No 3912 – NS 3900 class

This was made as a gift for a steam engine driver who was kind enough to take me along to the sheds and on the footplate for a day. He’s the proud owner of her numberplate, so what better to draw?

As with many Dutch steam engine classes, none of the 3900s have been preserved. Though maybe that’s understandable – at least in terms of keeping them running on heritage railways. For although they look beautiful and refined, and impressive with their smoke deflectors, being the fireman of one of these ladies was no walk in the park. Due to their large boilers, their fires burned with such a yearning for coal that it was near, or actually physically impossible for a fireman to satiate their hunger and keep steam pressure up. Their successors, the 6300 series, having the same boiler and appetite to match, gained the apt nickname of ‘The Executioner’. Only the best firemen and finest coal could coax the top performance out of these impressive engines.

– Fineliner 21 x 29,7 cm