Historic railway vehicles: M 290.0 (Slovak missile)

Today‘s series about historic railway vehicles shows one of the legendary Slovak train M 290.0 „Slovenská střela“. It was designed primarily for one-day business trips from Bratislava to Prague. Slovenská střela went on the track first in 1936.

The manufacturer of the M 290.0 vehicles engine series was the Tatra Plant in Kopřivnice. The uniqueness of the vehicle lies not only in the design, but also in the electromechanically powered transmission. The author of the ingenious system was Josef Sousedík. That´s why the vehicles´s drive could be switched to a mechanical drive after reaching 82 km / h, which is much more efficient at higher speeds. The train was tested at a speed of 148 km / h, but in normal operation it reached a speed of 130 km / h.

After many years of comedown, a project to save the Slovak missile was launched. It was financed by two sources. The EU gave 80 million crowns from its funds, another 40 million provided the Tatra Trucks, who is also the owner of the train. The whole reconstruction took place in the Workshop  in Hranice na Moravě. Slovenská Střela should return to Kopřivnice in all of its beauty at the beginning of November.