Ketterik's last design for the RSR, this five-cylinder triple-expansion 4-8-4, was to mark the culmination of a career spanning over two decades and witnessing the almost complete demise of steam in the rest of the world while raising it to new heights of power and efficiency at home. The new tapered boiler of the 555A, with its Wardale firebox, was retained, as were many features of the running gear. Like the 555As also, these superb locomotives continue to enjoy the well-earned esteem of both footplatemen and managers alike. By the turn of the decade, sixty of these engines had been built by the Akohniçe works and placed in service alongside the earlier 434Ds. Their story would not be complete without mention of the nostalgic ceremony in 1991, when no. 455A.050 was unveiled bearing the name "Maznicek", after the RSR's first CME, who had taken up office at Akohniçe precisely 150 years earlier.

Text and graphics © Norman Clubb 2012