J. D. Starck 0-4-0T No. Unknown
Zbýšov, Czech Republic 		Location: Muzeum prumyslových železnic
Status: Operational
Posted: Dec 8, 2023 @ 08:12:49 by Achim
The factory locomotive 12311 of the type "Delda" was delivered in 1913 to the mining and industrial works, formerly J. D. Starck in Dolní Rychnov in the Sokolov region, where it was used to transport the excavated overburden in the Luitpold brown coal mine. In 1944 the locomotive was loaned to the Sokolow Chemical Works and then worked in the Silvestr quarry under the number 50/1. There was also an accident in which the locomotive was overturned by an explosion of acetylene, which was released after hard metal was dumped in a landfill. After the war, the locomotive could not be operated for several years until, in 1950, the Sokolov lignite mines and briquettes carried out repairs in order to hand it over to the pioneer camp in the Svatoš rocks near Karlovy Vary. A narrow-gauge "pioneer" railway in the shape of an oval was built there, on which the locomotive probably ran with several wagons until the early 1970s. In 1975 it was no longer in operation and was set up as a locomotive monument or climbing frame for children. In August 2005, together with other exhibits, it traveled to the MPŽ new headquarters in Zbýšov. As part of the completion of the facilities on the Zbýšov Railway, repairs began in 2014. During the production of the new boiler, the main frame and the entire chassis were renewed by the company s own workshops. In 2017, a new boiler arrived from Kolín and the locomotive could be assembled. This assembly ended in the summer of 2017 and after test drives the locomotive entered museum use. 49.164864° 16.352604°