As the 1900s drew to a close, Belčamin was contemplating the replacement of various old passenger classes dating from as long ago as 1875. These engines had long since been relegated to secondary work and were feeling their age. However, more recent locomotives were not available to replace them. Hence Belčamin's decision to design a smaller engine especially for medium duties. In 1910, this was quite a revolutionary concept. The elegant little 2-6-0 shown above was more or less a tender version of the C10 2-6-2T. For the lines she was meant to run on, however, she would most likely have been a bit on the heavy side, the estimated driving axle load coming out at 18.9 tonnes. Not one to give up easily, Belčamin set about revising the design for higher speed to make the engine more suitable for express passenger work on more important routes. The result is shown below:

The only apparent difference is in the size of the driving wheels. In virtually every other detail, the two designs are identical. Even the boiler was left at the same height on the larger-wheeled engine, giving the impression that Belčamin had this drawing produced in a hurry, just to have something to show the directors. Unfortunately, the civil engineer looked decidedly askance at the single leading axle, most likely because of the indifferent running qualities of the 2-6-2Ts. In the event, the RSR had to wait another five years for a six-coupled express passenger locomotive.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012