The BBÖ 729 was a class of 26

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

4-6-4T locomotives designed to haul fast passenger trains for the

Federal Railway of Austria The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...

(''Bundesbahnen Österreichs'', BBÖ).

History

.After the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, with a smaller Austria, the BBÖ wanted to use tank locomotives for express trains in order to save the fees for turning locomotives on foreign

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for services to border countries. However, the Südbahn 629 series was too weak for these tasks and their fuel and water capacities were too small, so that they had to be supplemented at great expense abroad. To remedy this, the head of the BBÖ construction department, Alexander Lehner, together with the

Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf Lokomotivfabrik Floridsdorf (Floridsdorf locomotive factory) was an Austrian locomotive works founded on 6 September 1869 that achieved a pre-eminent place amongst European locomotive builders thanks to the quality and diversity of its designs. C ...

, designed a 2′C2′ h2t (4-6-4, superheated 2-cylinder, tank) locomotive, designated 729 series. The design used the boiler from Südbahn 109 series (BBÖ 209), while the bogies, wheels, drive and valve gear came from the 629 series. The locomotives had Lentz valve gear and Heinl mixer-preheaters. Six were delivered in 1931 and four more in 1932. In 1936, six copies with Nicholson thermic syphons were reordered, the changed dimensions of which are shown in the table. The BBÖ not only used the locomotives on the originally intended border routes, they also hauled light express trains on the 300 km long western line between

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and

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, such as the

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, the Arlberg-Orient Express and the Ostend-Vienna-Express. A third order comprising ten locomotives had already been delivered to the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

, which classified the machines as the 78.6. The series survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

without losses and was designated series 78 by the

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...

. Equipped with a

Giesl ejector A Giesl ejector is a suction draught system for steam locomotives that works on the same principle as a Injector, feedwater injector. This ejector (German: , or ) was invented in 1951 by the Austria, Austrian engineer, Dr. Adolph Giesl-Giesling ...

and front-end throttles, they were in use until 1973.

Preserved examples

The 78.606 is owned by the Austrian Railway Museum. After several years as a memorial in Amstetten, it was transferred to the Strasshof Railway Museum in summer 2012. 78.618 was acquired in 1976 by the

Austrian Society for Railway History The Austrian Society for Railway History ( or ÖGEG) is an Austrian society that was formed from a group of railway fans, who got together around 1971 in order to look after working steam locomotives at the ÖBB depot of Linz. History The socie ...

(''Österreichische Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte'', ÖGEG) as its first standard-gauge steam locomotive and, in the years up to 1986, was refurbished to be operational on a voluntary basis by association members. After a new general inspection in 2008, it was ready for operation in the Ampflwang locomotive fleet. Since a serious engine failure in March 2019, it can be viewed there as a partially dismantled exhibit. A renewed commissioning is not foreseeable for the time being. The 78.625 was also purchased as a spare part donor, but this machine is only preserved in fragments.

References

* * * *

External links

Unsere Fahrzeuge at ÖGEG

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbo 297 4-6-4T locomotives 2′C2′ h2t locomotives Floridsdorf locomotives

297 __NOTOC__ Year 297 ( CCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius (or, less frequently, year 1050 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 2 ...

Standard-gauge locomotives of Austria Railway locomotives introduced in 1931 Passenger locomotives