In the course of this very controversial decision, it was also decided to purchase new steam locomotives for the Westbahn, which should be so powerful that they could achieve the same travel times with heavy express trains between Vienna and Salzburg as would have been possible with electric operation.

The different conditions, in particular the tight curve radii and steeper gradients on the Semmering, quickly became noticeable in heavy wear, so that the last journey at the head of an express train took place as early as 1956.

In the expectation of finding a buyer for these locomotives, some of which were only 20 years old, they were initially stored in warm storage in the Vienna area.

[4] In 1985 the Austrian Society for Railway History (Österreichischen Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte, ÖGEG) succeeded in acquiring the locomotive 142.063 from the CFR, which was a license replica of the 214 series machines from 1939.

It was adapted to the Austrian equipment and after restoration and general inspection in 1993 it was put back into operation with the (fictitious) number 12.14.