The rebuilding of the Luršimonš class N 0-6-0Ts into class C2A 2-6-0s was not the end of the story. When Belčamin saw himself compelled to scrap his unsuccessful C4 4-6-0s, he suspected that their boilers, although poor steamers, might be adequate for engines of lesser power. To try out this idea, a C4 boiler and larger cylinders were fitted to one of the rebuilt locomotives, with a four-wheeled bogie at the front to carry the greater weight. It turned out that the C2B, as it became, made it worth while to use the almost new boilers of the C4s, rather than just scrap them. A total of seven engines were rebuilt in all and remained in service until 1918.

Of course, by the time the construction of the C2B had got under way, Belčamin's famed C5 4-6-0s arrived on the scene and the temptation to apply that class's new boiler and cylinders to the C2 was very strong. Belčamin went so far as to draw up a general arrangement and call it the C2C, as seen below, but the superiority of the C5 made the point quite moot and no C2Cs were built.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2009