The First Internal Combustion Engine Loco at Nystrup Gravel (1/35)

The horses in use at the gravel company was an obvious choise for motive power when the railway was short and the daily output of gravel limited. In a few years the gravel pits closest to Nystrup were emptied and the railway expanded. The horses had to pull the skips far longer now. Horses also had to be fed and tended when not working. To make the transport more efficient Nystrup Gravel bought their first locomotive - a then modern one cylinder oil engine loco from the small Danish engine manufacturer Frederikshavn Jernstøberi (Frederikshavn Iron Foundry). The exact year of purchase isn't know but it is believed to have been between 1908 and 1910.

Not the best of pictures, but there is not too many to choose from. A side view of a Frederikshavn loco of the same type as Nystrup Gravel's. Engine and radiator in the front of the loco. The rest was basically just empty space and transmission. The superstructure was galvanized metal and probably the reason why one is preserved today.

The locomotive enabled Nystrup Gravel to dispense with horses on the line and only a few were kept for shunting duties and for pulling equipment in the pits. The loco behaved rather well and could pull six loaded skips. The speed wasn't exactly impressive but the loco was more than twice as fast as the horses. It meant that more gravel could be transported even if the distance to the pits grew. And the loco didn't needed fuel when not working.

I'm currently preparing sketches and a design for a 1:35 model of this historic Nystrup Gravel loco. Apart from a preserved upper body there isn't much material available. Less than 10 photographs are known of two types of locos from Frederikshavn. But then no one can say my model isn't right, can they?

Some parts for my model of Nystrup Gravel's first loco. BullAnt from Australia (via Canada), Scale Link skip frame from the UK and soon to be-loco driver from MK35 of France. Mixed well with plasticard these ingredients should make one Frederikshavn-loco.



A Frederikshavn loco superstructure in service as shed for oil and gasoline. When the shed fell out of use, the peat company donated the historic relic to the Danish Industrial Railway Society for preservation. Today it is stored indoor at Hedelands Veteranbane. Photo from 1990.

The Frederikshavn-loco had a simple skip frame strengthened with steel profiles and parts from another skip frame. The superstructure seems to resemble a steel sheet shed or the steering house on a small fishing vessel. The engine in Frederikshavn-locos were in the 7- 10 hp. range depending of the type of loco.

Two views of the Frederikshavn loco preserved on Hedelands Veteranbane. While a wonder that the loco relic has survived at all, its condition isn't too good. The frame under the loco isn't the original and only fitted to enable the loco to be shunted around in the shed.