’ and repositioning it, but even that would carry risks; the repair might not be ‘clean’ enough to work properly and we would compromise the strength of the coupling.

Now, however, a very simple solution has been suggested, and as some of the incorrectly fitted models pass through annual service, they will be modified. The solution requires part of the box to be filed away (the inner edge if the coupling is in too far; the outer edge if the coupling is not in enough). This would enable the coupling to reach the correct position. To stop it sliding back and forth, fine plastic strip would be glued onto the other end. Obviously, we would have to be very careful to get the thickness correct and for it to be in exactly the correct place, but that aside, this is a plan that looks promising.

We had considered, where the couplings are too far in, taking out the buffers and filing them down, but the Hobby Trade insulated vans, for example, have the buffers glued in, so that is not an option. And Heljan’s T21 has metal buffers, requiring different tools for the same job! We are looking at making these modifications, the simple solution, to these new Hobby Trade Hbis vans and insulated vans, the NMJ coaches, and the Jeco T44 and Heljan T21 diesel locos. _

FLMJ-Nytt … 11 DVD Review.

This DVD opens with the usual selection of short scenes (we won’t list them all), and the redevelopment at Uppsala is one of the big changes taking place right now. JÅÅJ’s T21 is a timely review (in view of the release of the Heljan model) and for modellers not so familiar with the locos, it is perhaps nice to know what they really sound like! Two anniversaries are shewn in this first section, the 100th anniversary of BLJ loco number 5, “Thor,” and the 50th anniversary of the ÖSlJ. Veolia is now running a passenger train between Stockholm and Malmö, using Hector-Rail locos and older coaches from the 1940s, 1960s and a Panoramic View coach! This train is shewn at various places on route, both inside and out. An assortment of Norwegian locomotives, especially new, are shewn next, including the latest from Bombardier and Vossloh. Again, this represents a very changed scene from only a few years ago, and managed to make a blue Swedish Rc3 look old … how time flies! “Stångådalsbanan” is the next theme, and this is the route between Linköping and Kalmar. Various locations along the northern part of the route are shewn, with plenty of Y2 sets in operation, in both original and new liveries. The final feature is the 150th anniversary of the Gävle-Dala Järnväg, with the centre of activities at Falun. An assortment of special trains is shewn from the event. Recently, over a series of evenings all editions of this series were watched; and the changing face of the Swedish railways became apparent! In the mid 1990s Sweden had not long gone ’blue’ and little did people guess, we assume; that newer liveries and more TOCs would come onto the Swedish scene. This DVD is an anniversary one; the GDJ, ÖSlJ, “Thor;” and one that shews the scenes which will, one day, be worthy of anniversary - all representing milestones in the development of the Swedish railways. Those of us who grew up with the older trains might feel distanced from the new; but the younger generation will relate to the railways that they see today! _

12 … FLMJ-Nytt Website Questions.

The website at www.adnalm.org.uk asks for your opinion on a number of subjects, and we have some more to report from. If you would like to look at the poll, it is toward the bottom of the home page, just read the question, select an answer and ‘click!’

In November, we asked: Should we consider Jeco's Bt-loco (in green) to work with our three TGOJ green coaches? • 3 people said, "Yes - a perfect choice." • 1 person said, "Yes - in the absence of anything else." • Nobody said, "No - maybe something else would be better" or "No - a terrible idea!" This is an interesting loco, but also a pricey one. It’s purchase will be largely influenced by the state of the funds when it is released, as well as what other models are competing with it! The Bt-lok is a purely TGOJ model, so we would also need to ensure that the three coaches remain in working order and at the FLMJ. (There are certainly no plans to get rid of them - in fact some 1950s versions would go quite nicely with them!)

In December, we asked: Have a look at our new section on available road models and tell us what you think. • 5 people said, "Very good, very useful information." • 1 person said, "OK, not a bad read." • Nobody said, "Quite good, some useful information" or "Not good, more information would have been helpful" or "Not at all good, quite pointless." The section concentrates on Swedish domestic brands, Saab, Scania and Volvo, but also lists other models that carry Swedish liveries, a Daf lorry with ICA livery, for example. Swedish cars have a poor following in H0 scale, and the section supports (and is supported by) the features on Swedish cars that have appeared in these pages. At some point, the section is going to be enlarged with a feature on authentic Swedish buildings, stations, houses, and so on.

For January, we’re asking: What are the chances that Hornby (aka Rivarossi) will re-release the Lima SJ R3 / WL2 coaches? One could ponder about NMJ extending their 1940s range…! _

FLMJ-Nytt … 13 NEWS IN BRIEF. Contributors: “The Local,” Derek Van Ryne, Bo Gillberg.

