We continue to talk about unusual things and next in line are devices whose value can hardly be overestimated – trains!

The history of trains in general is a hymn to speed and reliability, passing through intrigue and a huge amount of money, but we are interested in the 10 fastest trains of our time.

The world of trains looks unusual today, this is due to the fact that since 1979, the classic rail train has been joined by its highly technological brothers, machines from the future - “Maglevs” (from the English magnetic levitation - “magnetic levitation”). Hovering proudly above the magnetic surface and driven by the latest advances in superconductors, they could become the transport of the future. In view of this, for each we will indicate the type of train and under what conditions the record was obtained, because somewhere on board the express there were no passengers, somewhere even drivers.

1. Shinkansen

The world speed record belongs to the Japanese maglev train; on April 21, 2015, at a special section during testing in Yamanashi Prefecture, the train was able to reach a speed of 603 kilometers per hour, with only the driver on board. This is simply an incredible number!

Test video:

Adding to the insane speed is the amazing silence of this super train; the absence of wheels makes the ride comfortable and surprisingly smooth.

Today, the Shinkansen is one of the fastest trains on commercial routes, with a speed of 443 km/h.

2. TGV POS

The first fastest among rail trains, but the second overall, on the planet (as of 2015) is the French TGV POS. The amazing thing is that at the time the speed record was recorded, the train was accelerated to an impressive figure of 574.8 km/h, while journalists and service personnel were on board!

But even taking into account the world record, the speed of the train when moving on commercial routes does not exceed 320 km/h.

3. Shanghai Maglev Train

Next, we have third place given to China with their Shanghai Maglev Train, as the name implies, this train plays in the category of wizards hanging in a powerful magnetic field. This incredible maglev maintains a speed of 431 km/h for 90 seconds (during this time it manages to swallow 10.5 kilometers!), which reaches the maximum speed of this composition, during testing it was able to accelerate to 501 km/h.

4. CRH380A

Another record comes from China, the train with the incredibly euphonious name “CRH380A” took an honorable fourth place. The maximum speed on the route, as the name implies, is 380 km/h, and the maximum recorded result is 486.1 km/h. It is noteworthy that this high-speed train was assembled and launched entirely based on Chinese production facilities. The train carries almost 500 passengers, and boarding is similar to an airplane.

5. TR-09


Location: Germany – maximum speed 450 km/h. Name TR-09.

Number five is from the country of the fastest roads - autobahns, and if in terms of speed on the roads Germany can really be classified as the fastest country, then trains are far from number 1.

In sixth place is a train from South Korea. KTX2, which is what the Korean bullet train is called, was able to accelerate to 352 km/h, but at this moment The maximum speed on commercial routes is limited to 300 km/h.

7. THSR 700T

The next hero, although not the fastest train on the planet, still deserves special applause, the reason for this is the impressive capacity of 989 passengers! considered one of the most spacious and fastest modes of transport.

8. AVETalgo-350

We arrive at the eighth place and stop in Spain, we are on board the AVETalgo-350 (Alta Velocidad Española) nicknamed “Platypus”. The nickname stems from the aerodynamic appearance of the leading carriage (well, you can see for yourself), but no matter how funny our hero looks, his speed of 330 km/h gives him the right to participate in our rating!

9. Eurostar Train

9th place Eurostar Train - France, the train is not so fast 300 km/h (not far from our Sapsan), but the capacity of the train is impressive 900 passengers. By the way, it was on this train that the participants of the famous TV show Top Gear (now deceased, if you love it like me, thumb up!) in season 4, episode 1, they competed with the amazing Aston Martin DB9.

10. Peregrine Falcon

In 10th place, of course, you need to put the Italian “ETR 500” with its good 300 km/h, but I would like to put our quite fast Sapsan. Although the current operational speed of this train is limited to 250 km/h, its modernization (and rather the modernization of its routes) will allow the train to travel at a speed of 350 km/h. At the moment, this is impossible for many reasons, one of them is the vortex effect, which can knock an adult off his feet at a distance of 5 meters from the tracks. Sapsan also sets a funny record - it is the widest high-speed train in the world. Although the train is built on a Siemens platform, due to the wider gauge used in Russia, 1520 mm, versus the European one of 1435 mm, it became possible to increase the width of the car by 300 mm, this makes Sapsan the most “pot-bellied” bullet train.

