Type K08 coach (1897)

The carriage policy of the RSR regarding branch line and local stock was, to its supporters, thrifty and, to its detractors, stingy. By mounting carriages on eight wheels it was possible to reduce both the tare weight per passenger and the number of wheels and axleboxes to be installed and maintained. To this end, Lenusahr combined compartments from older six-wheeled stock on a longer underframe, retaining as far as possible the upholstery and other interior fittings. Steam heating was added from 1900 onwards. Gas lighting was kept until the early 1930s, being finally banned from all RSR and RK rolling stock as a result of the disastrous 1928 Charfield accident in England. An incidental benefit of the rebuild, an improved ride, was a bonus that one could hardly begrudge the passengers. In the event, these coaches were the mainstay of local services well into the 1950s, their last turn of duty being between Nadskehla and Čdelectu.

Text and image © Norman Clubb 2011