The B class of the
Swedish State Railways
The Swedish State Railways ( sv, Statens Järnvägar) or SJ, originally the Royal Railway Board ( sv, Kungl. Järnvägsstyrelsen), was the former government agency responsible for operating the state-owned railways in Sweden.
It was created i ...
(SJ) was a type of
steam locomotive for
mixed traffic, introduced in 1909. 96 locomotives were built for SJ by between 1909 and 1919. The
4-6-0 B class was part of the development of modern
superheated
A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. There are ...
locomotives that had begun with the
A class in 1906. Intended for fast freight trains and heavy stopping passenger trains, they proved to be highly useful in all types of traffic, and remained in use until the end of steam operations in Sweden.
Eleven B class locomotives were sold to private railways during the 1930s, but all but one returned to SJ after the railway companies had been nationalized in the 1940s. One of the private operators, Stockholm–Västerås–Bergslagens Järnväg, had three more locomotives of the same type built, the last one in 1944. Most B class locomotives were eventually rebuilt with fully enclosed cabs, and some were equipped for oil-firing after the Second World War.
When the locomotives became unnecessary in the daily traffic they were placed in the strategic reserve. Some locomotives from the reserve were reactivated during the winter of 1965–1966 due to a temporary shortage of electric locomotives. Most survived into the 1990s, and several have been preserved by the
Swedish Railway Museum
The Swedish Railway Museum, ( sv, Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum), in Gävle, Gästrikland, Sweden is the national museum for Sweden's railway history.
The Swedish Railway Museum is tasked with acquiring, preserving and supplying knowledge about Swedis ...
and preservation societies in Sweden, while sales to heritage railways abroad failed to reach the expected numbers.
Design
The B class mixed-traffic locomotives were part of the development of modern superheated locomotives that had begun with the
A class in 1906 and the
E class in 1907.
The B class had
bar frame
A locomotive frame is the structure that forms the backbone of the railway locomotive, giving it strength and supporting the superstructure elements such as a cab, boiler or bodywork. The vast majority of locomotives have had a frame structure o ...
s, like the A class,
and the leading bogie was based on that of the A class.
Intended for fast freight trains and heavy passenger trains, the locomotives had six driving wheels
and large outside cylinders, giving a 50% larger starting
tractive effort
As used in mechanical engineering, the term tractive force can either refer to the total traction a vehicle exerts on a surface, or the amount of the total traction that is parallel to the direction of motion.
In railway engineering, the term t ...
than for the A class.
They were capable of doing on flat ground and on long 1 in 100
gradients
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the grad ...
.
The B class shared some characteristics with another
4-6-0 mixed-traffic locomotive, the
Prussian P 8
The Prussian Class P 8 of the Prussian state railways (DRG Class 38.10-40 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn) was a 4-6-0 steam locomotive built from 1906 to 1923 by the Berliner Maschinenbau (previously Schwartzkopff) and twelve other German factories. Th ...
class,
and several sources state that they were based on the P 8,
but another author describes them as "Swedish throughout".
A new type of boiler was designed for the B class; it was also used for the Gb class, and became known as the BGb type.
Some other kinds of locomotives were later rebuilt with this type of boiler, creating the A2,
Ga2,
Ga4
and Mc
classes. The boiler was given a high position.
History
96 locomotives were built for SJ by
Motala Verkstad
AB Motala Verkstad is one of the oldest engineering companies in Sweden. The company was founded in 1822 during the construction of Göta Canal. Motala Verkstad has also built about 400 ships, 800 bridges (e.g. Västerbron, Skeppsholmsbron, Be ...
,
NOHAB
NOHAB (Nydqvist & Holm AB) was a manufacturing company based in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.
History
The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as ''Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad'' as ...
and
Vagn och Maskinfabriken Falun Vagn () is an Old Norse masculine forename, meaning 'vehicle; wagon, wain'.
It was the name of a famous 10th-century Jomsviking, Vagn Åkesson.
The Old Norse was revived in modern Scandinavia, the first modern bearer of the name on record being ...
between 1909 and 1919;
three more were built later for a private railway company.
A very successful design,
the B class turned out to be highly useful for all types of traffic.
They were frequently used in heavy express trains, in addition to the intended passenger and freight train services.
Nevertheless, mainline electrification meant that the need for steam locomotives declined in the 1930s,
making it possible to sell some B class locomotives to private railways,
while some others were placed in reserve.
This changed with
rising international tensions: the B class locomotives were deemed to be "valuable in wartime conditions", and as such included in a 1938 refurbishment program.
