SANDBERG'S STEAM LOCOMOTIVE
In 1912, Finland’s first mechanized logging site was established in Tulppio, Savukoski; there, Hugo Richard Sandberg (1849–1930), the forestry manager for the Kemi Company, commissioned two steam locomotives from America. They were intended to transport saw logs from areas beyond the watershed to the Kemi River for floating.
The locomotive featured two vertical, twin-cylinder steam engines, with power transmitted to the hauling mechanism on either side. The engines generated a combined output of approximately 100 horsepower, and the locomotive had an average speed of 7.5 km/h. It maintained the same speed regardless of whether it was hauling a load or running empty.
Five to nine pairs of sleds could be hitched behind the locomotive. Each sled was loaded with 50 to 80 logs. Including the sleds and their loads, the total weight ranged from 56 to 138 tonnes.
The locomotive’s performance depended largely on the quality of the track. Before winter set in, the track was leveled, and the first snowfall was packed down by hundreds of men. Tracks were then cut into the frozen surface. Water intake points and firewood depots for the steam engines were located at intervals along the route.
The tall locomotive tipped over easily. During the first winter, one of the locomotives overturned twice, and righting it was a major undertaking.
Transporting the locomotives—weighing approximately 16 tonnes each—to Nuortti was a massive feat given the conditions. The first locomotive was shipped to the port of Hanko and then transported by rail to Rovaniemi in January 1913. In Rovaniemi, the locomotive was dismantled into smaller parts. The seven-tonne steam boiler was transported on a specially built sledge pulled by 12 horses.
The steam boiler tipped over twice during transport, yet the logging operation was successfully launched on February 21, 1913. The second locomotive was transported to Nuortti the following winter. The freight costs for the locomotives were substantial.
By the third winter of operations, the locomotives began to suffer from increasing mechanical failures. The long sea voyage and the outbreak of World War I made it difficult to obtain spare parts. Horses were also in short supply due to the war. The logging operation was not continued after the war.