A steam engine is used as an engine in steam locomotives, and the power thrust of the locomotive depends on its power. Many models of steam-powered railway transport were far ahead of their time. Soviet and foreign designers used two and four-cylinder steam engines and increased the steam pressure in the boiler to achieve maximum power. Let's try to understand all the technical details and present the most powerful locomotives in the world.

Class 4000 "Big Boy". USA

It is natural that one of the largest and fastest steam locomotives stood out among its peers with its power. The classic duplex with the wheel arrangement 8-4-8-4 reached a length of 40.5 m.

The front drive wheelsets made it possible to freely overcome curves at 20 degrees. The powerful “Big Guys” easily reached speeds of 130 km/h and could transport trains weighing 3,500 tons.

They were released in two stages. The first 20 cars went on line in 1941, and in 1944 another 5 “Big Boys” came off the assembly line. They were taken out of service in the early 60s of the twentieth century.

The most powerful steam locomotive in the world was also called "Yellowstone Type Locomotives", and they were used to transport coal on the Missabe and Iron Range Railway.

At the end of the 30s, their power was significantly increased, and the wheel frame was lengthened, making it 2-8-8-4. These giants could haul 115-car trains with a total weight of 8,750 tons.

Experts note that DM&IR are the best steam locomotives ever operating on the West Coast of the United States.

H-8 Allegheny. USA

In 1941, the American company Lima began producing steam engines that were more powerful than those of the Big Guys. Because of this, it was necessary to change the classic wheel formula for American steam locomotive construction, making the Allegheny a 2-6-6-6 type.

Over the course of 3 years, the company produced 60 similar machines that worked on the Ohio State Railroad and the Chipsek Railroad. Then the Virginia authorities ordered 8 more locomotives.

H-8 class steam locomotives were used to transport coal. The maximum load announced by the designers was 5,000 tons. But the giant machines hauled trains weighing 10,000 tons.

Of the Soviet models, the experimental P38 series, produced in 1954-1955, is considered the most powerful. It was made by designers and workers of the Kolomna plant.

With a weight of 382.3 tons, it became the heaviest in the entire history of Russian and Soviet steam locomotive building. The length of the P38 reached a little more than 38 m. With a power of 3,800 hp. could reach speeds of up to 85 km/h.

A total of 4 prototypes rolled off the assembly line, and the project was closed due to the end of the era of locomotive traction in the USSR. Since 1958, all four models have been used as boiler houses in the Belgorod region. Not a single prototype has survived to this day.

The brainchild of Soviet designers, “Andrei Andreev,” used seven moving axles on one rigid wheel frame. The result was the only steam locomotive in the world with the 4-14-4 formula.

It was assembled in 1934 at a plant in Lugansk, and at that time the largest steam boiler in Europe was installed on it. The power of the car was 3,700 hp. After factory checks, “AA” was sent for testing to Moscow.

The bulky colossus destroyed the railway track and constantly went off the rails. We decided to close the project. It was written off and stood in Shcherbinka for a quarter of a century until it was disposed of in 1960.

I-01. USSR

This locomotive-tank was manufactured in 1932 at a plant in Manchester, but it was finally assembled at the Proletarsky Plant in Leningrad. Throughout the history of the use of steam traction on Soviet railways ah was the only one to use the Garratt articulation system.

The length of Ya-01 was 33.1 m, and the thrust force was 25,000 kgf. The tests were carried out on the experimental ring of the Chelyabinsk railway. Soviet designers assumed that the Garrat system would increase the power and pressure in the boiler.

The project was abandoned, and the locomotive was decommissioned in 1957, and, apparently, cut up for scrap.

One of the best Chinese steam locomotives was produced in two periods, from 1956 to 1960 and from 1964 to 1988. The Soviet “LV” and “FD” served as prototypes for the creation of a powerful Chinese model.

“QJ” developed a speed of over 80 km/h, and the power was 3,630 hp. For the first time among Chinese locomotives, it was equipped with a mechanical supply of coal to the firebox. Steam locomotives of this series worked on the Jingtong railway lines until 2005. When they were written off, the whole world announced the end of the era of steam locomotives.

Today, 17 “QJ” models have survived. All of them are in excellent condition, and some are running. Two of them are in the USA, and one is in the Speyer Museum in Germany.

