SB/DV Mori-Arco-Riva am Gardasee 0-6-2 Locomotives in Austria

Class 1 (Locobase 6354)

Data from Sebastian's Homepage [] (visited 17 Nov 2004). See also "Union Pacific Powers One of Zoo's Rarest Treasures" on the Omaha Zoo Foundation's website at [], posted on 13 April 2015, last accessed 3 October 2020. Works numbers were 2359-2361 in 1891 and 2709 in 1892.

Similar to the SKGLB/StLB batch (Locobase 6353) and delivered in the same period, these Mori Arco Riva engines had widely varying careers. Not much is known about the fates of #1 Arco and #4 Pinzolo. #3 Lago di Garda wound up with a Yugoslavian class ID JDZ 183-001.

#2 - Riva - was the most widely traveled. Sent to Poland in 1918 as reparation and put in the XIV class. World War II saw the locomotive first in Soviet hands, then German. The Reich sent it to Hungary, whose state railway MAV gave it a class ID of 395 (#104). Later in World War II, Riva fell into Romanian service with the same ID. In 1968, the CFR sold Riva to Plasser & Theurer of Vienna, where, having completed the circle, Riva seemed likely to end its days.

Most implausibly of all, however, Omaha, Nebraska's Henry Doorly Zoo railroad received 395 as a donation (a joint project of P & T and the Union Pacific) in 1974, reconditioned it, converted the long-lived survivor to oil burning and put it into service in 1976. In the 2015 article, Riva's caretakers assessed her strengths and weaknesses: "She has a powerful engine, but was not built for curves. Simmons describes her as 'classy, but stiff' and recalls a time when she derailed in slow motion on her inaugural run and it took six hours to get her back on track. Once again, UP stepped in, helping the zoo make extensive modifications to the engine and the tracks to adapt Riva to her new home."