DESTINATION: EUROPE
In Heritage Railway issue 296, we reported exclusively on a steam freight in Lapland, high up in the Swedish Arctic Circle. Two issues later, we looked at that country’s National Railway Museum at Gävle, with its wonderful collection of historic British-built locomotives dating back to 1856.
After being closed for six years, the museum is now in the final stages of renovation and is set to reopen for the summer. There will be no steam specials when it reopens, but on September 28 it plans to offer live steam action.
Sweden is not the first European destination that comes to mind when planning a steam railtour. For a country with a population of 10.5 million, there is a surprising number of heritage railways and steam running on the main line. The majority of preservation sites are in the south and central regions, where most of the population lives. Researching a visit to Sweden it is very easy, as various websites list the heritage lines and give full details of operating days and timings: it is a simple case of fitting in what’s possible, because most run only at weekends.
With time constraints heading north on an overnight train into the Arctic Circle, not all could be fitted inside two weeks. I made the decision to visit the Gävle museum, where special access was granted, along with three very diverse working heritage railways and the museum at Grangersburg, all in the central region, to see how much they differ from their British counterparts.
Several Swedish locomotives have found their way to the UK, especially the B
