Magyar Allamvasutak 4-4-4 Locomotives in Hungary

Class 242 (Locobase 1549)

Data from Wikipedia at []; and A E Durrant The Steam Locomotives of Eastern Europe (Newton Abbot:David & Charles, 1966), pp 25, 40.

Medium-sized and powerful, these were unusual tank engines, wrote Durrant, in that they were fully streamlined. They were procured to meet a need for high-speed train service over relatively light track and to be able work equally efficiently in both directions. A larger firebox and grate burned relatively low-calorie coal that yielded a high ash content and required a rocking grate. The first two had steel fireboxes, but problems with corrosion led to the later two being delivered with copper fireboxes; Locobase cannot say if the first two had their fireboxes replaced. Because the engines covered just 155 miles (250 km) on a typical run, the designers felt able to do away with a separate tender.

The quartet satisfied the requirement handsomely. Trials included runs of up to 160 km/h (99 mph). They ran at 75 mph (120 km/h) on the Budapest-Miskolc line, proving themselves to be stable and smooth-riding.

Later they received a double-stacked Ister multiple-jet blastpipe. Nicknamed the "Coffins" because of their all-encompassing casings, the class remained in service until 1961.