Photo: Lakritsa · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Isnäsin höyrykonemuseo

The museum in the power plant of the former Isnäs sawmill presents the Bolinder steam engine completed in 1918 and the history of the sawmill.

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About the museum

The Isnäsin höyrykonemuseo operates in the area of the former Isnäs sawmill in Pernaja, Loviisa. The sawmill was founded by commercial counsellor Johan Askolin in 1897 and operated until the early 1990s. Sawn timber was also shipped abroad from the Isnäs harbour. The power plant’s steam engine produced electricity for the sawmill, and surplus electricity was sold to the surrounding area. The generator was shut down in the mid-1960s, and the whole area fell quiet when sawmill operations ended.

When the area’s buildings were threatened with demolition and the steam engine was at risk of being sold for scrap, the Isnäs village committee, founded in 1996, decided to save the site. The committee bought the necessary buildings and restored the museum building, including a new roof and chimney. The operation of the steam engine can be shown with a computer-controlled system. Other premises are rented to small entrepreneurs and craftspeople to support the museum project. The Isnäs industrial area is one of the nationally significant built cultural environments.

The museum’s main exhibit is the two-cylinder, double-acting Bolinder steam engine completed in 1918, whose cylinders lie horizontally, as in old locomotives. The factory hall’s original mosaic floor and the roughly 50-metre red-brick chimney belong to the old power plant setting. The museum is maintained by the Isnäs village committee.

Highlights

Bolinder steam engine from 1918
Power plant of the former Isnäs sawmill
Red-brick chimney about 50 metres tall
Original mosaic floor of the factory hall
Nationally significant built cultural environment