Soviet State Beyer-Garratt Locomotives in Russia

Class Ya - 01 (Locobase 738)

Data from Gavin Hamilton's excellent compilation of Garratt data posted at []

(6 September 2005).. Works number was 6737 in 1933.

Mountain Garratt purchased from the West at the same time US locomotive builders were supplying small batches of heavy freight engines. Likely reason was to sample Western steam-engine technology. Note the amount of superheater area and the sizable 305 mm (12") piston valves. J Bundell, commenting on a paper delivered by WC Williams in the Journal of the Institute of Locomotive Engineering in 1933 (as summarized by steamindex at [], accessed 5 December 2006), said that the superheater's large area was attributable to the very low ambient temperatures within which the Garratt had to operate.

An article (not directly sourced) from Mike's Railway History website -- [], accessed 8 December 2006 -- says that the boiler was so big it needed to be transported very slowly by truck from factory to dockside. On the subject of cold-weather operations, the article continues:"To guard against the intense cold of the Russian winter, all the external steam-pipes are arranged to drain off, so that there is no fear of water remaining in them and freezing them up. The cab, too, is lined throughout with wood to protect the enginemen against the frost. "