By the way, on our website there is a very interesting article about the Chinese city, which is still considered the most Russian in the PRC. This city is very closely connected with the railroad. If you don’t know why, then follow the link.

Soviet steam locomotives with the factory designation P1 and the name “Felix Dzerzhinsky” were produced in the USSR from 1931 to 1942. From the moment the project was approved until the finished steam locomotive left the gates of the Lugansk plant, 170 days passed, which became a world record.

Over the history of production, it has undergone several modifications, the purpose of which was to improve maneuverability and also increase power. It could reach a speed of just over 85 km/h, and the power was 3,100 hp. The project was closed due to unprofitability.

Of the 3,213 cars produced, 4 copies remain on the road, including one in China. 14 “FDs” were installed as monuments in different cities of Russia and the CIS countries, but 11 cars were exhibited as exhibits in transport museums in Russia and abroad.

The steam locomotive with the beautiful name “Liberation” and the wheel formula 1-4-1 was developed by French designers and produced at largest factories USA.

In total, from 1945 to 1947, more than 1,300 cars rolled off the production lines, and the French used them in all their colonial possessions. The locomotive's power was 2,925 hp, and it was the most powerful model in the history of French locomotive building.

Initially they used coal, and then switched to fuel oil. This type of fuel made it possible to pull longer trains.

Summarize

American 4000 class locomotives, nicknamed “Big Boy”, are not only among the top ten in terms of power, but are also considered the largest and heaviest in the world. But the most expensive was the Soviet project IS20-16. $1.5 million was spent on its implementation. The USSR also holds the record for the most popular steam-powered locomotive, the Russian-Soviet E-class steam locomotive. Over the entire production history, from 1912 to 1956, 10.8 thousand copies were produced.

On December 8, 2005, the last steam-powered train in China passed along the Jitung Railway. On the same day, all Chinese locomotives were extinguished. The era of steam engines is over, all that remains is to remember its most unusual representatives

Of course, steam locomotives can still be found on some railways around the world, but this type of transport cannot regain its former popularity. Mainly museum carriages are moved by steam locomotive traction, for example, short distances between cities in Germany. It is all the more interesting to remember the most outstanding steam locomotives in the world, which distinguished themselves by their shape, size or... material.

It turns out that not only the German automobile industry is striving for speed records, but also the steam locomotive industry in Germany. At least, it is the brainchild of the German company Borsig - the high-speed passenger steam locomotive BR 05 - that still holds the unbroken speed record among national steam locomotives: on the railway tracks it managed to accelerate to more than two hundred kilometers per hour. In total, three such locomotives were produced in 1935, and in 1936 they transported guests and participants of the Berlin Olympics: for this purpose, the “facade” of the locomotive was decorated with the Olympic emblem.

2. The most conscientious

In 1962, the most powerful machine in the history of Soviet steam locomotive construction came out of the plant in Lugansk - the Joseph Stalin steam locomotive, which at the time of its creation was the most powerful not only in the Union, but throughout Europe. Initially, the locomotive could only accelerate to 115 kilometers per hour, but after a number of improvements its maximum speed increased to one hundred and fifty-five kilometers per hour. The locomotive was intended for peacetime, but was most popular during the Great Patriotic War, after which most of the cars were “exiled” to Siberia. Today, the only completely preserved “Joseph Stalin” is located in the Kiev depot as a monument.

3. Fastest

The world speed record for locomotive construction belongs to the British Mallard class A4. The streamlined shape of the “British”, a double pipe and impressive wheels more than two meters in diameter were intended for long trips at high speeds. Mallard set his record, which none of his rivals managed to beat, on July 3, 1938, on a small section of road south of Graham: the transport “fired up” to almost two hundred and three kilometers per hour. True, after this the locomotive had to urgently go to the depot and undergo serious repairs. Today the Mallard can be seen at the National Railway Museum in York.

4. The heaviest

The largest serial steam locomotive in the world was born in America in the early forties. American designers wanted to create powerful freight trains that could easily travel through the Wasatch Range in the Rocky Mountains. This is how the 4000 class steam locomotive, better known as Big Boy or, in Russian, “big guy,” appeared. This name was written in chalk by one of the company's employees on board the first steam locomotive, and it was forever attached to these huge machines. However, the name was very appropriate: the length of the “Big Man” exceeded forty meters, and weighed more than five hundred and fifty tons. To date, of the twenty-five steam locomotives produced, eight have survived, and all of them are in specialized museums in eight different American states.

