Today we’re introducing another piece from the game we’re working on. This is a box cover design for 1836jr. For a long time we have been thinking which train to present, but finally our choice fell on a locomotive that was used by Belgian railways shortly before World War II. During this period, technological progress forced the search for more and more perfect and bolder solutions.
In response to the need to reduce travel times and the fashion for modern machine constructions, French engineers André Huet and Raoul Notesse developed a real miracle of technology – the Type 12 Atlantic locomotive. It was one of the first aerodynamic steam vehicles in the world, designed for high-speed routes and speeds of 140 km/h. The locomotive achieved such speed after 3 minutes!
Six locomotives of this type were purchased in 1939 by the National Railway Company of Belgium. This is one of the companies that you will find in the game. This company uses two abbreviations, one comes from its Dutch name: ‘Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen’ or NMBS, the other is a French abbreviation: ‘Société nationale des chemins de fer belges’ or SNCB. Therefore, the locomotive is described as NMBS / SNCB Type 12.
Only one locomotive with the number 12.004 remains from this series, which is in the railway museum in Schaerbeek (Belgium). This train became the main theme of the comic book by Belgian author François Schuiten, I recommend his graphics, which you can see at this address: http://www.12-ladouce.com/en/the-comic-book.html
It was the Type 12 Atlantic locomotive that became the hero of our cover.
