Christmas Calendar
The first of December and the Christmas calendar of the Jokioinen Museum Railway is open. There is no snow, but the snow plow still wants to go out on the rails in the winter of 2020. Everyone hopes that there will be snow this Christmas for Santa to come!
It is the second day of December. A good moment to remember Santa's Train a couple of years ago. It was running on December 1, 2018, when the sun was nicely shining between the clouds. On the same day the 120th anniversary of the Jokioinen railway was celebrated, as the Jokioinen railway was officially opened to traffic on December 9, 1898.
This year, the Santa's train cannot be driven, but next year we will celebrate the beginning of the Christmas season together again.
December 3. Now is the time to go back in time to the autumn colours train that ran in early October 2002. That day became the first real winter traffic day on the Jokioinen Museum Railway. The night before, it was snowing heavily and autumn instantly turned into winter.
In the picture, the steam train has arrived at Humppila station and the very snowy station platform has passengers. In the background, at the second station in Humppila there is a VR train consisting of blue passenger cars. One can also see the old small Humppila station building of the Jokioinen Museum Railway.
A lot has changed in 18 years. Humppila has a new big station building, the red wood shed has been repaired, VR's trains have turned into green double-decker trains and in the autumn, let alone in the winter, there is no more snow any more...
On the fourth of December, we stay still in Humppila and with a kind of plowing train. In the sprin 2019 the new Humppila station building, which came from Riipa, had already been renovated all winter. Because of the work there was a full load of wood in an open wagon, which had to be taken to Minkiö.
At the end of March, more precisely on 29.3. the snow cover had already faded so much that the work train pulled by Schöma diesel locomotive got from Minkiö to Humppila for the first time. In the picture, the work train "plows" Humppila's second track and the loaded open wagon can be seen under the Humppila gantry crane. The station building has not yet been externally renovated, but the beams under the front door base have been replaced and new panels has been struck into the wall. There is still plenty of snow.
The fifth day of December. Today, the traditional Santa's Train should have been in operation on the Jokioinen Museum Railway. However, no train is running and you can see the reason in the picture of the day. Now one can only reminisce about Santa's Trains of the past years and dream of Santa's Train of 2021.
In 2016, the crowd was heavy on the Minkiö platform when the train arrived at the station. Santa is chatting with the children, the crowd is unloading from the full train, the doors of the Yellow Café are open, inviting passengers to a steaming mulled wine mug and Christmas biscuits. There is light frosty snow on the ground and you can almost feel the bitterness of the frosty day and the smell of birch wood smoke coming from the locomotive smoke stack.
December 6, Independence Day. Today, Finland is steaming with power and diving out of the cloud where the journey has been made in recent months. We will travel with confidence towards the coming year, next year and normal conditions.
In 2017, Finland celebrated its 100th anniversary and Santa's trains were run for the first time with two steam trains. One train was pulled by the 100-year-old Finland 100 jubilee locomotive HKR5, or Sohvi, and the secon train by JR5 Tubize (Orion) locomotive of the Jokioinen railway, shown in this picture.
December 7 and we return once again to Humppila station. This time to February 1973, at a time when freight trains were still running on the Jokioinen railway and Museum Railway operated museum trains on summer weekends, when there was no freight traffic.
The Move21 diesel locomotive "Karkkilalainen" has come from Forssa to Humppila and after a bit of switching work, it is going to pick up a open VR goods wagon to be transported on a transporter wagon from the wagon loading track next to Humppila dairy. It’s fun to compare the image of the day to the image of the third day of December, taken from the same place, but almost 30 years later.
Next to the firewood canopy is a bicycle of a railwayman who has come to work in the morning. The points have been carefully cleared of snow and the bike has its own parking space cleared of snow. On the right is Humppila's old station, which burned down shortly after the picture was taken on April 18, 1973. The firewood canopy is the only buildings of the photo that still exists. Who would have believed that at the time.
