- Condition: unused CM´s
- Year: 2015-04-17
At the beginning of the 1930s, the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) ordered new high-performance locomotives from the Českomoravska- Kolben-Daněk company (ČKD), which should have provided transportation via semi-fast trains and express trains on mountain railways. ČKD created a new design No. 464 in 1933 with a two-cylinder superheated steam express tank engine and 2'D2'axle arrangement which was inspired by the successful 456.0 series by designer Vojtěch Kryšpín. The maximum speed of the twin-cylinder superheated steam locomotive peaked at 90 kph. First models did not have smoke deflectors; these were installed later. Thanks to the smoke deflectors, the locomotive gained its specific look and nickname “Ušata” (“Blinker”). “Blinkers” started to operate in Slovakia from the depots in Vrútky and Zvolen no sooner than 1938. One locomotive from the series also dragged a funeral train of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomaš Garrigue Masaryk, from Prague to Lany. The manufacturing facilities of ČKD Praha and Škoda Plzeň produced 76 steam locomotives in total. Due to their reliability and ease of use, the locomotives remained in operation until the end of steam locomotive operation in 1981.
The 464.001 steam locomotive was taken over for the ČSD trial operation from ČKD Praha and assigned to the “Praha – Masarykovo nadraží” depot on November 2, 1933. The locomotive ended its service in the “Česka Lípa” depot in 1977. Thanks to the good operational condition and planned opening of the open-air railway museum in Česka Třebova, the locomotive was saved from being scrapped. Pursuant to the Donation Act from November 11, 1992, the locomotive was moved from the Považské Museum in Žilina to the Museum- Documentary Centre Bratislava of the Slovak Railway (MDC) as the only piece from the 464.0 series. From 1995 to 2007, a general overhaul and maintenance of the steam locomotive was conducted in order to get it to its operational state.
As a technical monument of the Slovak Republic and an exhibit in deposit of the MDC in Bratislava, the 464.001 “Blinker” locomotive is currently entrusted in the care of the residents' association Steam Engine Club in Prievidza (Prievidzský parostrojný spolok, o. z.). On its nostalgic railway journeys, the locomotive has carried several thousand passengers over six years. Only two locomotives of the 464 series have been preserved, the first model 464.001 and the last model 464.102 (maintained by the Czech Railways in the Lužna u Rakovníka Museum). Owing to expiration of the operational validity of the locomotive's firebox in September 2013, the 464.001 “Blinker” steam locomotive has been undergoing demanding repairs(required by the law) again.
On December 24, 1954, representatives of the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) took over the steam locomotive 498.104 from its manufacturing facility, the fourth engine from a series of fifteen. The Albatros locomotives, often referred to as the “Type 1” locomotives, are one of the heaviest, biggest and fastest steam locomotives manufactured for the Czechoslovak State Railways. They represent the top products of the Czechoslovak steam locomotive construction school.
Thanks to the paintwork based on a draft of the academic painter Vilém Kreibich, the Albatros locomotives, with plum-blue locomotive coating, tender without colour lines, red wheels, reddish brown running gear and a white cab roof became the uncrowned kings of railways.
The Albatros locomotives surpassed all expectations in the operation. They were able to drag trains weighing up to 1,000 tons at almost 100 kph, and served as reliable machines in the express train service on the Praha – Žilina – Košice line.
The Albatros locomotives had to yield to the developing rail electrification of the 1960s. All fifteen Albatros engines were thus concentrated in Bratislava in 1960. The golden era of Albatros locomotives in Bratislava lasted until 1970. In 1982, Albatros 498.104 was towed to “Bratislava – východ” depot, and became a part of a museum collection in 1985. In 1990, the locomotive was entrusted in the care of founding members of the contemporary “ALBATROS Association”. On March 15, 1994, after 42 months of hard work, the locomotive was officially warmed up. Today, the 498.104 Albatros locomotive in Bratislava is the only operational locomotive of its type in the world.