Class
434C 3-Cylinder Compound Express Passenger Locomotive
Designed
by Mikhail Rodnivacek
Rebuilt
in 1961 from Šahlmeti Class 434A
by RSR Works, Bevice-Akohniçe,
Ruhnia
It
is well known that Bela Šahlmeti was forced to resign in 1929. What
became
of the engine that caused the row is less often discussed. Since the
RSR
had already paid for the 434A and Henschel wasn't about to let them
have
their money back, it was left to Tešlov to make the best of a bad job.
The engine ran a number of trials but could not be made reliable or
safe
enough
to please the inspectors, who of course were aware of the fate of the
LMS
high-pressure engine "Fury". The engine first received new cylinders
and
ran for several years with normal boiler pressure. In 1939 it was
involved
in a minor accident and stored. After WW2 the engine spent many
ignominious
years as a stationary boiler at Akohniçe until in 1959 it was
taken
into
the works to be rebuilt as a prototype for a new series of express
passenger
locomotives being planned by Mikhail Rodnivacek. The 434C, which
retained Walschaerts valve gear, duly became
the
basis of Ketterik's class 434D 4-8-4s.
Graphics
and text © Norman Clubb 2015