The eighth day of December. We will not forget but return once more to the yesterday’s short freight train. The date is sometime in February 1973. The day is bright and sunny. Based on the weather statistics of Jokioinen weather station the date is probably between 23 February and 28 February. The most possibly day is Friday, February 23, 1974, when a photographer from the Helsinki area would have been more easily present.
The day was a cold frosty day (-21°C at night), but the sun was already warming enough that it was no longer -6°C during the day. According to the operating data written on the wall of the Forssa Snow Plow of the Jokioinen railway, the track had been plowed on Wednesday, February 14, 1973. After the snowfall on Tuesday before the day of plowing, there had been 22 cm of snow on the ground.
After Humppila, the train has been photographed in several places, but the attached picture taken from the roof of Minkiö station in the direction of Humppila is excellent. The picture also shows well the short configuration of the train. In addition to the JR11 Guard's wagon, the train only has an empty open wagon on the JR21 transporter wagon. Behind the train you can see the entrance turnout of Minkiö station, but Minkiö's second track has not been plowed.
December the 9th. Lets stay still in the 1970s and winter landscapes. Keeping the track in traffic condition in winter required plowing the track and clearing switches and level crossings of snow and ice. In the 1970s, the Jokioinen railway had two snow plows, one in Humppila and the other in Forssa. All the plow photos seem to have showing the plow of Forssa which is still on the Jokioinen Museum Railway (see the picture of the first day).
All the days of use of the plow are marked with a pencil on the border of the ceiling of this Forssa plow. Every year, the track had to be plowed about ten times. The year 1970 was especially difficult, then the plow was moving on 24 days!
In the picture, the JR3 Move21 diesel locomotive crosses the Loimijoki River with the Forssa box snow plow. On the right is the Jokioinen station and on the left the direction of Humppila and also the turnout from which you can get to the Syrup Factory, the Jokioinen sawmill track and the Ferraria wire and nail factories.
December 10. There are two weeks until Christmas and our journey from Humppila continues. We are now at the old station in Jokioinen next to the current Jokioinen town hall where Asematie road currently runs. The houses behind the locomotive's smokebox will help to locate the exact place where the photo was taken. The day is February 27, 1968 and and the temperautre is almost 4 degrees above freezing point. There is more than half a meter of snow on the ground, exactly 51 cm, according to Jokioinen weather statistics.
There are only a few wagons on the freight train standing at Jokioinen station. Behind the JR4 Tubize steam locomotive there are two long Loviisa open goods wagons, which seem to have a load of rolled plastic pipe and also straight pipes. Behind the open wagons there is apparently a heated boxcar number JR67 and aanother boxcar. Those boxcars are probably reserved for the transport of parcels.
In the 1960s, freight trains were usually hauled by Move21 diesel locomotives, but now the JR4 steam locomotive is pulling the train. At the time it was the only running steam locomotive on the Jokioinen railway. It may have been that diesel locomotives were damaged in a level crossing accident at Highway 2 crossing less than a couple of weeks earlier and this forced the firing up of a steam locomotive.
During the previous week there was about 5 cm of new snow, so it may be that a steam-powered plowing train had been run on the line. There is no exact information on this, as plowing data for 1968 is missing from the Forssa snow plow. It may also be that in 1968 a plow stored in Humppila was used instead of the Forssa plow.
Friday, December 11th. Now we have already reached Forssa on our winter trip. Now we are 10 days back in time from yesterday's picture. In Forssa, the guard's wagon JR11 waited to be repaired after been damaged in a level crossing accident with a truck at the Highway 2 crossing.
What makes the picture interesting is that the broken corner of the carriage opens up a view inside of the brake man's compartment. In the middle you can see the brake lever and behind it the metal grille on the wall, through which the heat of the stove on the side of the cargo compartment entered. There is a bench in the corner below the grille and a shelf in the wall on the other side of the door leading to the parcel compartment.
