The

ČSD Czechoslovak State Railways (''Československé státní dráhy'' in Czech language, Czech or ''Československé štátne dráhy'' in Slovak language, Slovak, often abbreviated to ČSD) was the state-owned railway company of Czechoslovakia. T ...

Class T 499.0 ( ČD Class 759 since 1987) is a Czech

diesel electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

originally designed for express passenger use on unelectrified lines. Two locomotives were built by

ČKD ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed i ...

as prototypes, with the locomotive never entering mass production, due to the locomotive's high weight, and progress in electrifying main lines.

History

The locomotives were initially developed due to the requirement in the late 1960s for powerful diesel locomotives to be used on express services. 2 prototypes were built between 1974 and 1975 by

ČKD Praha ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed in ...

, who leased the locomotives to

. The locomotives were initially tested between

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

, working the express train ''Ostravan.'' Although the locomotive could keep to the timings of the

ČSD Class E 499.1 Class E 499.1 electric locomotives were constructed and built by Škoda Works in Plzeň for use in Czechoslovakia by the ČSD. They were also used outside Czechoslovakia in Poland as class EP05 and in the Soviet Union as ЧС3 ( ChS3). In North ...

locomotives, the locomotives suffered from reliability problems. In 1976 the second locomotive was returned to the manufacturer, due to frequent unavailability. In January 1977, both locomotives were moved to

Děčín Děčín (; ) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. It is the seventth largest municipality in the country by area. Děčín is an important traffic junction. Administrative division Děč ...

, and used on freight services between Děčín and Prague. The first locomotive was withdrawn in November 1979, following an engine room fire, with the second following in March 1980 due to an engine fault. The two where then purchased by VÚŽ (''Výzkumný Ústav Železniční''), the Czech Railway Research Institute, and moved to the Velim test circuit. The first locomotive was used as a spare parts source for the second, and was eventually used for crash tests, then scrapped. In 1992, locomotive two was withdrawn after an engine room fire.

Later use

In December 2012, the second locomotive was moved to DPOV's Nymburk works for a return to operation, with adaptations being made to overcome the initial reliability problems, including the fitting of an entirely new electrical control system. This overhaul was completed in late 2014, with locomotive testing beginning in 2015, and moving to its new home at the Velim test circuit in February 2015. Since 2015, the locomotive has been used by VÚŽ, for testing work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CSD Class T 499.0 Diesel–electric locomotives of the Czech Republic Standard-gauge locomotives of Czechoslovakia Standard-gauge locomotives of the Czech Republic ČKD diesel locomotives Bo′Bo′ locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1974

History

Later use

See also

References