CD Muzeum, Luzna u Rakovnika, CZ

This is a locomotive I know almost nothing about, other than that it's narrow-gauge and steam, and an 0-4-0T. It doesn't appear to have a number, which is part of the problem. Does anybody know anything more about it?

This locomotive, while also unknown to me, at least carries the number 21. Like the unknown green one, it doesn't appear to be operable.

#T334.0869 is classified as a T334 Class under the old pre-1988 numbering scheme, and as a Class 710 under the modern system. As most Czech diesels are diesel-electrics, the 710 Class is unusual in that it is a diesel-hydraulic. Power is only 300Kw (402 horsepower), which is another factor making these units obsolete. Although I don't know T334.0869's construction date, the 710 Class were built from 1961 to 1973 by CKD, and while old, are still used on CD today, although in smaller and smaller numbers, of course. Originally designed as switchers, and lot of them are now used by private rail construction contractors, and some have been exported to Germany, Hungary, Serbia, and Sweden. Many also were also transferred to ZSSK in Slovakia after 1993. This unit is more or less in the original CSD livery, other than that it doesn't have a red star on the nose.

#720058-7 is one of the many Class 720 diesel locomotives that were built in 1958-1961 by CKD for CSD, the DR (in East Germany), Albanian Railways, and the Iraq Railroad. Today, they're of secondary importance on CD, many of them working for construction contractors, although they were always primarily switchers rather than road switchers, having only 551Kw (739 horsepower). This is in spite of their hood-unit construction, which makes them look beefier.

This is another steamer that I don't know much about, partly because the number, 3624, is probably not accurate. I can't find it on any of the rosters. I do note that this locomotive looks very similar to the 0-6-0T's used by the Plzensky Prazdroj brewery. I don't have a photo handy to confirm anything, but I do note that at least one website identifies this locomotive also as an 0-6-0T (I probably have a side view somewhere, just not handy).

Here's another shot of the number, which I'm pretty sure isn't authentic, at least for CSD. The builder plate appears to have been removed.

Supposedly built out of an old E436 Class electric, this locomotive would have been built sometime in 1927 or 1928 by CKD, in spite of its relatively modern Ceske Drahy markings. Power originally would have been 806Kw (1081 horsepower), although I know know if that's what it puts out now. Originally its top speed would have been 60Km/h, which again for a locomotive this small and this old, which appears to be only a switcher, is rather impressive. I note that this locomotive also lacks a pantograph, in spite of being built originally to run on 1,500 volts DC, which is much more than is typically delivered through a third rail. Any further historical information on this locomotive would be welcome, as I've been able to find what I have only through piecemeal skimming of Czech websites. As with a lot of locomotives at Luzna, I'll have to dig out my books to properly trace the history back, and even then I may be able to use your help.

The Ceske Drahy Muzeum was, until the 1990's, an active depot with a roundhouse, another engine shed, and several other buildings. These buildings are now used for display and maintenance of the collection, and the roundhouse is used for both, with some stalls for display, and some for work. Here we see the turntable, several of the display stalls, and some of the steam locomotive collection. Somewhere back in the stalls, which I have a bad photo of (which isn't on the internet), is Ex-CSD #310.076, which used to be displayed at Ceske Budejovice. I have a photo of it displayed there here: https://www.ipernity.com/doc/23639/1075124 Other locomotives in the roundhouse that I don't have good photos of include Ex-CSD #300.619, pictured here: http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7519 ...#354.7152, pictured here: http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7525 ...#422.098, pictured here: http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7524 ...as well as #434.1100... http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7484 ...which was the first locomotive built by Skoda in Plzen. Also missing from my roundhouse photos are #423.094.. http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7527 ...464.053... http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7531 ...555.0153... http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-6805 ...534.0323... http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7553 ...and 556.0271... http://www.cdmuzeum.cz/muzeum/exponaty/-7555 ...which I really regret not seeing since it was the pinnacle of Czech steam freight power.

#T478.3101 is a CSD T478.3 Class "Brejlevec" or "bespectacled" diesel. I'm not aware of the built date, but locomotives of this class were built by CKD between 1968 and 1977. They were later classified CSD, and then CD, Class 753. They put out 1325kW (1777 horsepower) of power, and can run at up to 100Km/h (62 m.p.h.). In spite of this low maximum speed, some are still used on passenger services, although it stands to reason that the vast majority are used for freight. #T478.3101 is painted in one of the original Communist-era liveries with the red star on the nose.

I'm not aware of the precise history of #44312, but I do note that it's of wood construction, with screw couplers (it looks like) leaf springs and two carbody-mounted axles, but with automatic air brakes. Therefore, it could be quite old, although some mid-19th-century design features survived on CSD into the 1940's, so looks can be deceiving. I do not that at the moment 44312 is being used to store steam locomotive parts.