The collision must have been a frightening experience for the train crew traveling in the wagon.
December 12th. Let's stay in Forssa and see what happens at the station. On the seventh and eighth of December, we followed a short freight train coming from Humppila through the winter. Now that train has already reached Forssa and shunting is done at the station. The transporter wagon and the VR open wagon on top of it has been shunted to track three, and partially loaded JR open and closed wagons have been coupled to that wagon.
In the picture, the locomotive of our train "Karkkilalainen", ie the unnumbered Move21 diesel locomotive has finished shunting and is moving past the station to the locomotive stables. A conductor travels on the rear footboard of the locomotive. In the background you can see the Forssa station building and the JR69 box car next to the locomotive. There is some snow on the ground and the picture exudes the 1970s atmosphere of a cold winter day.
The thirteenth of December and the second Advent Sunday. We will not yet leave Forssa station, but instead a peek in the storage area next to it. There were many warehouses of various shops over there. There you will also find a new and shiny fuel storage. Next to it stands the only tank wagon of the Jokioinen railway. The tank wagon had been originally at the Loviisa-Vesijärvi railway and was owned by Nobel Standard, a large oil company of its time.
There is a large sign on the wall of the fuel storage that reads "No Smoking". at the corner of the warehouse, a little boy is looking at a man who has climbed up onto the tank wagon and is opening the wagon hatch. There is still rough newly leveled ground in front of the warehouse, just as if the construction work had just been completed before the light frosty snow hit the ground. The tank wagon was in use on the Jokioinen railway in 1922-1948, after which a box car JR71 was built on the chassis of the tank wagon. This box car still exists on the Jokioinen Museum Railway.
December 14. Now at the beginning of the week we have left Forssa towards Jokioinen. Along the way we meet a homemade motor trolley, but not a train. The place is a wooded straight from the Forssa racetrack towards Jokioinen. The trolley is probably quite close to the current Fingrid power plant.
The trolley was built on a push cart by young museum railway volunteers. The power source was a motorcycle engine. The trolley was used when there was no train traffic on the railway. The story tells that once a group of volunteers ordered a taxi to a restaurant in Jokioinen and asked the taxi driver to drive to the train station. When the driver turned onto Humppila Road, those in the taxi shouted that it was not Humppila but Jokioinen railway station they wanted to go to. The driver did his work as instructed and reportedly his chin dropped as the volunteers jumped on the motortrolley at the Jokioinen station, started the engine and headed for Forssa.
Most of the trolley parts are still stored at the Jokioinen Museum Railway, but most likely it will never run again.
It is already the 15th of December and we continue our journey from Forssa, pass the Jokioinen station, cross the Loimijoki on the bridge shown on 9th of December and finally reach the Syrup Switch. The day is a bright and frosty day probably in the winter of 1972. The snow is creaking under the photographer’s shoes and the sun is colouring the clouds purple-red and shining so low that the lights on the diesel locomotives are on. Steam clouds rise from the syrup factory.
The brick wall shown on the left is the wall of the Jokioinen syrup factory. In the background you can see the warehouse buildings of Jokioinen manors. The JR3 diesel locomotive (the end of the exhaust pipe reveals the locomotive) has pushed the snow plow up the hill from Ferraria’s industrial tracks. There is fire in the stove of the snow plow, as smoke rises from its chimney. The JR1 diesel locomotive, whose left headlight is off, is in front of the plow, but is not coupled to the plow. Between the locomotive and the snow plow the end of JR's box car can be seen revealing there is a freight train standing on the main track leading to Jokioinen and Forssa.
Today, the Jokioinen Museum Railway ends roughly at the point where the picture was taken. In the future, the goal is to rebuild the demolished Ferrarina industrial track about 500 meters further on the bank of the Loimijoki River next to the former planing plant and warehouse of the Jokioinen sawmill. The end of the track would come between the still standing stone pillars of the former Jokioinen railway river bridge. Plans for the rebuilding of the track have been made and rail material acquired, only final funding is missing.
