SJ A
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The A 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 A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
built in 1906–1909 for hauling mainline express trains. The 26 locomotives were built to replace older types that could not cope with the increasingly heavy express trains, but soon became insufficient themselves. They were relegated to less important passenger trains, and five were transferred to then-independent
Ostkustbanan The East Coast Line ( sv, Ostkustbanan) is a long mainline railway in Sweden, linking the cities of Stockholm, Uppsala, Gävle and Sundsvall, as well as the suburbs north of Stockholm. History At the construction of the first Swedish mainli ...
(OKB) in the 1920s, but returned when that company was nationalized in 1933. OKB and SJ had a total of eight locomotives rebuilt, replacing the trailing wheels with an extra pair of driving wheels. The locomotives that had not been rebuilt were scrapped in the late 1930s, except for number 1001 which is preserved at 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 ...
, but the rebuilt ones survived until the early 1970s. OKB also built two locomotives of a related design, but with a smaller driving wheel diameter. These were also taken over by SJ and were in regular use until 1961; one has been preserved. The A class locomotives were the first of SJ with
superheater 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 ar ...
s, and have been described as the first modern steam locomotives in Sweden. Some parts introduced with the A class were to become SJ standard, fitted to several types of locomotives. The tender designed for the A class was also used for the much more numerous B class.


History

The first express train locomotives of SJ were the
2-2-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement both ...
A class of 1863, designed by
Beyer, Peacock & Company Beyer, Peacock and Company was an English railway locomotive manufacturer with a factory in Openshaw, Manchester. Founded by Charles Beyer, Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson, it traded from 1854 until 1966. The company exported locomotives, ...
, and the 2-4-0 C (later Ca) class of 1875, designed by
Borsig Borsig is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * (1867–1897), German entrepreneur * August Borsig (1804–1854), German businessman * Conrad von Borsig (1873–1945), German mechanical engineer * Ernst Borsig Ernst August Pau ...
in Berlin. These locomotives were too small when trains became heavier, particularly after
bogie A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
carriages were introduced by SJ in 1891, and
double heading In railroad terminology, double heading indicates the use of two locomotives at the front of a train, each operated individually by its own crew. The practice of triple-heading involves the use of three locomotives. The practice of multi-headi ...
was often needed. The Ca class was developed into the
4-4-0 4-4-0 is a locomotive type with a classification that uses the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement and represents the arrangement: four leading wheels on two axles (usually in a leading bogie), four po ...
Cb and Cc classes, which also quickly became insufficient. SJ started working on a new fast locomotive that was to be capable of hauling seven carriages with an average weight of in on flat ground and in 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 new type was designed from scratch by SJ and built by Swedish companies; 11 locomotives were built by
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 15 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 ...
between 1906 and 1909. The new type became the A class, as there no longer remained any Beyer, Peacock locomotives with that designation. The use of the first letter of the alphabet was probably symbolical, as was the numbering: the first member of the class became number 1000, despite other contemporary locomotives having numbers in the 800s. Most of the gap was filled in later, but number 999 remains vacant. The A class was given a 4-4-2 or Atlantic wheel arrangement and driving wheels. They differed in many ways from previous types, and have been described as the first modern steam locomotives in Sweden. They were the first
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 of SJ, being equipped with
Schmidt Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a List of craters on ...
type superheaters. The boiler and running boards were given a rather high placement, above the driving wheels. The class had a
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 ...
and inside cylinders. They were delivered with six-wheeled C class tenders, but these were replaced with new A class tenders in 1909–1911. Some parts introduced with the A class were to become SJ standard, fitted to several types of locomotives. At this time, the Swedish railways had a general speed limit of only 90 km/h, but the A class was considerably faster. Number 1000 is said to have reached during trials in 1906, but it was not officially recorded (the official Swedish record for steam locomotives, held by an H3 class locomotive of private company
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 ...
, is a mere ). The performance of the A class met the specifications, but once again the newest type of locomotive soon became insufficient. Direct services to Germany began in 1909, and the new carriages built for this traffic weighted , as opposed to the 30 tonnes calculated when designing the A class. Wheelslip was a common problem. It was also impossible to lower the journey times further using the A class. The
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
B class, introduced in 1909, was also capable of running in 90 km/h on flat ground and 50 km/h on gradients, and was stronger than the A class. Intended for fast freight trains and heavy stopping passenger trains, it was also frequently used in express trains. It was followed in 1914 by the large F class, a
4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...
compound locomotive A compound locomotive is a steam locomotive which is powered by a compound engine, a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. The locomotive was only one application of compounding. Two and three stages were used in shi ...
, designed for hauling trains of and used in express trains on the
Southern Main Line The Southern Main Line ( sv, Södra stambanan) is a long standard gauge electrified railway between Malmö and Katrineholm in Sweden. The trains continue further on to Stockholm Central Station along the Western Main Line and terminate there (a ...
until electrification. The A class was relegated to less important passenger trains until electrification made them unnecessary in that role too. Two of the A class locomotives were used for experiments with
peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
-based fuel between 1926 and 1932, and were once again given C class tenders during this period. Five others were transferred to Ostkustbanan in 1926–1927, and three were rebuilt by SJ to a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement in 1930. Number 1001 was 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 ...
in 1937, and has been on display since 1942 with some parts cut open to show how a steam locomotive works. The remaining 4-4-2 locomotives were scrapped in , most of them in Vislanda.