5. Favorite

How was it possible to travel comfortably from Paris to Istanbul at the end of the nineteenth century? Of course, on the Orient Express - a luxury passenger train operated by Orient-Express Hotels. Each compartment in them was decorated in Art Deco style, equipped with sinks with hot and cold water and crystal chandeliers. The dining car served the finest delicacies, and helpful waiters could bring you breakfast straight to bed if you wished. Charles de Gaulle, Elizabeth II and Agatha Christie once traveled on the luxurious Orient Express. Today the legendary locomotive has become an international brand, but the original Orient Express made its last trip back in 1977: the cost of operating it was too high.

6. The smallest

In 2010, Japanese craftsmen developed and built the smallest but perfectly functioning steam locomotive. Boilers, pistons and real coal that powers the locomotive - this Japanese baby has all the details of a full-size classic steam locomotive. The baby is even capable of transporting people: it can comfortably accommodate up to twenty children and adults. And the locomotive even reaches a decent speed for its size: about seven to ten kilometers per hour.

7. The hottest

But the creation of Ryazan masters is not intended for transporting passengers: but it is quite capable of treating its owner to a piece of delicious steak. The barbecue steam locomotive, which is practically indistinguishable in appearance from real steam engines, was assembled by Russian enthusiasts from scrap metal. Original grill weighs almost four tons and is equipped with two fireplaces and a trailer trailer where you can find a stove with tiles. This is a kitchen on wheels! It’s just a pity that such beauty is hidden by a high fence of one of the plots near Moscow, where a miracle barbecue moved not so long ago.

The barbecue locomotive is the creation of Ryazan masters.

8. The sweetest

And you can’t really ride a Belgian steam locomotive either, because it was made not by engineers, but by local confectioners, from chocolate. It took them more than a ton of sweet material and almost a month of painstaking work to create a thirty-three-meter-long locomotive. Externally, the chocolate masterpiece is a copy of an ancient steam engine, reproduced almost down to the smallest detail. Anyone can admire the chocolate giant at Brussels South Station.


While in 2014, the Chinese experimental high-speed train CIT500 was tested on an experimental section of the route near Qingdao with a length of 100.8 kilometers. new record speed of 605 km/h
A little history, cost and prospects for the development of Chinese railways - under the cut
In general, I was prompted to write a topic by a comment from a user who asked a completely reasonable question about the cost of Chinese railways. I tried to figure it out.


Well, the background to the question can, in principle, be omitted. Everyone already knows - the world's longest high-speed railway network, 2200 km from Beijing to Guangzhou in 8 hours, a sharp leap from steam locomotives (the last steam locomotive was launched in 2005) to high-speed trains (the first line was commissioned in 2008) etc.
Today, every capital of the province (except for the very remote western ones) is connected to the high-speed railway network, about 45% are highways with a design speed of 200-250 km/h, 55% - up to 350 km/h. After the 2008 accident on the Wuhan-Guangzhou main line, the maximum speed of trains was reduced from 350 km/h to 300 until the causes of the accident were eliminated and trains were improved. CIT500, in principle, should be the first train for which speed restrictions will be lifted in 2016 and it will travel at a speed of 350-380 km/h.


As for the cost, the question turned out to be ambiguous. The undisputed leader in the cost of one kilometer of road is, of course, the Shanghai Maglev - with a section length of 29.83 kilometers, the total construction cost was about 9.7 billion yuan (1 dollar = 6.2 yuan), and, accordingly, the cost per kilometer was 325 million yuan.
Well, the most expensive in terms of total cost was, naturally, the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed highway project, which was put into operation gradually, in sections, and recently it opened traffic from final destination until the end. The total cost of the 2,298 kilometer road was an astronomical sum of 400,000,000,000 yuan.
The cost of roads differs tenfold depending on the design speed, type of soil, the need for overpasses, and so on. approximate cost per kilometer:
1) Qinhuangdao-Shenyang - 37,000,000 yuan per kilometer
2) Hefei-Wuhan - 46,000,000 yuan per kilometer
3) Wenzhou-Fuzhou - 60,000,000 yuan per kilometer
4) Beijing-Shanghai - 167,000,000 yuan per kilometer
5) Beijing-Tianjin - 180,000,000 yuan per kilometer.
In general, as I understand it, comparing the cost of building railways with maglev is unscientific. There are dozens of railways, they were built in different conditions, but there is only one maglev and only the cost of the line is known in specific conditions.
However, the project to extend the Shanghai Maglev train to Hangzhou was finally closed, and experiments to achieve high speeds using traditional rail stock clearly indicate that we will not see other magnetic levitation train lines in China in the near future.
And the planned increase in speed to 380 km/h will make air transportation over a distance of up to 1000 km generally unprofitable. The Beijing-Shanghai trip by plane takes about 4 hours (2 hours of pure flight time + an hour to/from the airport + an hour for check-in/check-in/receipt of luggage, etc.), and by train - 5. An increase in speed by 25% will equalize this time.