December 16th. Now we return from the other side of the river and the Jokioinen industrial spur back to Jokioinen station. It is again a cold winter day and there is a lot of snow on the ground. This picture, taken approximately between 1921-23, shows the extension of Jokioinen station made in 1912 with bare log walls. Usually log buildings were allowed to sink for a few years before they were upholstered with boards. However, it is probably more than 8 years since the construction of the extension, and the walls have still not been boarded.
Next to the station's fence are metal-rimmed oil barrels and the closest one has redable texts "LJUS OLJA" and "NOBEL STANDARD". The Nobel-Standard oil company was born in the summer of 1920, so the picture is probably taken earliest in winter 1921. The goods shed visible behind the station has not yet been expanded, so the picture was taken at the latest in the winter of 1923.
Next to the station side wall of the magazine, two empty milk jugs are waiting for their pick-up. The second track boundary sign, which indicates how close to the turnout the carriages can be left, points off the ground in the foreground. And next to the door of the station, there is a mailbox as well as signs or advertisements on the wall of the goods shead behind.
While there is no train or people at the station, all the signs are present that the place is actually full of action and the picture is just taken between the trains.
The seventeenth of December. Let's move from Jokioinen station in the direction of Minkiö station to Jokioinen Minkiö village, which is next to the Kirkkotie stop. Everyone knows that Minkiö station is in Kiipu village, that is not so easy, isn't it.
The picture is taken next to the last houses of Minkiö village towards Humppila and Minkiö station. The forest visible behind the train was before at the time of building the railway a lake called Minkiön Lammi. Later it was dried up as arable land, but it was afforested and nowadays a wetland has started to form on the site again and even extending to small lake in springtime.
The January freight train is coming from Humppila towards Jokioine. Exceptionally the train is pulled by the JR4 Tubize steam locomotive. The locomotive has been needed in the snow plowing train and because of that it has been heated and ready for use. There are only a couple of months left before the railway will be closed for good, but trains are still running.
December 18th. Now we have reached the Minkiö station in the village of Kiipu and left the Jokioinen behind us. Once again it is a cold winter day and at the Kiipuntie level crossing we look at a freight train pulling a box snow plow and judging from the smoke of the locomotive going from Minkiö in the direction of Jokioinen. Looking at the snow on the blades of the snow plow, one can think it has been plowing the track on its way to Humppila. Now the track looks very clean.
The train would appear to have three box cars before a snow plow and perhaps six open cars before them. Just after the locomotive, there is most likely the JR11 guard's wagon and the train is pulled by the JR4 Tubize steam locomotive.
The picture was taken between 1972-74 and what is special is that one can take a completely same picture today, if only it snows. Soon, however, the landscape changes and the old metal transmission line pole from 1939 in the background goes down in history. That transmission line will be replaced by a new larger line located at a slightly different location to the right of the picture.
The nineteenth day of December. Now from the previous picture we go less than a hundred meters Towards Minkiö station on the other side of Kiipuntie and the driveway of then Minkiö station Health Center. It is a clear and sunny winter day again, but there is a feeling of the end in the air, as the subject of this picture is the last freight train of the Jokioinen railway from Humppila to Forssa on March 29, 1974.
There is a lot of snow and Minkiö station is full of enthusiasts with cameras capturing the end of the traffic at Jokioinen railway. There are photographers beside the track and one has even climbed on the roof of the first box car of the stationary train. At that time, no one probably believed that in 47 years there would be a fine workshop building behind the train and Jokioinen Museum Railway will have four running steam locomotives, slightly more diesel locomotives and several dozen passenger and freight cars in use.
One era at Minkiö station ends with the picture, but another era continues. The one that began in the early 1970s in Forssa. Museum railway operations in Finland will turn 50 years next year. In the summer it will be exactly 50 years since the first museum train ran in Finland.