The locomotives that had been in reserve were quickly returned to service.
At least four locomotives were leased to the
Norwegian State Railways
Vygruppen, branded as Vy, is a government-owned railway company which operates most passenger train services and many bus services in Norway. The company is owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Transport. Its sub-brands include Vy Buss coach s ...
during the
German occupation of Norway
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...
.
Some modifications were made on the B class locomotives. Most were eventually given fully enclosed cabs, but a few were sold before being rebuilt.
All locomotives built for SJ were delivered with
A class tenders, but some were later given six-wheeled tenders
of the C, C2 and L types and a type inherited from private Helsingborg–Hässleholms Järnväg.
The shorter six-wheeled tenders made it possible to turn the locomotives on smaller
turntables
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
.
Some B class locomotives were equipped for oil-firing after the Second World War.
The fireboxes were not optimal for this purpose, having been designed for coal-firing,
but the results were mostly satisfactory.
Today, preserved oil-fired locomotives are popular for use in summer
railtour
A railtour is a special train which is run in order to allow people to experience rail travel which is not normally available using timetabled passenger services. The 'unusual' aspect may be the route of the train, the destination, the occasion, ...
s, as they are less likely than coal-fired locomotives to cause wildfires.
The class remained in service with SJ until the end of steam.
The need for steam locomotives declined again in the post-war era, but a large number of surplus locomotives were preserved in the strategic reserve, kept in usable condition to replace diesel-powered vehicles if the import of oil was interrupted or electric vehicles if the power supply was destroyed.
The use of the reserve locomotives was mostly limited to a few trial runs, but harsh weather in the winter of 1965–1966 meant that an unusually large number of electric locomotives were out of service, and B, E and E2 class locomotives in the reserve were reactivated to haul trains on the electrified lines
from Alvesta to Kalmar and Karlskrona.
The B class, together with the E, E2 and
E10 classes, remained in the strategic reserve after most other types had been scrapped in the 1970s.
Most of the locomotives were placed in sealed plastic bags with
dehumidifier
A dehumidifier is an air conditioning device which reduces and maintains the level of humidity in the air. This is done usually for health or thermal comfort reasons, or to eliminate musty odor and to prevent the growth of mildew by extracting w ...
s to reduce the need of maintenance.
A large number of B class locomotives were preserved in that manner until all steam locomotives were removed from the strategic reserve in 1990.
Private operators
![Swedish 4-6-0 Class B No 101A Wansford Platform 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Swedish_4-6-0_Class_B_No_101A_Wansford_Platform_3.JPG)
Six B class locomotives were sold to
Bergslagernas Järnvägar
Bergslagernas Järnvägar was the largest private railroad company of Sweden with a main line from Gothenburg to Falun, in all 478 km. Bergslagernas Järnvägar (BJ) was founded in the 1870s to form a transportation system from Bergslage ...
(BJ)
in 1935–1937,
and four to Stockholm–Västerås–Bergslagens Järnväg (SWB) in 1936–1937.
Three locomotives were soon transferred from BJ to close cooperator
Södra Dalarnes Järnväg (SDJ),
but it is unclear if they were ever formally registered with that company.
All these locomotives returned to SJ when the railways were nationalized in the 1940s,
but the former SWB locomotives remained on the network of that company until electrification.
The type was known as the B3 class at BJ
and as the A class (A1 from 1943) at SWB.
The cost to purchase one locomotive in used condition was 85,000
Swedish crown
The Swedish Crown ( pl, Korona Szwedzka), also known as the "Purchased Crown" (''Zakupiona Korona''), was a part of the Polish Crown Jewels.
History
The crown was made for King Sigismund II Augustus. After Sigismund's death, it was pawned to Gi ...
s; a similar amount was then needed to refurbish the locomotives before they could be used.
Another B class locomotive was sold to Helsingborg–Hässleholms Järnväg (HHJ) in 1936, but was not intended to be used.
Having been overhauled by HHJ, it was traded to BJ the year after for a H3 class locomotive.
BJ sold it in 1947 to
Stockholm–Nynäs Järnväg (SNJ),
where it was given number 12, later changed to 2.
SNJ had it modified for oil firing, as SJ demanded this to allow the steam locomotives of SNJ on the electrified tracks into
Stockholm Central Station
Stockholm Central Station ( sv, Stockholms centralstation) is a railway station in Stockholm, Sweden. It is situated in the district of Norrmalm at Vasagatan/Central Plan. The station opened on 18 July 1871 and it had over 200,000 visitors da ...
.
