The MÁV class 424 is a famous class of Hungarian

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s. The class appears in numerous nostalgic remembrances, in literature, in the movies and as models. The 424 class is a double-chimneyed, superheated machine. Its nicknames were "Buffalo" and "Nurmi" (after

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the " Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the 1920s. Nurmi set 22 official worl ...

, a famous Finnish runner well known in Hungary). Locomotives of the same design operated in Yugoslavia as JŽ class 11. Fifteen were supplied to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

as war aid during the Korean War; these kept their MÁV running numbers (424.006 through 424.020) in

Korean State Railway The Korean State Railway (), commonly called the State Rail () is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea and has its headquarters at P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun Song. History 1945–195 ...

service.Kokubu, Hayato, 将軍様の鉄道 (Shōgun-sama no Tetsudō), These went to

Záhony Záhony ( uk, Загонь) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, Northern Great Plain, eastern Hungary. It covers an area of and has a population of 4675 people (2005). It is near the Ukrainian border (at Chop and Solomonovo) and wa ...

on the Hungarian–

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

border under their own power, where they were disassembled and shipped via the USSR to China; in China they were reassembled and delivered to North Korea under their own power.

Description

MÁVAG MÁVAG (''Magyar Királyi Államvasutak Gépgyára''; ''Hungarian Royal State Railroads' Machine Factory'') was the largest Hungarian rail vehicle producer. MÁVAG company was the second largest industrial enterprise after the Manfréd Weiss Stee ...

began to manufacture the Class 424 in 1924, with 2′D axle layout (

4-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, usually in a leading truck or bogie, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and no trail ...

Whyte notation Whyte notation is a classification method for steam locomotives, and some internal combustion locomotives and electric locomotives, by wheel arrangement. It was devised by Frederick Methvan Whyte, and came into use in the early twentieth cen ...

). It made its first test run between

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

and

Vác Vác (; german: Waitzen; sk, Vacov; yi, ווייצען) is a town in Pest county in Hungary with approximately 35,000 inhabitants. The archaic spelling of the name is ''Vácz''. Location Vác is located north of Budapest on the eastern bank o ...

on 22 April 1924. The planning was led by Béla Kertész (1882–1970) locomotive constructor. The 424 was a universal main line locomotive. It was used to haul heavy freight trains, stopping trains and express trains. The 424 locomotives are well known abroad as well. When production ended in 1958, 514 machines had been produced, of which 149 were for foreign orders. They remained in service until 1984, when steam engines were withdrawn in Hungary. The 424s were coal burners by design. In the early 1960s some engines were converted to burn oil, but their performance did not increase enough to compete with the

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine ...

equipment of that time, like

NOHAB NOHAB (Nydqvist & Holm AB) was a manufacturing company based in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden. History The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as ''Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad'' as ...

DSB engines and Soviet-made M62s.

Preservation

Operational

Nowadays three working examples survived and used for historical and excursion trains. The surviving engines are 424,009; 424,247 and 424,287.

Plinthed exhibits

A few engines are exhibited on static display. *424,001 was accommodated at the

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

Railway Station, lately moved to Budapest and displayed in front of the Museum of Transportation. *424,124 is exhibited on the main station of

Dombóvár Dombóvár (german: Dombowa; la, Iowia) is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. Twin towns – sister cities Dombóvár is twinned with: * Kernen im Remstal, Germany * Ogulin, Croatia * Vir, Croatia * Höganäs, Sweden Notable people * Ján ...

(in the county of Tolna, found in central Hungary). The vehicle shows the times of the socialist era, with the red star in the front of the water tank. *424,309 is exhibited on the main station of

Nagykanizsa Nagykanizsa (; hr, Velika Kaniža/Velika Kanjiža, or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; german: Großkirchen, Groß-Kanizsa; it, Canissa; sl, Velika Kaniža; tr, Kanije), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in south ...

*MÁV 424,320 is plinthed at

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by other alternative names) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. A city with county rights, it is located on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain, wh ...

station. *MÁV 424,353 is exposed on Tokaj Station, North-Est of Hungary.

References

Sources