SJ News. It will soon be possible to take a Stockholm commuter train directly to Arlanda airport, after the government on November 26th gave the go ahead to Uppsala and Stockholm to cooperate on a commuter rail route connecting the two counties. Currently, the only direct rail link between Arlanda airport and Stockholm is via the privately operated Arlanda Express train, which carries travellers to and from the airport to the city’s central train station. While the airport is also served by the Upptåget, a commuter rail line running north through Uppsala and on to Gävle, passengers wishing to reach Stockholm via commuter rail must currently switch to the Stockholm commuter rail system in Upplands Väsby. But following The decision, Stockholm transit agency SL will be able to extend the Märsta-Älvsjö branch of its commuter rail line north through Arlanda all the way to Uppsala via the municipality of Knivsta. GERMAN RAIL (DB) is celebrating its first contract to operate a regional rail network outside Germany after subsidiary DB Regio Sweden clinched a 10-year concession in the Östergötland province. The deal covers the operation of Östergötatrafiken regional services, which are centred on Linköping and Norrköping. The concession begins in December 2010 and covers the operation of 3.3 million train-km per year, rising to 3.8 million train-km by 2020. It also includes an option for a four year extension. DANISH State Railways (DSB) has been awarded its fourth contract to operate regional services in Sweden. Subsidiary DSB Småland will operate Krösatågen services on five routes around Jönköping and Nässjö for a period of eight years from next December, with annual passenger volume of around 2.1 million passenger-km. AB Transit has awarded a contract to Bombardier for the delivery of 11 three-car Contessa emus valued at approximately €96 million to serve the Swedish Öresund region. The trains will be leased by Swedish operators Länstrafiken Kronoberg, Kalmar Läns Trafik and Hallandstrafiken and will be jointly managed by local transport authorities in Öresund and Trafikstyrelsen in Denmark. The deal includes an option for five additional trains. The trains, which are capable of reaching a maximum speed of 180km/h, include dual signalling and power systems that enables them to operate in both between Sweden and Denmark. The red line on Stockholm’s T-bana was stopped for one hour on Thursday December 10th after a work team’s drilling punctured the tunnel and damaged a train. The work team was drilling at Wollmar Yxkullsgatan, 14 … FLMJ-Nytt on Södermalm, to prepare for the installation of geothermal heating for a nearby hotel, but their drilling punctured the line and crushed the side panel of the driver’s carriage of a train that was waiting on the tracks. The police have commenced a preliminary investigation into whether there may be grounds to lay charges over gross negligence causing a public danger. One of the reforms being introduced during this year in Sweden, is a further break-up of the passenger rail monopoly. The new reform opens up to competing rail operators on the same lines. For example, you might be able to choose if you want company A or company B to take you from Stockholm to Gothenburg. So they’d have to compete with each other, and hopefully offer competing prices.

MJ News. 1960s coaches DF28, R1, R2, Rbo2 and S11 have been added to NMJ’s catalogue, along with a set of two coaches, the R7 and BS-7, both former NSB items as modelled in NSB liveries by NMJ! The less known “Auhagen” range of building kits is now available at MJ-Hobbyexperten. The name is not as big as Faller or Vollmer, but we understand that the quality is comparable - we’ll give them a try, soon! A full report from Nürnberg will be in our next edition, and it looks like being an expensive year! _

Stock Revisions. [SJ] T21 64 Diesel loco delivered January 27th. [SJ] 5578 Epoch V S1RT Conference coach renumbered from S1ST 5548 duplicate. [SJ] 21 74 211 7 479-8 Hbis wagon delivered January 19th. [SJ] 21 74 225 3 698-7 Hbis wagon delivered January 19th. [SJ] 21 74 226 2 774-3 Hbins wagon delivered January 19th, “TGOJ.” [SJ] 21 74 247 2 317-9 Hbillns wagon delivered January 19th, “Green Cargo.” [SJ] 21 74 292 1 246-5 Hirrs double-wagon delivered January 19th, “Nordwaggon.”

Rumours... A new SWEDISH station building is to appear on the market as an H0-scale kit! Presently, we have not details of prototype or manufacturer, but being rumoured as a Resin kit suggests Artitec! _ And Finally… If you find yourself bored to tears, nothing better to do, then try this: http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/index.php - an assortment of Swedish towns as seen by surveillance cameras, some also overlooking railway yards etc (hint: look at Malmö). Some of them are Live, (though the one overlooking part of Åre station has a funny definition of “Live”), many have 24hr histories. _

FLMJ-Nytt … 15 Signal CST 306 at Stockholm.