Image: Czech Railways is turning the legendary Albatross in Prague
This is the first order for turning steam locomotive wheels for the South Maintenance Center.
The only serviceable steam locomotive of the 498.1 series undergoes a rejuvenation treatment at the South Czech Railways Maintenance Center in Prague. On Sunday evening, locomotive 498.104, which is taken care of by the Slovak Albatross Club, arrived on a wheel lathe. The last time she was on a lathe was almost 50 years ago.
The modern sub-level lathe works in tandem. It is thus faster than other similar devices. Railway wheelsets turn directly on vehicles without having to disassemble components. In addition, complete units can be added for turning without further interconnection.
“The Albatros is the first steam locomotive we have turned, so the preparations took a relatively large amount of time. Sometimes we get vehicles that are not yet in the normal mode on the tracks, but are currently being tested at VUZ. Other interesting pieces we turned on included tampers. The lathe runs day and day every day. Since using this machine, he has turned a total of 14,976 axles, ”Describes František Kozel, director of the Regional Maintenance Center of the Czech Railways Center.
The fastest steam locomotive
The locomotive was transported on Sunday, the journey itself caused a great stir among the railway fans. The legendary Albatross has not been in the Czech Republic for over two years. The 498.1 series locomotives were manufactured by the Škoda plant in Pilsen for the Czechoslovak State Railways in the years 1954–1955, in connection with the growing scope of railway transport. There were a total of 15 pieces of this series, which in operation complemented the forty express locomotives of the previous series 498.0. The newer 498.1 series holds the Czechoslovak steam speed record of 162 km / h.
The Slovak locomotive 498,104 last visited the lathe in 1972.Czech Railways has a state-of-the-art lathe and a pleasant workplace. Small, ordinary wheels will turn you anywhere, but there is a problem with the huge ones, so we ordered a service from Czech Railways., “Says the chairman of the Albatros club Jaroslav Vereš. The driver of the Albatros Club and ZSSK Milan Bauer adds: “When you turn wheels, you have them as new and you know it on the road. The dynamics are much better, the locomotive sits better on the rails. ”On December 4, the locomotive should show up again during the St. Nicholas Rides around Bratislava. Albatros leaves for Slovakia on Wednesday at 9 am, the timetable is on Albatros club’s Facebook profile.
25 comments