Soviet State 4-8-4 Locomotives in Russia

Class P36 (Locobase 739)

Data from Ransome-Wallis (1959), Hollingsworth (1982, Reder (1974); and [] (a Ukrainian website organizing steam tours), using information from Anthony J. Heywood & Jan D.C. Button, Soviet Locomotive Types: The Union Legacy (1995). See also "Our P36 Locomotive" account found on the Golden Eagle Luxury Trains website at [], last accessed 29 October 2019; and "2-4-2 " in 1935 p 158

The only 4-8-4s Soviet railroaders ever built, but among the latest of this wheel arrangement to have been constructed and the most numerous single class. They became known for their distinctive casing, which included ribbed "elephant ear" smoke deflectors forward, a casing for the steam pipe that ran the length of the boiler on top, Boxpok-type drivers and greenish-tinged boiler. They ran well and saw out steam on Soviet railways, operating both as premier express engines and later as all-purpose mixed-traffic types.

(See the Golden Eagle account of the recovery of the P36.0032 from a stationary boiler end in Siberian Chita.)

Ransome-Wallis and Hollingsworth have nearly identical superheater surface areas at around 1,535 sq ft (142.6 sq m). But both Reder (1974) and the [] website reported 1,417 and 1,421 sq ft respectively. Locobase chooses the last because it's the most recent and comes from what has been described as a definitive source.