The twentieth of December and fourth Advent Sunday. Four days to Christmas. We will still stay at Minkiö station, which over the years has become the center of operations of the Jokioinen Museum Railway and an active museum depot. Let's go back in time to the Autumn Colours Train in snow described on the third of December and operated less than twenty years ago in October 2002.
In the picture, the train is just crossing the Kiipuntie level crossing on the way from Jokioinen to Minkiö. The train is hauled by the steam locomotive HKR5 "Sohvi", which started museum railway operations in Finland. The locomotive's plow wings are useful when the locomotive pushes over the Kiipuntie level crossing.
At the first departure of this specific fall train, there was a funny incident that the conductor of the train will probably still remember. As the train left Minkiö for Humppila, a branch of snow-covered birch growing at the corner of the station swept the snow from the roof of the conductor carriage to the neck of the conductor standing on the end platform of the carriage. A cold and cheerful start for the day!
The twenty-first of December. We are not yet leaving Minkiö station, but we will still admire the winter landscape of the station. In winter, at the latest after Santa's train has ran and the snow is covereing the ground, the Museum Railway falls into hibernation. Adherence, though, continues inside the workshop hall like in Santa's workshop. Wagons and locomotives are already being repaired and serviced at a brisk pace for the summer.
The big projects this winter are the repair of the steam locomotive HKR5, Sohvi's water tanks, the restoration of the locomotive's log bunker to its original appearance, the repairs and maintenance of the locomotive's machinery and painting of the locomotive. Another big project is the completion of the second replica of the Jokioinen railway passenger car to be built on the original chassis.
But outside, Minkiö station sleeps over the winter and the open goods wagons and railway tracks in the yard are covered in snow. There is still a long time untill spring, but already tomorrow the day will start to lengthen, which means that we are already heading towards spring!
The December 22nd. Two nights for Christmas. Now is the time to admire Humppila's new station building under Christmas lighs. The station, which is the former Riipa railway halt building from Ostrobothnia near Kokkola, was brought to Humppila about exactly two years ago. It marked the beginning of a major renovation of the station, which lasted more than six months, and finally the station was inaugurated in June 2019. At the same time, the renovated Humppila station park was also opened.
In the picture, the station building looks like it has always been in this location. Traditional Christmas candles on windows and a small snow cover create an authentic Christmas atmosphere. The spruce tree behind the photographer’s back is also Christmas-lit, as it has been for many years before. Now you can almost rest and breathe deeply and just let Christmas come.
One night for Christmas and the darkest day of the year is behind! Santa is already ready for his trip tomorrow and has decided to take a train due to the lack of snow. And not just any train is good for Santa, he decided to jump on the authentic Jokioinen Museum Railway steam train.
Santa Claus on the end platform of the guard's van was immortalized in the 2017 Santa Train. This year, Santa's train could not be operated due to the corona epidemic, but with this Christmas calendar, everyone has been able to take a small train and time trip in the winter wonderland of Jokioinen railway.
Christmas Eve and the time of the traditional Museum Railway Association's Christmas card. The Christmas card has been made like before by PTJ Koskinen, a steam locomotive driver on the museum railway.
Santa has decided to make his journey with a genuine Jokioinen railway box snow plow, which has been renovated at Jokioinen Museum Railway in early 2020. The snow plow is pushed by the ex Hyvinkää-Karkkila railway steam locomotive number 5, Sohvi.
In addition to presents, Santa has his loyal elves controlling the blades of the snow plow and, of course, Peter who greets his friend sitting on a tree branch.
Instead of plowing snow, Santa has harnessed his train to plow Corona Viruses out of the way. The steam coming out of the injectors of Sohvi takes care of disinfecting the plowed viruses. So there is no infection risk and all children and everyone else can safely let Santa to come in and to bring Christmas presents!