The locomotive was scrapped in 1960
without having been reintegrated into the SJ fleet.
The B3 class differed from other locomotives of BJ, as the driver's position never was moved from the left to the right side.
They were in fact hardly modified at all during their time on BJ, meaning that two former BJ locomotives are the only ones preserved in nearly original condition.
SWB did make some modifications on their locomotives: the
sandboxes were moved,
and the
blastpipe The blastpipe is part of the exhaust system of a steam locomotive that discharges exhaust steam from the cylinders into the smokebox beneath the chimney in order to increase the draught through the fire.
History
The primacy of discovery of th ...
s were modified, increasing the production of steam.
SWB bought used C class tenders from SJ to their locomotives, and the original A class tenders were rebuilt to
tank wagon
A tank car ( International Union of Railways (UIC): tank wagon) is a type of railroad car (UIC: railway car) or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.
History
Timeline
The following major events occurred in t ...
s.
Despite the purchase of the A1 class, SWB had too few 4-6-0 locomotives for their passenger trains.
Three new A2 class locomotives were built by NOHAB in 1943–1944, based on the SJ B class.
Some minor improvements were made, including fully enclosed cabs and the use of
roller bearings
In mechanical engineering, a rolling-element bearing, also known as a rolling bearing, is a bearing which carries a load by placing rolling elements (such as balls or rollers) between two concentric, grooved rings called races. The relative m ...
.
They were delivered with the modified sandbox position, but with unmodified blastpipes; the latter were quickly changed.
The tender was of a new design, slightly larger than the C class tender,
known as the B class after nationalization before being grouped with other six-wheeled tender types under the C3 designation.
The former A2 class locomotives, known post nationalization a B class number 1695–1697, were last used in the 1960s in freight trains in the
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland. It is also bordered by Norwa ...
region, where they were described by one driver as "the best steam locomotives ever built".
Preservation
![Hemkes (6041277354)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Hemkes_%286041277354%29.jpg)
The long use of the B class in the strategic reserve meant that a large number of the locomotives survived into the 1990s, and nearly half of them have been preserved.
Many locomotives remained in storage long after they had officially been removed from the strategic reserve, and interested buyers could inspect the locomotives to find the ones that were in the best condition;
38 locomotives were allocated to the
Swedish Railway Museum
The Swedish Railway Museum, ( sv, Sveriges Järnvägsmuseum), in Gävle, Gästrikland, Sweden is the national museum for Sweden's railway history.
The Swedish Railway Museum is tasked with acquiring, preserving and supplying knowledge about Swedis ...
and various
heritage railways and preservation societies,
although a few have been scrapped later.
There were hopes that the remaining locomotives could be sold to foreign heritage railways, but the fall of communism meant that many attractive steam locomotives were available at even lower prices in Eastern Europe.
A few were sold nevertheless: B 1220 and 1289 are at the
Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij
The Zuid-Limburgse Stoomtrein Maatschappij (South Limburg Steam Train Company) or ZLSM is a heritage railway operating from its main station of Simpelveld to Schin op Geul and Kerkrade in the south of the Netherlands. It also runs across the bord ...
(ZLSM) in the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
and SWB A2 101 at
Nene Valley Railway
The Nene Valley Railway (NVR) is a preserved railway in Cambridgeshire, England, running between Peterborough Nene Valley and Yarwell Junction. The line is in length. There are stations at each terminus, and three stops en route: Orton Mere, ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
SJ B 1149, also known as SWB A1 96, was sold to the
Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, which became the
Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad (2009), which sold it in 2010 to the
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad is a freight and heritage railroad based in Bryson City, North Carolina, United States. Since late 1999, the railroad is currently owned and operated by American Heritage Railways, Inc., which also owns and ...
which in turn sold it in 2013 to the
Discovery Park of America
Discovery Park of America is a museum and heritage park located just outside the boundary of Union City, Tennessee. The park sits on of land off of Everett Boulevard, near the proposed Interstate 69. It features exhibits and activities on local ...
in
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
Some locomotives that had been in storage along the
Inland Line
The Inland Line ( sv, Inlandsbanan) is a railway line between Kristinehamn and Gällivare in Sweden. It runs through the central parts of northern Sweden, and was built between 1908 and 1937.
History
There were several reasons for constructin ...
were taken over by Inlandsbanan AB (IBAB), the commercial operator on that line,
and B 1384 has been refurbished for use in tourist trains
together with an E2 class locomotive.
Locomotive List
References
{{Swedish stock
Steam locomotives of Sweden
B
Standard gauge locomotives of Sweden