Soviet State 0-10-0 Locomotives in Russia

Class E Sh (Locobase 20408)

Bengt Sjolin,"Knostrukstioin, Tillverkning Och Transport Av de hos Nydqvist & Holm A.B. Bestallda Ryska Lokomotiven" (25 February 1922), )pp. 119-131-data on p 122.. See also "Where Soviet Locomotives are Built", Railway and Locomotive Engineering, Volume XXXV [35], No 11 (November 1922), pp. 285-286; "Decapod Locomotive for Russia", Locomotive Magazine, Volume XXVIII [28], No 355 (15 March 1922), p. 60; and Gunnar Larsson "The Roots of Saab AB" family tree diagram, assembled 2015 for Saab Car Museum Support Organization, available at [], last accessed 29 July 2018.

Locobases 726, 4233, and 4234 provide most of the basic information about the most numerous single class of steam locomotives built by any country-the Soviet E class ten-coupleds.

This entry gives the data presented in the Swedish source for the 500 engines produced by Nohab between 1921-1924. Note the relatively low boiler pressure setting. The design used a Belpaire firebox. Cylinders were served by piston valves arranged for inside admission. LM reported that one of these engines would haul 1,000 metric tons (1,100 short tons) up a straight gradient of 0.8% (1 in 125) at 8 mph (13 kph).

The order from the new government committed to a full 1,000 machines and, RLE reported, led to a significant upgrading at Nohab's Trollhatten complex. To increase production from 50 to 250 locomotives per years, additions to the workshops included 200 machines, "many of them of American make" and adding 1,000 workers to raise the workforce total to 3,500 men.

Even as the RLE article appeared, however, observers noted that a plea of diminished gold supply had already led to a renegotiation in the quantity. "It seems to be a question," RLE concluded,"as to which will be finished first, the Swedish locomotives for Russia or the Russian gold supply. The Swedes hope it will be the former." Gunnar Larsson's Note 2 to his "Roots of Saab AB" says that ultimately, the Soviet government delivered the payment for 500 E-class in 56,000 kg (123,459 lb) of pure gold, the equivalent of 230 million Kronr.

( 46 and 125 respectively, 172.3.sq m (1,855 sq ft) and 190 sq m (2,045 sq ft) in evaporative heating surface area.

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Class Em (Locobase 4233)

See [] for the history, [] (a Ukrainian website organizing steam tours) for the data. Dzherelo says the information comes from Anthony J. Heywood & Jan D.C. Button, Soviet Locomotive Types: The Union Legacy (1995).

Part of the thousands-strong E class of freight locomotives. This subclass -- which was in production from 1931 to 1935 -- represented an 8.5% increase in steam pressure over the Eu (Locbase 726) while using the same grate within the same Belpaire firebox. They were also 6,000 lb (2,722 kg) lighter. Diameter of piston valves measured 250 mm (9.84").

As the design matured, the builders (Bryansk, Khar'kov, Lugansk, and Sormovo) rolled in such upgrades as more heating surface and welded construction. The design was delivered with a water-purification system which was later removed and a very few had condensing tenders from 1937 to the 1950s.

mironjuk@ukr.net, the author of the Russian-language website [] on steam locomotives translated by Google, claims that tests on the 1931 prototype showed little if any benefit in the increased boiler pressure. Indeed, the lower locomotive weight coupled with the higher tractive effort meant drivers had to use more sand. Such observations, he notes, were very unwelcome in 1931 or anytime in the future, exposing the person making them to charges of sabotage.

Nevertheless, in 1938-1941Em engines saw their Chusova superheaters replaced with Schmidt designs that were more reliable. A cone in the smokebox split the exhaust and reduced back pressure, and a water heater was installed in the tender.

In the post-Great Patriotic War era, Soviet locomotive operators were a bit more outspoken (largely because steam locomotives were on their way out). Welded boilers were good, but their qualities scarcely outweighed the impact of lower weight and higher power on the Em's traction.

As Google translates the author's conclusion: "The story of the locomotive Em demonstrates how finely balanced in the design against the locomotive. In it, as in the plane, none unreasoned decision goes unpunished."

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Class Er (Locobase 4234)

See [] for the history; data from "Diagrams [of] Locomotives and , published in Moskva (Moscow), 1935 p. 128-129, PDF supplied by Teemu Koivmaki in his 5 October 2019. (Many thanks to Teemu for sending what might never have fallen into Locobase's hands. An indispensable addition to Locobase's library.). [] (a Ukrainian website organizing steam tours) cited information comes from Anthony J. Heywood & Jan D.C. Button, Soviet Locomotive Types: The Union Legacy (1995). The latter says the data in the original entry refer to MAVAG-built locomotives delivered in 1950.(Other builders included Briansk, Cegielski (Bulgaria), CKD (Czechoslovakia), Kolomna, Lugansk, Malaxa (Romania), Resita (Romania), MAVAG (Hungary), and Skoda (Cz).

Part of the thousands-strong E class of freight locomotives. This subclass -- known colloquially as Erka -- was an extensive reworking of the basic five-coupled design. The boiler shell remained the same, but still more space was given over to superheat and the grate area expanded by 13.3%. Although this meant a harder-working boiler, the increase in superheat meant a claimed increase in efficiency of 10-15%.

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Class Eu (Locobase 726)

See [] for the history, [] for the data, with additional information from [] (21 January 2004). Updated and expanded by "Diagrams [of] Locomotives and , published in Moskva (Moscow), 1935 p. 132-133, PDF supplied by Teemu Koivmaki in his 5 October 2019. (Many thanks to Teemu for sending what might never have fallen into Locobase's hands. An indispensable addition to Locobase's library.)

Produced in several versions, as many as 12,500 were built over decades. This subclass represented the expansion of superheat area by 25% with a consequent increase in steam temperature of 20%. The Belpaire firebox is noticeable. Piston valve diameter measured 250 mm (9.84 in ).

Some remained in service into the 1960s. .

[] adds "E-u was the favorite of the engine drivers, because it was the powerful, reliability and simplicity of tending and repairing."