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Motorový vůz M290 (Slovenská strela)

Motor cars of the M 290.0 series (Tatra 68 production type designation according to the engines used; in 2020, the 870 series according to UIC), called as the train connection on which they used to go as "Slovak Strela", were produced in 1936 for Czechoslovakia State Railways in Tatra Kopřivnice in a total of two pieces. They represent technical progress and efforts for fast rail transport in interwar Czechoslovakia, whose conditions are exceptional in their design, both in terms of travel comfort.

Like other motor cars and units from other European countries, many elements from the design of cars took over and were characterized by a number of original technical solutions. Fiat Litttorina's 80.0 engine cars were the stimulus and partial inspiration for the formation of the M 290.0 series. Like now, high -speed train transport developed on a larger scale in richer countries and achieved significant successes.

The manager of the M 290.0 car development was Hans Ledwinka, the main designer of well -known Tatra cars, from which the aerodynamic shape of the car cabinet was derived according to the design of Paul Jaraay - this was the first strictly aerodynamically shaped vehicles at the CSD. The world's unique is the electromechanical power transmission, the patented invention of the Vsetín electrical engineering Josef Object. This type of transmission along with powerful engines and low weight allowed very dynamic driving. The cars were designed for a maximum speed of 130 km/h and in several sections where the condition allowed it, they normally rode at this speed. The second car produced during the test drive reached 148 km/h during the test drive on June 3, 1936.

The development and production of cars began as early as 1934. On 13 July 1936, the Slovak Strela Bratislava - Brno - Prague and back and back and back. Thanks to its driving characteristics, only one stop, advancing the reconstruction of the track supreme, the highest priority and gradually optimized timetable conquered the route in the last year of pre -war operation in 4 hours 18 minutes (back to Bratislava a minute more) including a three -minute stop in Brno. This corresponds to a travel speed of 92 km/h; Strela has been the fastest ČSD train connection since the introduction. This driving time, respectively. The speed, on the route, remained unsurpassed for the following decades - especially because the railway under communism did not focus on speed and comfort, but to large transport performance in freight transport. Similar driving times were reached only after 2000 (but with multiple stops, more capacity trains and in a regular two -hour clock) and in recent years have stabilized at around 4 hours.

The train connection Slovak Strela was introduced to allow the public visits to the capital city of Prague. It was compulsorily seat reservation for the first time in the history of the CSD and during the first year of operation, there were situations where a separate car with 72 seats was not enough for the demand. Passengers offered a comfortable interior of the 2nd travel class (classes were then 3), including the beverages and simple warm dishes to the site. The price of the tickets corresponded to the focus of the connection, especially on the more wealthy citizens - politicians, higher officials and entrepreneurs.

During World War II, the operation of the connection was terminated after the detachment of Slovakia and both cars remained shut down due to lack of fuel and rarely leaving to maintain technical competence.

After the war, the Slovak Strela M 290.0 was in operation with German motor units, which remained in the CSD as a prey and provided comparably advanced technical solutions, but had greater capacity and level of comfort. The M 290.0 cars were thus released to deploy on other connections, but even less and less interference interfered with regular operations. Since the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, they have only been served as a advance for government rides.

The first car produced was definitely eliminated in 1953 and before 1960 burnt down and scrapped, it served as a source of spare parts for the second car. The second car with which the speed record was reached, the first regular ride from Bratislava to Prague was carried out and which was taken by most government trips to the Nuremberg process after the war, was definitely excluded only in 1960, when it was handed over to the Tatra Technical Museum. In the 1990s, when Tatra was privatized, this car, along with other exhibits in private ownership. In 2000, the car acquired a cultural monument status and in 2010 it was the first train in the Czech Republic declared a national cultural monument.

After decades of deterioration, its total reconstruction took place in 2018–2021 to restore the form from the 1930s and return it back to the tracks in the operable condition, including the maintenance system for transmission of power and the original maximum speed. Hundreds of preserved technical drawings and high -quality original photographic documentation of the car production helped restorers. At the same time, a new exhibition pavilion was built at the Kopřivnice Museum, which provides better protection than the original outdoor roofed parking.

The M 290.0 series with its design speed of 130 km/h in the motor car segment and units in the Czech Republic remains the fastest machine of domestic production ever in regular operation. Since 2011, the 861 series took over the first place in Slovakia. When counting foreign manufacturers, the M 290.0 also exceeded units from Ganz, Hungary and the aforementioned German prey trains, which remain the fastest motor vehicles in Czechoslovakia and its successor states.

Manufacturer Tatra a. S.
Production in 1936
Number of pieces produced 2
Sitting places 72
Empty weight of 36,000 kg
Permanent power of 2 × 121 kW
Maximum speed of 130 km/h
Speed ​​record 148 km/h

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