The success of the new 4-4-0s of 1906 and 1907 was due in no small part to their excellent boilers and valve gear. Belčamin wasted little time in applying these features to the new class of tank locomotives he was designing for suburban work. A total of seventy were built, all by the Vienna Locomotive Works, during 1909 and 1910, and were entrusted with the heavier services north of Bevice and south of Kropčahne, the remainder of the work being left at first to the earlier 4-4-2Ts and 0-6-2Ts. The C10s were at first not a great success, the crews, at best a conservative bunch, having to be instructed in the new driving techniques these engines needed. Once that was achieved, however, the C10s were able to make their mark and remained the mainstay of semi-fast passenger work until the coming of the 323Bs in 1925, despite somewhat rough riding when running chimney first, which was put down to insufficient guidance from the leading axle. One of these elegant locomotives is preserved in the Bevice Museum of Science and Technology.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012