1880s

Trolleys were used for inspecting the line and for official travel. The local railway officers had larger trolleys, of the type shown here. They were operated by two to four men. On level track, the work was relatively easy, but after a few miles uphill, it surely took a toll on the arms.

There were trolleys in all sorts of designs, suitable for different ranks in the railway hierarchy. Senior railway officers and inspectors could ride steam-powered trolleys. In the early 1900s, the manually operated models were replaced by motorized rail trolleys and track inspection cars.

This trolley was used by the section officer of the SJ's XXI (21st) section, headquartered in Långsele on the Northern Main Line. It was manufactured in the 1880s by A.R. Carlsund at Bränninge Bruk outside Södertälje. It came to the Railway Museum in Stockholm in the 1920s and is now owned by the Kristianstad Railway Museum.

Caption: A previous version of the trolley in motion through a summer landscape.