Photo: SE XJX · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Sibodieseln

Engine collection in Sibo near Kilafors with a 1908 diesel engine weighing 22 tonnes and producing 200 hp, which is started on special running days in summer.

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About the museum

At the end of the 19th century Skogens Kol AB (Skogens Kol Ltd.) was formed to produce wood charcoal industrially rather than in charcoal kilns. The company built a power station on the Ljusnan at Landafors, and around 1912 a power line was run to Sibo. The charcoal process required an almost uninterrupted electricity supply, because a longer power cut could cause a producer-gas explosion and overheating. Therefore around 1920 a diesel engine was bought as emergency power. It was made in 1908 at AB Diesels Motorer in Sickla, later Atlas Diesel, and had previously been at Djursholms Elektricitetsverk (Djursholm Electricity Works).

When Skogens Kol went bankrupt in 2014, the engine, generator and switchgear were threatened with scrapping. The association Sibodieselns vänner (Friends of the Sibodiesel) was formed, offered a little above the scrap value and rescued the contents of the engine room. The engine weighs 22 tonnes, produces 200 horsepower and is described as probably the world’s oldest working diesel engine.

Since then the association has restored four machines to working order: the Sibodieseln itself, a Z engine from 1919, an Atlas compressor with a two-stroke diesel engine from 1942, and a diesel generator from 1952. The goal is a Hesselman Museum in memory of Jonas Hesselman, and a wood-gas unit from the 1940s is currently being renovated.

Highlights

Sibodieseln from 1908, 22 tonnes and 200 hp
Rengsjödieseln, a Z engine from 1919
Atlas compressor with a four-cylinder two-stroke diesel from 1942
Diesel generator from 1952 that drives a stone crusher
Wood-gas unit from the 1940s under renovation