This section of the archive shows miscellaneous and curious railways related machines and equipment. Our first picture shows Railcare's Railvac RA1, which is essentially a huge vacuum cleaner for cleaning badly contaminated gravel. It sucks dirty gravel stones from the tracks, washes them and spits them back, after which a tamper machine can repack them tightly. Picture in Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo

This is actually one of the famous and beloved 1950s railbuses of the class Y7 of SJ, but now painted as orange and used by Banverket as a mobile office for workers performing track maintenance tasks. In front of the railbus there is a truck which can move also on railroad tracks. Note the VR logo of Finnish state railways VR. VR track has lately been performing a lot of track maintenance and installation work also in Sweden.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A peculiar looking rail tractor for cleaning snow off the tracks and especially for cleaning points.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

The poor old class Y7 railbus no 3831 manufactured by ASJL in 1958, now marked as Banverket class PMV in a very sorry state.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Another class Y7 railbus, but in a much better shape than some of its colleagues. This one was built by ASJL already in 1954.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A catenary wire installation vehicle of Banverket's class LMV made out of a class Y7 railbus built in 1958. From Malmbanan close to the Paktajåkka bridge. Picture 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Another catenary installation vehichle built out of an old class Y7 railbus, but this time in Linköping.
Picture 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

An old railcar once used for track inspection purposes, forgotten and left to rot in the backyard of Banverket in Kiruna. A similar wagon but in much better shape is kept at the railway museum of Norway in Hamar. From there we learned that these were built by Kalmar industries in 1961-62 and there were large numbers of them all over Sweden, but also five in Norway. It had a Volvo B16 car engine.
Photo in Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Another similar rail inspection vehicle like the one shown above, but in much better shape. This one was standing outside a railway museum in Ängelholm in southern Sweden 12.7.2013. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

From the backyard of Banverket in Kiruna. Yes, I can see that it used to be a railcar and that it has been used for installing overhead catenary wires, but...???? OMG !
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

For changing individual sleepers under the track.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Banverket's snow plough / snow blower SNA 0641B. Several class Y7 or now PMT railbuses in the background, some as total wreckages, some still in use.
Photo from Kiruna 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A modern track layer train that can "do it all": change the tracks, lay new ballast, tamp it etc. Parts of the train are owned by the company Volker Rail and parts by Leonhard Weiss, but here they were operating on behalf of Railcare.
Picture close to Torneträsk station 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A rail truck of the Banverket class TRV, used here to install new cables and light fibres by the side of newly laid track.
Picture at Abisko östra station 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

I can only guess what exactly this is, but obviously is has something to do with cleaning the tracks of snow. This is from the depot of the private company TÅGAB (Tågåkeriet i Bergslagen) in Kristinehamn. In the background one of TÅGAB's class Z70 small locomotives.
Picture from Kristinehamn 29.6.2016 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A huge rail grinding machine of the company Speno. On the Malmbanan route the extremely heavy iron ore trains cause a need for constant improvements in rail geometry.
Picture from Gällivare 18.6.2023 by Juha Riihimäki.

Just a view from the Malmbanan railway high up on the Laplandish tundra. This is from close to Abisko.
Picture 14.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.

A massive snow plough made out of an old steam engine tender. Railway museum at Ängelholm 12.7.2013.
Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

SJ long cargo wagon of littera Gbe. Railway museum at Ängelholm 12.7.2013. Photo by Ilkka Siissalo.

Banverket's new rail truck of the class MTR. Picture from Nyköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

Same rail truck as above, but seen from the front. Picture from Nyköping 29.6.2010 by Ilkka Siissalo.

This older rail tractor, also marked as MTR or "motortralla" is a very peculiar looking and very tall creature.
Picture from Alvesta by Ilkka Siissalo 30.6.2010.

This is one of the two coaches of the cable driven funicular between the Skansen amusement park and zoo and the biological museum in Stockholm, the so called Skansen bergbanan.
Picture 11.8.2012 by Ilkka Siissalo.

One year earlier in 2011 the same funicular's coaches were still red.
Picture 25.9.2011 by Ilkka Siissalo.

What happens if a draisine and a bike get married and get kids? Well... this :-)
Picture from Inlandsbanan AB (IBAB) in Sveg, 22.8.2009 by Ilkka Siissalo.