In the summer of 1905, Belčamin visited several countries to study and gain inspiration from foreign railways. His travels took him to France, Germany, Great Britain and the USA. He made the acquaintance of such renowned engineers as Churchward, Ivatt, Drummond, Du Bousquet, Garbe, Hammel and Vauclain. On returning home, he wasted no time in creating and applying a whole new concept of locomotive design. The first fruits of this work were two classes of 4-4-0, one the de Glehn compound seen here and the other an elegant von Borries compound, the class B15. The new engines at once took over all the important express work from the rather mediocre 4-4-0s and 4-6-0s of 1900 and earlier. Within two years, almost all express locomotives from before 1880 had disappeared. The B14s were popular with their crews and the public and remained in service until the mid-1940s.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012