The Nizhny Novgorod Museum of Steam Locomotives is a museum under open air, which is located in the village of Sortirovochny, now part of Nizhny Novgorod. To get to this museum, you need to turn right from the Moscow highway immediately after the Carousel store (if you are coming from the Moscow side) and continue along the main road to the Gorky-Sortirovochny railway station. The museum is located right next to the station. In total, the museum exhibits 15 steam locomotives made in the USSR, Russia, Germany, and Sweden.
Steam locomotive L VN -9773. Industrial locomotives of this series were built at the Nevsky Shipyard in St. Petersburg in the early 1900s. The design speed of the locomotive is 40 km/h, power is 300 hp, efficiency is 4%. According to the type of construction, the locomotive is classified as a tank-steam locomotive, i.e. for steam locomotives without a tender - the supply of fuel (oil) is stored on the locomotive itself. The locomotive had a saddle-shaped tank with a water reserve of 7 m 3, the oil tank was located above the water tank. Locomotives of this series were produced for the Transcaucasian, Nikolaev and Privislinskaya railways, and several copies were also produced for the internal needs of the Nevsky Plant.

Here's a little more detail and more facts about each locomotive under the cut

Steam locomotive E-1112. Developed by the Lugansk Locomotive Plant in 1910. Subsequently, steam locomotives were built at the Kharkov, Kolomensky, Bryansk and Sormovsky plants until 1957.
This series of locomotives is the most widespread in the world - in total, including various modifications, about 11 thousand locomotives were built.
The design speed of this locomotive is 55 km/h. Maximum power - 1500 hp. Efficiency - 8% Steam locomotives of the E series were one of the most powerful and most popular steam locomotives created at the beginning of the 20th century. The freight locomotive project, having passed the commission, was submitted to the Engineering Council of the Ministry of Railways in February 1911. Subsequently, on October 29, 1911, the working design of the locomotive was approved and, starting in 1912, their mass production was established.


Steam locomotive E M 720-07. A modernized series E, built in 1931-1935 by Lugansk, Kharkov, Bryansk and Sormovo plants. A total of 2,694 locomotives were produced.
To increase the draft force, the steam pressure in the boiler was increased, while simultaneously increasing the strength of the boiler and strengthening some parts of the driving mechanism.
The design speed of the locomotive is 65 km/h. Maximum power - 1800 hp. Efficiency - 7%.
The locomotive was distinguished by increased traction force due to an increase in steam pressure in the boiler, which required strengthening the seams of the boiler and some parts of the driving mechanism. As a result, the improvements entailed an increase in the total mass, which is why it was necessary to make a number of design changes. Locomotives began to be built without a water purifier and feed hood, as well as with fewer smoke pipes (151 versus 157 for E y series locomotives). But active use welding in steam locomotive construction made it possible to reduce the weight of the locomotive from 85 to 75 tons and return the removed units to their place.


Steam locomotive E R 761-96. Series E M, reconstructed. By lengthening the firebox, the power of the locomotive is increased by 10%. Steam locomotives of this series were built by domestic factories in the 1930s and during the Great Patriotic War, and after the war, production was established in Romania (Resita plant), Poland (Tsegelsky plant), Czechoslovakia (ČKD plant) and Hungary (MAVAG plant). The museum exhibit comes from Romania, as evidenced by its nameplate. The last steam locomotive of the series was manufactured in 1956 at the Hungarian MAVAG plant. Also, a small number of locomotives of this series were produced during the Great Patriotic War Kolomna Machine-Building Plant.
The design speed of the locomotive is 65 km/h. Maximum power - 2000 hp. Efficiency - 7.2%.


