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The Danish Steam Roller Club

In the 1960s, as a part of the activities of the Danish Railway-Club in Maribo, a group of four people comprising Jørgen Permin, Svend Jørgensen, Bjarne Jensen and Poul Adamsen, were looking for a steam roller to operate in conjunction with the locomotive activities in the shed there.

At that time, Svend Jørgensen wrote – as vice president of the Danish Railway-Club – to many people, local authorities and also various companies that he thought might still have a steam roller that the group could take over. Several replies were received, including those that indicated that they had scrapped their steam rollers but, fortunately, a few did say that they were still in possession of their old machines.

During 1965 and 1966, the quartet listed the steam rollers that remained in Denmark and also where they were situated. Among others, Svend Jørgensen was in contact with a company named Aug. Jørgensen & Troelsen. They were the joint owners of a Danish-built 10-ton Vølund ‘Senior’ steam roller (No 31 of 1932) which was situated at the Dansk Dammann Asfalt A/S (Road Contractors) in Brande. The firm’s owner said they were interested in selling their roller and asked Svend Jørgensen to contact M Sc August Jørgensen if the group was interested in buying it.

As a result, on 9 September 1965, the group agreed to purchase this Vølund ‘Senior’ roller and with that action, the Danish Steam Roller Club became a reality.

The roller was transported to Taastrup near Copenhagen and found its way into Jørgen Permin’s mother’s garden. The roller was dismantled for restoration but the group soon found out that there was heavy corrosion in the smokebox and they were unable to repair it. The roller was re-assembled, painted in its original red colour and arrangements were made with the Egeskov Veteran Museum for it to be displayed there.

The following year, a 12-ton Aveling & Porter roller (No 14109 of 1931) that was still in operating condition was bought by the club from Århus Amts Vejvæsen (Århus County District Council) for DKK 1200 and, in addition to the roller, a living van came as well. This roller took part in the 800th anniversary celebrations of the City of Copenhagen in 1967 in its working days’ livery of black. Later, around 1970-71, the roller was overhauled and restored to its original colours.

Another roller, or at least part of same, came to the club in 1969 when Odense Kommune (the City of Odense) donated single-cylinder 12-ton Marshall roller No 72251 of 1920 jointly to the Helsingør Jernbaneklub (Elsinore Railway-Club) and the Danish Steam Roller Club. Later on, the Helsingør Club handed over their part to the Danish Steam Roller Club. This roller had been out of commission for several years in the ownership of Odense and has not yet been restored.

Jørgen Permin became chairman of the Steam Roller Club and in 1970 privately purchased 10-ton Marshall compound roller No 76089 of 1923 for DKK 700 from the Viborg Amts Vejvæsen (Viborg County District Council). This machine was in working order and after an amount of sprucing it up, the proud new owner drove her around Taastrup.

At about the same time, the club purchased a 7-ton Vølund ‘Junior’ roller (No 1501 of 1927) for DKK 400. The Vølund ‘Junior’ is a Danish-made ‘Robey tandem look-a-like’ machine. In addition to the roller, both a living and water wagon came as part of the deal. This Vølund ‘Junior’ was the last remaining of the seven similar tandem rollers produced by Vølund A/S. The roller went to Poul Adamsen's garage in Gentofte, a suburb of Copenhagen and, in 1981, it was put back into steaming condition – and it happily still is!

Later, in 1977, the road contracting company Rasmussen & Schiøts presented an 18-ton German-built JA Maffei roller called Odin II to the club as a gift. This roller, No 8828 of 1921, is now in a very poor condition but at least it is saved and awaits restoration when funds permit. The final acquisition of the club, in 1978, was 10-ton Wallis & Steevens ‘Advance’ roller No 8036 of 1933. This was donated to the club by Støtteforeningen Danske Dampvenner.

A collection of rollers and associated equipment of this size obviously took up a lot of space – and in 1975, Jørgen Permin’s mother got understandably tired of having three steam rollers in her garden.

As a result, the club had to find a suitable place elsewhere to keep its treasures. Svend Jørgensen found a barn at Borupgård in Snekkersten that had room for most of the collection.

However, after they’d moved the equipment there, it didn’t remain there for very long for Elsingore Council offered the Damptromleklubben a barn in Espergærde with a 10-year lease. Up until 1976, the club had operated with a very loose organisational structure but with a longer lease on offer, they had to formalise the situation – with a committee and so on. At the same time, Jørgen Permin donated his Marshall roller No 76089 to the club and Helsingør Jernbaneklub also donated their share of Marshall roller No 72251 as well.

The club grew and by 1980 had 150 members. Part of this success was as a result of a rally that was organised in Gilleleje in 1979. A further such event took place at the same location in 1981. That same year and the following year, Marshall roller No 76089 and Aveling & Porter No 14109 both had to be taken out of use because of serious boiler problems. In order to finance repairs for these two machines, the club looked for ways to earn money.

For the sum of DKK 10,000 plus its free use, they restored Marshall portable engine No 50967. At the same time they got involved in the organisation of a swapmeet (autojumble) activity for vintage and classic cars and similar vehicles and this continues to the present day.

For a long time the Damptromleklubben have had excellent links with the Dansk Vejhistorisk Selskab (Danish Road Historic Society) which organisation wanted to open a museum. The museum was to be at Farø and the Damptromleklubben was invited to participate in the creation of the museum. As the 10-year lease ran out on the Espergærde building, the collection was moved to Møn, where Jørgen Permin took the job as caretaker at the museum.

Sadly the Danmarks Vejmuseum went into bankruptcy at the start of 1996 and while the Steam Roller Club were saving their collection, Jørgen Permin, its chairman since 1965, died. The club then moved to Andelslandsbyen Nyvang (Nyvang Open Air Museum), near Holbæk and in the museum’s big storage barn there, they were able to set up a workshop.

Today the Danish Steam Roller Club is in possession of the majority of the remaining steam rollers in Denmark with three rollers in service. These have been pictured in Old Glory in recent times and now consist of the Vølund ‘Junior’ and the restored Marshall which now carries a commemorative plaque to Jørgen Permin. The third roller – the Vølund ‘Senior’ – is a more recent restoration which was carried out by volunteers at the workshop belonging to boilermakers Babcock & Wilcox Vølund in Esbjerg.

The club currently has about a dozen active members and they meet fortnightly throughout the year. During these gatherings they set about maintaining, restoring and, of course, driving the various steam rollers. The club is still located at the open-air museum ‘Andelslandsbyen Nyvang’ just outside Holbæk and they have a website (also in English) at www.damptromleklubben.dk

Photography: Derek Rayner, unless stated