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, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

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 Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

, 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 Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

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 is the operating arm of the Ministry of Railways of North Korea (), commonly called the State Rail () and has its headquarters at Pyongyang, P'yŏngyang. The current Minister of Railways is Chang Jun-song. History 19 ...

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

Záhony Záhony () 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 was part of Ung co ...

on the Hungarian–

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

border under their own power, where they were disassembled and shipped via the USSR to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

; in China they were reassembled and delivered to North Korea under their own power.

Description

MÁVAG MÁVAG (''Magyar Királyi Állami Vas-, Acél- és Gépgyárak''; ''Hungarian Royal State Iron, Steel and Machine Factories'') was the largest Hungarian rail vehicle producer. MÁVAG company was the second largest industrial enterprise after the ...

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 The 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 twenti ...

). It made its first test run between

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Vác Vác (; ; ; ) is a thousand-year old city 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 of the Danube river, below t ...

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.514 examples had been built when production ended in 1958, 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

Two working examples (424.009 and 424.247) were preserved and used for historical and excursion trains.

Plinthed exhibits

A few engines are exhibited on static display. *424.001 was accommodated at the

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

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 (; ) is a town in Tolna County, Hungary. Dombóvár ( German :Dombowa) is a town in Tolna County , the seat of Dombóvár District . It is the third largest settlement in Tolna County , the county seat, after Szekszárd and Paks . Ar ...

(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 (; , or just ''Kaniža/Kanjiža''; ; ; ; ), known colloquially as Kanizsa, is a medium-sized city in Zala County in southwestern Hungary. It is a city with county rights. It lies not far from Lake Balaton at the meeting point of five ...

*MÁV 424.320 is plinthed at

Szolnok Szolnok (; also known by #Name and etymology, 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 ...

station. *MÁV 424.353 is exposed on Tokaj Station, North-Est of Hungary.

References

Sources