The Locomotives of Artur Gorote
Artur Gorote (born 1954) was the first chief mechanical engineer not be on the RSR's staff when the momentous decision of 1959 was taken, deferring any further decision on the replacement of steam power for over twenty years. He was certainly present, however, when that vital decision of 1980 was made, not to dispense with steam but to invest in its ongoing development. The fleet that Gorote inherited on his predecessor Jochann Ketterik's advancement to General Manager (Traffic) was more than adequate for the RSR's needs for the rest of the 20th century. The fulfilment by Gorote of the mandate of 1980, namely the furthering of steam locomotive development, has been described by its supporters as courageous, forward-looking, inspired and patriotic, and by its detractors as self-deluding, blinkered and anachronistic. A large part of Gorote's work was not seen by the public, however, being concerned with continuous improvements in detail design, which have little effect on a locomotive's external appearance, or with projects that never got beyond the drawing board.
There is no denying in the final analysis the benefits to the Ruhnian economy of self-sufficiency in fuel and the resulting rise of tourism in the country, which was helped in no small measure by the interest generated through the continued reign of the steam locomotive in Ruhnia and the introduction of the Nostalgia Expresses from 1994 onwards.
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