Slovak Arrow returns

The synonym of First Republic’s luxury and progress will dawdle along the Slovak tracks again. It will come to present itself at the 500 Slovak kilometres race, of which it is a prominent part.

Motor wagon of the characteristical red color and unmistakable design has become a legend of railway transport of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only because of its appearance, but also due to its driving performance and original technical solution. Two railcars of advanced technical concept were built for fast passenger transport between Bratislava and Prague. One of them was preserved to these days.

The transportation line stood out for the provided comfort and speed. Thanks to the advanced design of the wagons and a well-assembled timetable with only one stop, the driving time was reduced by more than an hour compared to the fastest connection run by a steam locomotive.

The Slovak Arrow ran on its route until 1946, when it began to transport participants of the Nuremberg trials. Both wagons have been decommissioned since 1952. To date, one of them has been preserved, underwent a complete reconstruction in 2021 and has become a national cultural monument. Its home station is the Tatra Truck Museum Kopřivnice.

It is from there that it will arrive in Tatranská Lomnica on Wednesday, 29 June. Scheduled arrival is at 3:45 p.m. The Slovak Arrow returns after many years, so it will be solemnly welcomed and introducted to the public. It will be exhibited at the local railway station until the second day, when at 10:20 it will leave Tatranská Lomnica for Bratislava. It will become a Charity Train for the charity foundation Drop of Hope during this ride. At 5:30 p.m. it will arrive at the Bratislava Transport Museum, where the Slovak Arrow will be exhibited for the general public.

The historical locomotive from 1936 will be presented again on the rails during a charity ride on the route from Tatranská Lomnica, through Považie to Bratislava. You can thus see the Slovak Arrow at the railway stations Poprad-Tatry, Štrba, Liptovský Mikuláš, Ružomberok, Kraľovany, Vrútky, Žilina, Bytča, Púchov, Trenčianska Teplá, Trenčín, Nové Mesto nad Váhom, Piešťany, Leopoldov, Trnava and Pezinok.

Visitors to the Transport Museum get a good glom at the train on Friday, July 1 and Saturday July 2. It will be exhibited both days between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. On Friday, the Slovak Missile will also be presented to invited guests, even during a special ride. The legend of railway transport will leave Bratislava on July 3 at 10 a.m.

Motor wagons of the M 290.0 series produced in Kopřivnické Závody Tatra, a.s. in 1936 for the then Czechoslovak State Railway in the number of two pieces. On the wagons, not only the body design and the interior were unique, but above all the electromechanical power transmission from Jozef Sousedík. Thanks to its patented system, the vehicle starts on electric power and automatically switches to purely mechanical power when it reaches a speed of 82 km/h. It is more effective at higher speeds. Both railcars drove at speeds of up to 130 km/h in normal traffic and reached speeds of 148 km/h in track tests.

The wagons were put into regular operation by ČSD on 13 July 1936. They were assigned to the depot and home station Bratislava – the main station and they drove on the motor expressway “Slovenská strela” on the route Bratislava – Brno – Prague. At a time when steam trains were running on average 68 km/h, they reached an average cruising speed of 92 km/h, while the trains were mandatory for the first time in the history of ČSD. The ride lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes, including a three-minute break in Brno.