Class 434DD 3-Cylinder
Compound Express Passenger Locomotive
Designed by Artur Gorote
Built by RSR Works,
Bevice-Akohniçe,
Ruhnia, in 1994
During the 1990s,
with
steam only in operation on the numerous railway preservation schemes
that were flourishing in many parts of the world, the RSR continued to
use
steam power and at the same time remain a smart, efficient business,
with
modern, powerful locomotives and state-of-the-art permanent way and
signalling.
In answer to the nostalgia abroad, the RSR embarked at home on a
publicity
campaign straight out of the 1930s. As they passed through the works
during
1994 and 1995, twenty of the class 434D 4-8-4s were fitted with
streamlined
shrouding, which was copied as faithfully as possible from the class T1
duplexes of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and put to work with new
matching
rolling stock on the principal express routes. Raymond Loewy's design,
its proportions adjusted to suit European dimensions, was combined to
dramatic
effect with the forest green livery of Luršimonš and Belčamin, giving
both travelling and lineside public a taste of the glamour and flair of
the streamline era.
The success of the
nostalgia expresses led to the development of new rolling stock in 2003. These new
coaches and all existing ones received a new style of trim, which was
now matched by the locomotives.