14 Facts About Nils Ericson

Nils Ericson's younger brother John Ericsson, who emigrated first to England and then the United States, was an engineer.

Nils Ericson was raised to the untitled nobility by king Oscar I of Sweden in 1854, and with this he reverted to a spelling of his surname with only one "s".

John and Nils were born in Langbanshyttan, Varmland, Sweden, and received no formal education, but were taught the rudiments of mechanics from an early age by their father, Olof Ericsson.

Nils Ericson secured permission for his sons to draw in the office of the draughtsmen of the canal company, where they learned to draw maps, and he persuaded Lieutenant Brandenburg of the Navy Mechanical Corps to teach them the art of shading and 'finishing off' mechanical drawings before they were in their teens.

When two engineers sent to England by Count Platen to obtain information about canal construction returned in 1815 and began to instruct a number of cadets of the Swedish Corps of Mechanical Engineers, the Ericsson brothers were among them; Nils Ericson being then twelve years old and John eleven.

In 1823 Nils Ericson joined the Engineering corps of the Swedish Army as a second lieutenant, but in 1830 he transferred to the Navy Mechanical Corps.

Between 1830 and 1850 Nils Ericson planned and directed the construction of the canals at Stallbacka, Saffle, Karlstad and Albrektsund.

Nils Ericson led the construction of the Saimaa Canal in Finland, the reconstruction of the Trollhatte Canal in Trollhattan Municipality and the locks at Slussen in Stockholm.

Nils Ericson's proposal was that the line between Gothenburg and Stockholm should run south of Lake Malaren to avoid competition with shipping.

Nils Ericson proposed that the line between Malmo and Stockholm should go north via Nassjo to meet up with Western Main Line at Falkoping until the Western's eastward construction reached Katrineholm, where a better junction could be built with a southern line heading directly to Nassjo.

Nils Ericson's proposal included the railway between Stockholm and Ange and Main Line Through Upper Norrland which runs between Bracke and Boden.

Nils Ericson resigned in 1862 when all of the Western line opened, and in 1864 the Southern line was opened in its entirety.

When Nils Ericson resigned in 1862 his authority was divided between two agencies until the formation of Kungliga Jarnvagsstyrelsen in 1888.

Nils Ericson died in Stockholm in 1870, aged 68, and lies buried in Stockholm's Northern Cemetery.