A wagon for NEJ

The wagon frame under construction. [Click image for a larger view.] Photo © Olov Kalderén   The wagon frame upside down during test mounting. [Click image for a larger view.] Photo © Olov Kalderén   The wagon upside down during final mounting. The frame is painted with wood tar. [Click image for a larger view.] Photo © Olov Kalderén   The wagon freshly delivered to NEJ. [Click image for a larger view.] Photo © Olov Kalderén

NEJ needed a wagon. Therefore, one such has been manufactured in the railways workshop. (At different places, actually, but who cares?) The project has been going on for several years, and was finally completed in the spring and summer of 2012. The prototype for the wagon is one of the open "Top Wagons" with 15 inch gauge that Sir Arthur Heywood designed for the Duke of Westminster's railway at Eaton Hall in Cheshire, England, in 1895. NEJs wagon is somewhat simplified and adapted to the available wheels, bearings and materials. The wagon is 1.6 meters long and 0.8 meters wide and has a wheelbase of 0.8 meters. The axles and bearings are from a wagon with 600 mm gauge. The wheels are 300 mm in diameter and axels have been shortened to fit the new gauge. The wagons framework consists of wooden beams that are 63 mm wide and 150 mm high. The wagon frame and platform where impregnated in mid-July with genuine wood tar with a dash of linseed oil. The colour is also called "Roslags Mahogany" and has the advantage over pure tar to dry without remaining sticky. This work was performed at MBJs workshop in Berga, to avoid that the saturated smell of hot tar was disturbing to NEJs neighbors. Thereafter, the frame was assembled by means of two through 16 mm iron rod threaded at the ends. Two round irons joining the buffer beams are the only thing that holds the wagon frame together. A pair of simple hooks where also installed and these comes from a fire wood trolley with 600 mm gauge used in a brickyard. The wagon finally came to NEJ in late July / August. Still missing a plank to the platform, and some paint on the ironwork, but otherwise the wagon was ready to use. Test run has been made on the track and it was found that it rolled easily. A load test will be performed when the missing plank in the platform installed, but how the wagon behaves in tight curve radii will remain a mystery - NEJ has no curve... NEJs technical department (me) can now devote themselves to the track. The ongoing track replacement took a break for the benefit of wagon construction, but now the wagon needs a longer track to roll on.