Class Q3 2-Cylinder Compound Express Passenger Locomotive
Designed by Marek Luršimonš in 1884

The relatively successful class Q2 4-4-0s solved the RSR's express passenger locomotive problem to some degree but still fell short of expectations. Two-cylinder compound locomotives had already been built for a number of European railways, notably by von Borries in Germany, and Luršimonš was not slow to take up the idea. The engine shown here had a higher boiler pressure than the Q2 and the twin domes were an attempt to get the steam (still saturated in those days) as dry as possible before its admission to the cylinders. Since the class R1 Atlantics were already on the drawing board and actually appeared the following year, the Q3 never got beyond the planning stage. The RSR had to wait until 1906 for its first truly successful compound 4-4-0.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012