Steam locomotive TE-622. The name of the TE series stands for captured ones, similar in characteristics to the domestic E series.
Steam locomotives under the original name BR52 were produced in Nazi Germany and the countries of Europe it occupied. In total, over 6 thousand locomotives were built, 2200 of them arrived on the USSR railways as trophies or as reparations.
On the railways of the western part of the USSR, TE steam locomotives were actively used until the mid-1970s, after which most of them were transferred to industrial enterprises. During operation in the USSR, TE series locomotives evoked very positive reviews from Soviet railway workers. The main drawback was a drop in power when using low-grade domestic coal. In everyday life, the TE series locomotives were called "Teshki" or "Frau".
The design speed of the locomotive is 80 km/h. Maximum power - 1500 hp. Efficiency - 7.5%


Steam locomotive TE-622. Detail


Steam locomotive TE-622. Detail


Locomotives of the P36 series are probably the most beautiful among domestic steam locomotives. This series was comparable to the IS series locomotives, but had a lower axle load on the rails (18 tf), making it possible to use these locomotives on most of the country's railways. Successful tests and trial operation of the first steam locomotive of the 2-4-2 type led to the order of a pilot batch in 1953 at the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant.

Operational tests of steam locomotives took place on the Moscow-Kursk and Krasnoyarsk railways. In the second half of 1954, the Kolomna Plant produced an pilot batch of steam locomotives that included minor design improvements compared to the prototypes. At the end of 1954, the P36 series locomotive was accepted for mass production. Steam locomotives of this series were sent to work with long-distance passenger trains on the main lines of the Krasnoyarsk, Kalinin, Belorusskaya, Stalinskaya, Oktyabrskaya, Kuibyshevskaya and Northern railways. Since the early 70s, these steam locomotives gradually began to be replaced by electric and diesel locomotives. 1974 is considered last year operation of steam locomotives of the P36 series.
Steam locomotive P36-0071. Passenger steam locomotive developed and produced by the Kolomna Plant (251 locomotives, 1950-1956).
The last steam locomotive of this series was also the last steam locomotive built in the USSR. Now it is in the museum of St. Petersburg.
The locomotives of this series worked the longest on the Trans-Baikal Railway. Here they were decommissioned in 1974.
Design speed - 125 km/h. Maximum power - 3000 hp. Efficiency - 8.2%.

Some locomotives are heavily covered in writing, which is not surprising, since the museum is open 24 hours a day and is not guarded by anyone.


Steam locomotive EU 684-52. A reinforced (“U”) version of the E series, produced from 1926 to 1931 by the Kolomna, Lugansk, Kharkov, Bryansk and Sormovo plants. A total of 2,475 locomotives were built.
The design speed of the locomotive is 65 km/h. Maximum power - 1500 hp. Efficiency - 7%


Steam locomotives in a row


Steam locomotive 9P-18430. Another massive shunting and industrial tank-steam locomotive. It was already built in the USSR from 1935 to 1957. In total, over 3 thousand cars were produced.
The design speed of this locomotive is 25 km/h. Maximum power - 320 hp.
As of 2007, 34 steam locomotives of this series were preserved in museums or as monument locomotives.


Steam locomotives of the 9P series with an improved design were produced by the Kolomna Plant from 1939 to 1941. and the Murom Locomotive Plant named after. F.E.Dzerzhinsky from 1945 to 1955 Steam locomotives worked on the tracks of many manufacturing enterprises in the country and showed good results.

The shunting tank-steam locomotive of this series was immediately accepted for mass production despite a number of shortcomings.
Later, in 1939, when the construction of these locomotives was again included in the program of the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant, the plant designers revised the drawings and eliminated the shortcomings.


To reduce the pressure on the rails, in 1948 it was decided to develop it on the basis of the L series. After lengthy tests, in 1952 the first steam locomotive developed at the Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Plant named after the October Revolution, receiving the designation OR18-01, entered the railway. Despite the unit parameters being similar to the L series, the OR series was a new, more modern type of locomotive with significant design differences in a number of components and its own traction and thermal characteristics. A different water heater was installed on the locomotive, and the wheel sets were strengthened. During testing, the locomotive showed a 24% increase in power compared to the L series locomotives. During 1953, the OR18-01 steam locomotive underwent operational tests on the Lyublino-Serpukhov section of the Moscow-Kursk-Donbass Railway. In 1954, the Voroshilovgrad plant built an installation batch of 5 machines (numbers 0005-0010), during the creation of which the series received a new designation LV - a steam locomotive built on the basis of the L series according to the drawings of the Voroshilovgrad plant.
Steam locomotive LV-0225. Freight steam locomotive produced by the Voroshilovgrad plant based on the L series. Built from 1952 to 1956. There are 522 locomotives in total.
The QJ series locomotive, produced in China until the mid-1990s, had much in common with Soviet LVs.
Design speed - 90 km/h. Maximum power - 2420 hp. Efficiency - 8%.


