** booklet of eight self-adhesive stamps 4x 931 and 4x 932
Date: 7-6-2017
0931 — The steam locomotive “THE SEVEN”
The first locomotive of the 354.7152 series, designated as kkStB 429.1996, left the gate of the first Czech and Moravian Machine Factory in Prague in 1917. The series was designed by the famous Austrian steam engine designer Karl Gölsdorf (1861-1916). In 1909-1917, 380 locomotives in three series were built. The first two series used a combined steam engine while the last series of 197 locomotives had a twin steam engine and piston slides. In 1918, the newly established Czechoslovak Railways acquired 152 locomotives of all three series and designated them as 354.7. During the gradual overhaul started in 1926, a twin steam engine was installed in each of them. This resulted in a 10% output increase to 898 kW, or 1,220 HP. The locomotives were reliably used in passenger transport and were very popular for their good running and boiler properties. During their operational life, locomotives in the 354.7 series nicknamed “The Seven” found their way into many engine depots in Bohemia and Moravia.
0932 — The cog locomotive “THE AUSTRIAN”
Although most locomotives are intended for universal use, some are built for a specific railway, such as the Tanvald-Harrachov Cog Railway in the Jizerské Mountains. As a railway which had to overcome the elevation difference of 235 metres at a short distance, it had a considerable gradient of up to 58 per mille. It was therefore built as a cog track with a two-set Abt rack system. The opening ceremony took place on 30 June 1902. Three special steam cog locomotives of Austrian series 169 were built for this track in the locomotive factory at Florisdorf near Vienna. They were used by the Czechoslovak Railways until the late 1950s and early 1960s as series 404.0. The last locomotive 404.003 is a part of the National Technical Museum's collection. The Czechoslovak Railways had to replace them with new locomotives that were to be specially designed for its two cog railways in Czechia (Tanvald-Harrachov) and Slovakia (Tisovec-Polhronska Polhora) in the late 1950s. Czechoslovak designers refused to develop and build a small series of only four cog locomotives, so foreign currency funds were released by the socialist government to buy them in a capitalist country. The same factory that built the original steam locomotives 60 years before that time was chosen and four modern diesel locomotives with hydrodynamic power transmission, designated as T 426.0, were delivered by the locomotive factory SGP Vienna-Florisdorf in 1961. Due to their origin, they were nicknamed “The Austrians”. Each locomotive has a four-strike water colled twelve-cylinder engine SGP T 12c with the output of 1,100 HP (810 kW).