Rebuilding


OKB A

The railway between Gävle and Härnösand was built by the private company Ostkustbanan (OKB), the first section opening in 1923. The company was troubled financially from its inception, and depended on loans from the state; it was controlled by the Swedish government from 1924. As part of the state aid, five A class and twelve E class locomotives were transferred from SJ to OKB before the start of large-scale traffic in 1927, retaining their old class designations. OKB also found the performance of the A class unsatisfactory, and had them rebuilt at Motala Verkstand in 1929 to a 4-6-0 wheel arrangement. OKB was nationalized in 1933, and the locomotives were returned to SJ where they regained their old numbers but were given the new A3 class designation. Two A2 class locomotives were rebuilt to the A3 class in 1939 and 1940. Most of the locomotives were again given C class tenders for some time, and several were modified for wood-firing during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and equipped with
smoke deflectors Smoke deflectors, sometimes called "blinkers" in the UK because of their strong resemblance to the blinkers used on horses, and "elephant ears" in US railway slang, are vertical plates attached to each side of the smokebox at the front of a ste ...
of the
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
type. They became the A class once again when many locomotive types were given new designations in 1942, and remained on the East Coast Line until electrification, when they were placed in the strategic reserve. The strategic reserve was made up of surplus steam locomotives, preserved in usable condition to replace diesel-powered vehicles if the import of oil was interrupted. In the 1960s, some trial runs were done with locomotives from the strategic reserve, including the A class, and the outcome of these trials was that SJ decided to remove all steam locomotives except the B, E, E2 and E10 classes from the reserve. Number 1008 was the last member of the A class in use when it did a trial run in 1968. All the rebuilt A class locomotives were scrapped between 1969 and 1972.


SJ A2

SJ also wanted to improve the performance of their A class locomotives, and three were rebuilt in 1930, creating the 4-6-0 A2 class. Unlike the OKB locomotives, the A2 class also received new boilers of the standard BGb type, first introduced with the B class. Two of the A2 class locomotives were rebuilt to the A3 class in 1939 and 1940, with boilers of the original A class type, as the BGb type boilers were needed elsewhere. The sole remaining A2 locomotive was used together with the A3 class until scrapped in 1970.


Related development


OKB H

The A class locomotives acquired by OKB were not only unsatisfactory, but also too few, and passenger trains sometimes had to be hauled by the slower E class. In 1928 the railway bought two H class locomotives from Motala Verkstad. They were a compromise between the H3 class, popular with Swedish private railways, and the A class, having the six driving wheels of the H3 class, but many other components that were identical to the A class, including the boiler and leading bogie. The boiler was placed unusually high on the frame, to the extent that the locomotives were too high to be used on some railway lines. After nationalization they became the OKa class of SJ. The first two letters indicated that the type had been inherited from OKB, but this unpractical system was abandoned in 1942. The OKa class then became the A3 class, the previous A3 class having been renamed A. The original tenders of the H class were six-wheeled; they were similar to the SJ L class tender, but after nationalization they were designated first OKa and later A3 like the locomotives they belonged to. Most SJ tenders were given new designations in 1947, and the A3 class tender became the C2 class, together with various other tenders inherited from private railways. The A3 locomotives had standard A class tenders during two periods in the 1940s, but the original tenders were returned to them both times. After nationalization the locomotives initially remained on the East Coast Line, but they were also used between
Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...
and
Ånge Ånge is a locality and the seat of Ånge Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 2,872 inhabitants in 2010. Ånge is a railway junction where the northern main line railway ('' Norra Stambanan'') connects with the central main line ...
. They were later used on a number of lines: the
Bohus Line The Bohus Line ( sv, Bohusbanan) is a long railway line from Gothenburg via Uddevalla and Munkedal to Strömstad. The line is single track and electrified at . Bohus Line has seventeen stations; Strömstad, Skee, Överby, Tanum, Rabbalshede ...
in the early 1940s, in
Bergslagen Bergslagen is a historical, cultural, and linguistic region located north of Lake Mälaren in northern Svealand, Sweden, traditionally known as a mining district. In Bergslagen, the mining and metallurgic industries have been important since th ...
from 1945, between
Nässjö Nässjö () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nässjö Municipality, Jönköping County, Sweden with 16,678 inhabitants in 2010. History For many years, Nässjö was a rural village with agriculture as the dominant occupation. ...
and
Kalmar Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
in the early 1950s, and finally in
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 Värmland () also known a ...
between 1956 and 1961. At some point they were given smoke deflectors of the Witte type. They were eventually placed in the strategic reserve, and one has been preserved by a society in
Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...
, while the other was scrapped in 1975.


A class tender

The A class locomotives were delivered with six-wheeled C class tenders, but new A class tenders were delivered between 1909 and 1911. It was a bogie tender of the Gölsdorf model, derived from the R class tender, which was based on a tender type of the Austrian railways. The tender had an empty weight of , and could carry of coal and of water. It became something of a standard type: all the 96 B class locomotives built for SJ were given A class tenders, and later also some locomotives of the C, E, E2, G6 and L classes.


References


External links

{{Swedish stock Steam locomotives of Sweden A Standard gauge locomotives of Sweden 4-4-2 locomotives