In recent weeks there´s been quite some progress on track 3 in the UGJ roundhouse (The roundhouse is so called because it was used by the Uppsala-Gävle Järnväg (Railway) at the time when it was in regular use).

We’ve been courted by media: Both television and newspapers have reported on the locomotive project and the Steampunk Festival – and more of the same is on the way. On March the 3rd we were visited by a television journalist from the local news who did a story about us as you can see here. On the same occasion we were also interviewed  by a journalist from the region’s newspapers who wrote this article in swedish. The same article with some variations will be published in six of the region’s newspapers in slightly different guises.

While juggling journalists we also got some good work done, and this last weekend things really took off when we were able to open the roundhouse gates for the first time since last fall and let in the long-awaited spring sunshine! It did wonders for the air quality inside the roundhouse where we work in sawdust-laden air and painting fumes – and also raised the mood.

Now one part of the band that will fit around the locomotive’s boiler has been shaped and has come up. It will then be fitted in with the other half, then dismantled again and painted in a golden color to match the rest of the decorations before it is finally mounted. Other parts of the locomotive’s decorations have also got their final coat of paint and has been test hung – as for example, you can see on the cab.

Instead of building a snowplow from scratch as previously planned, which could be difficult to get stable enough, we are now borrowing a so-called Norrlandsplog that we may enhance without damaging it. This makes it both stable and secure, and we are sure to stay well within the security limits. With luck we can get a traffic license which will enable us to use the locomotive out on the line, and not just inside the museum area!

Work on the steampunk locomotive is moving forward; we´re beginning to see some results of our efforts at last.
We have test hung the decoration on the locomotive’s left side, and had to adjust the height and placement to avoid the coupling rods on the wheels that turn out to move sideways more than we were aware of.

Test hanging

We´re also working to fit together and paint the decoration which will sit on the right side of the locomotive. The curved piece which will be attached to the foot board closest to the cab is made of three layers of masonite which were glued together and bent in a bench-like contraption for it to follow the foot board´s shape. The result was a success! What remains is to get everything in place, which will mean cutting and welding metal for the hanging structure.
On Wednesday, March 5 when we have our work night together with the The Friends of the Swedish Railway Museum, we´ll get a visit from the press to the roundhouse where we work: local Swedish Televison channel SVT Gävle-Dala, and  the newspaper Söderhamnskuriren want to report from our  project.

Pizza with the Friends of the Museum