At the beginning of the 1930s, the Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) ordered new high-performance locomotives from the Českomoravská- Kolben-Daněk company (ČKD), which should have provided transportation via semi-fast trains and express trains on mountain railways. ČKD created a new design No. 464 in 1933 with a two-cylinder superheated steam express tank engine and 2’D2’axle arrangement which was inspired by the successful 456.0 series by designer Vojtěch Kryšpín. The maximum speed of the twin-cylinder superheated steam locomotive peaked at 90 kph. First models did not have smoke deflectors; these were installed later. Thanks to the smoke deflectors, the locomotive gained its specific look and nickname “Ušatá” (“Blinker”). “Blinkers” started to operate in Slovakia from the depots in Vrútky and Zvolen no sooner than 1938. One locomotive from the series also dragged a funeral train of the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, from Prague to Lány. The manufacturing facilities of ČKD Praha and Škoda Plzeň produced 76 steam locomotives in total. Due to their reliability and ease of use, the locomotives remained in operation until the end of steam locomotive operation in 1981.
The 464.001 steam locomotive was taken over for the ČSD trial operation from ČKD Praha and assigned to the “Praha – Masarykovo nádraží” depot on November 2, 1933. The locomotive ended its service in the “Česká Lípa” depot in 1977. Thanks to the good operational condition and planned opening of the open-air railway museum in Česká Třebová, the locomotive was saved from being scrapped. Pursuant to the Donation Act from November 11, 1992, the locomotive was moved from the Považské Museum in Žilina to the Museum- Documentary Centre Bratislava of the Slovak Railway (MDC) as the only piece from the 464.0 series. From 1995 to 2007, a general overhaul and maintenance of the steam locomotive was conducted in order to get it to its operational state.
As a technical monument of the Slovak Republic and an exhibit in deposit of the MDC in Bratislava, the 464.001 “Blinker” locomotive is currently entrusted in the care of the residents’ association Steam Engine Club in Prievidza (Prievidzský parostrojný spolok, o. z.). On its nostalgic railway journeys, the locomotive has carried several thousand passengers over six years. Only two locomotives of the 464 series have been preserved, the first model 464.001 and the last model 464.102 (maintained by the Czech Railways in the Lužná u Rakovníka Museum). Owing to expiration of the operational validity of the locomotive’s firebox in September 2013, the 464.001 “Blinker” steam locomotive has been undergoing demanding repairs (required by the law) again.

Jana Oswaldová