#477.043 is a CSD Class 477 4-8-4T, making it one of the only 4-8-4's built for use in Europe. That it's a tank makes it even more unusual, in addition to its three cylinders and Kylchap double-blastpipe chimney. However, the 477 "Papousek" (Parrot) Class numbered 60 units in its heyday. The 477's were built by CKD from 1951 (I don't have a final production year, but this one was built in 1954), and remained in CSD service until 1981, being some of the last mainline steam locomotives to operate on CSD. #477.043 had an even longer career, however, becoming an industrial locomotive at a power plant in Malesice, not making it into the museum's collection until 2000. They were primarily suburban or express passenger locomotives, in spite of their odd configuration, and could run at up to 100Km/h, although no faster, maybe because they were tank engines, and maybe because CSD simply didn't have very good track for high speed running. Power was 1595kW (2139 horsepower, although the museum rounds this to 2100). Service weight was 130 tonnes, which was above average both for a Czech tank engine and for a Czech locomotive generally. Today, #477.043 still runs, and can occasionally be seen on excursion trains, although on the day I visited the CD Muzeum it wasn't in steam. It's officially allocated to Louny, but again not everything is what it seems.

#434.2298 was one of 345 434.2 Class 2-8-0's built between 1924 and 1947 by CKD, and by CSD's own shops. #434.2298 is special, though, because it was built out of an older locomotive from Weiner Neustadt that dated to 1914. I don't know the exact date that #434.2298 was rebuilt, however. The museum's own website is confusing in this regard. The 434.2 Class was based on an earlier Austrian design dating back to 1897 (hence the reason, perhaps, for the rebuild), and was quite modern for its day. It's superheater was often noted, although most new mainline locomotives around the world were superheated by 1924. Later builds after 1939 had larger superheaters than earlier ones, but were counted as part of the same class. The most powerful 434.2 Class locomotives of all put out 1400 horsepower (in spite of weighing only 69.5 metric tonnes, with an adhesive weight of 58), and could pull a 600 tonne train up a 10% grade at 30Km/h, a truly extraordinary achievement by the standards of any era. On level track, however, only 60Km/h was possible. Such heavy haulers as these were clearly intended as freight locomotives, but many were used also on passenger trains (as old photos will confirm), and #434.2186 remains in service with CD as an excursion locomotive (although #434.2298 is inoperable, and not even owned by the CD Muzeum, being from the Narodni Technicky Muzeum collection in Prague). Wikipedia claims that the 434.2 Class remained in regular service on CSD until 1983, but this contradicts most of the other sources that I've read, which put the last year of mainline steam on CSD as 1982. Of course, some units may have been kept as backup locomotives until 1983, just as some American railroads kept steam backup locomotives into 1963, in spite of the last regularly scheduled mainline steam trips being ended in 1960.

The locomotive on the left in this picture is former CSD #354.195, and the locomotive on the right is an old industrial locomotive numbered 29 that worked on the KND industrial railway, which served lime quarries in Kladno from 1858 to 1968. 354.195 is a 354.1 Class (by the CSD classification system) 4-6-2T (some sources mistakenly say that this is a 2-6-2, so maybe originally it was, see here: http://www.laenderbahn-forum.de/journal/die_reihe_429_k-k-priv-suedbahn/bilder/429_Micro-Metakit_CSD-354-640x426.jpg ) based on an old Austrian design from 1917, but built in 1925 by CMK, one of the predecessors to CKD. After the creation of Czechoslovakia and CSD, these locomotives remained in production until 1941, being produced by CKD and Skoda. More confusing is that the museum website classifies it as a tender locomotive, which it clearly isn't. Maybe it was at one time, as #354.7152 is, although 354.7152 is also a 4-6-2. Rated power for the 354.1 Class is 830kW (1113 horsepower, although the museum rounds this up to 1150), while the top speed is 80Km/h. Originally, 236 locomotives were in the fleet, and 354.195 is one of the few still running (I'm not aware exactly how many more there are, but 354.7152 is pictured on the museum website in steam). #354.195's regular mainline career spanned into the 1970's. #29 is an 0-6-0T, and was built by Skoda in 1950, being one of an order of 8. Other than this, though, information on the historical placard was sparse, and because it's an industrial locomotive I haven't been able to get too much more information about it.

Here's a second shot of #354.195.

Here's a third shot of #354.195, which may be my favorite.

#324.391 is a little bit harder to research than the other locomotives at the museum, but the museum has a bit of information on their website. It was built in 1908 by StEG (the predecessor to the OBB) at Maschinenfabrik Wien, but ended up on the Buštěhrad Railway, which was nationalised into CSD in the 1920's. Because it had worked for a smaller railway, when it ended up on CSD it was too antiquated and small to be anything but a shunter (switcher), having only 175kW (235 horsepower) and being capable of only 50Km/h. Given how little power it had, it's amazing it could even do 50Km/h with even a light load. In spite of this, it survived into the 1960's in Karlovy Vary, and survived even longer as a stationary boiler, although it is no longer operable. Like some other locomotives at the museum, it actually is the property of the Narodni Technicky Muzeum in Prague.

Here's a second shot of 324.391. This is just the numberplate, but at least the photo is decent.

433.049 is one of 60 2-8-2T's built by CKD in 1948. The power rating on the Class 433's is 600kW (805 horsepower), and the maximum speed is 60Km/h, meaning that if these were mixed traffic locomotives, mostly for branchlines. They survived into 1980, and as the museum website explains "These locomotives last served in the depots in Prostějov and Skalice nad Svitavou. This is also the origin of the nickname “Skaličák”."