After Russo-Japanese War, in order to improve the operation of railways, it was decided to increase the speed and weight of passenger trains. As a result of rising oil prices, many railways were forced to convert passenger locomotives to coal heating, often using low quality coal. In 1908, the designers of the Sormovo plant put forward a proposal to create a steam locomotive with coal heating that would meet the requirements of that time. Since the Sormovo plant did not have experience in designing and building its own locomotives, the research took quite a lot of time. Finally, the first sample of the C series was selected and manufactured in 1911.

The C series locomotive of type 1-3-1 was taken as the basis as it most fully corresponds to the production capabilities of the factories. When designing a new locomotive, a number of changes were made to the design compared to the C series locomotive. The firebox and the length of the smoke box were increased, the number of fire tubes increased (from 24 to 32) while the smoke tubes were reduced (from 170 to 135), a new superheater of the Chusov system was installed, the pressure in the boiler was also increased and the spring suspension system was changed. The new steam locomotive of type 1-3-1, developed at the Kolomna Machine-Building Plant, was assigned the C y series - “reinforced”. The first locomotives of this series were built in 1924, but their production began in 1925.

Plant “Krasnoe Sormovo” named after. A.A. Zhdanova received the task to begin the construction of passenger locomotives. It was decided to resume the construction of steam locomotives 1-3-1 series C y, which showed good qualities in operation. In 1947, the plant produced the first steam locomotive, the C u series. The main difference of the new release, compared to the pre-war series, was the reduction of smoke tubes from 135 to 98 while increasing the fire tubes from 32 to 40. The wheelbase and dimensions of individual parts remained unchanged. During the production process of the C series, the plant made minor changes to the design of the locomotive.

Steam locomotive S U 253-33. Passenger locomotives of the S U series were produced in the USSR from 1924 to 1940. The locomotive design was developed by the Leningrad plant "Krasny Putilovets".
The museum locomotive was built directly in the city of Gorky (formerly Nizhny Novgorod) by the Krasnoye Sormovo plant, which produced such locomotives from 1947 to 1951 (411 locomotives in total).
Design speed - 115 km/h. Maximum power - 1500 hp. Efficiency - 7.8%. The locomotive is a passenger one, so the emphasis is on speed rather than on traction and adhesion weight


Actual wheel size


Steam locomotive E N-1. Modification of the E series, produced by the Nevsky Shipyard in Petrograd from 1916 to 1920. A total of 63 locomotives were built.
During the war of 1914-1918. and in the post-war period, the state of the metallurgical industry deteriorated sharply, and after 1917 it generally became extremely deplorable. Due to the lack of metal to repair existing steam locomotives and the impossibility of increasing the locomotive fleet, by 1920 the country's leadership decided to order a large batch of freight steam locomotives abroad. Initially, it was planned to order 1000 steam locomotives in Sweden, some of which were to be made on the basis of Swedish R-series steam locomotives, and others of a type more suitable for the operating conditions of domestic railways. But in the end they decided to order E-series steam locomotives according to the drawings of the Lugansk plant.


500 locomotives were ordered in Sweden, and, at the same time, 700 locomotives were also ordered in Germany. The first locomotives were built in strict accordance with the drawings of the Lugansk plant, but later minor changes began to be made, taking into account the accumulated experience and operating features.


On the wheels of one of the locomotives is the emblem of the Voroshilovgrad plant


Locomotive nameplate. Made in 1949 at the Romanian plant "Resita"


Some strange electric train rushed along the existing tracks into one car - did they let in a taxi?


Used materials:
  • Book by V.A. Rakov “Locomotives of domestic railways, 1845-1955″
  • Book by A.V. Khmelevsky, P.I. Smushkov “Steam Locomotive. Construction, work, repair.”