SŽD series П36

SŽD series П36
	P36-0001 (prototype)
Numbering:	P36-001 to 251
Number:	251
Manufacturer:	Kolomna Locomotive Factory , Kolomna
Year of construction (s):	1950-1956
Retirement:	1970s
Axis formula :	2'D2'h2
Gauge :	1524 mm
Length over coupling:	29,800 mm
Height:	5,200 mm
Width:	3,200 mm
Service mass with tender:	250 t
Wheel set mass :	18 t
Top speed:	125 km / h
Driving wheel diameter:	1,850 mm
Number of cylinders:	2
Boiler overpressure:	15 bar
Grate area:	6.8 m²
Evaporation heating surface:	243 m²
Particularities:	Boxpok -wheelsets ; stoker -fire

The locomotives of the SŽD series П36 (German transcription P36) were steam locomotives of the Soviet Railways (SŽD) in broad gauge construction , which were preferably used on the non-electrified lines of the Trans-Siberian Railway .

history

The machines were built in the years 1950–1956 at the locomotive factory in Kolomna in 252 copies. It was designed from 1947 to 1949 under the direction of the chief designer of the Kolomna locomotive factory , Lev Lebedjanski . A prototype was produced in 1949, and further test specimens from 1952 to 1954. These prototypes were initially tested intensively for four years under the climatically exposed conditions of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Series production began in 1955 and ended on July 29, 1956 with delivery of the П36.0251 under the serial number 10420 .

Its green paintwork and the partial cladding around the engine, chimney and dome as well as the front wall of the driver's cab have an elegant effect.

Typical of steam locomotives in the USSR were the large rail clearers and the box pok drive wheels . The relatively small drive wheel diameters show that the locomotive was not really a fast runner. The decisive factors were the rapid acceleration and the ability to drive long distances in one go. This is particularly evident in the large tender, which results in a length over the coupling of 29.8 m. The locomotives were equipped with feed water preheaters , roller bearings for all axles including the tender and central lubrication. They had a stoker system. This enabled a peak performance of up to 3077 hp.

They were used on the main routes such as Moscow-Leningrad or Moscow - Brest . After their electrification, the series came on the non-electrified sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway and on main lines in Ukraine and Belarus . There they were used in front of express trains until the 1970s. The locomotives were characterized by their high economic efficiency, extremely smooth running at top speeds and their architecturally excellent external appearance. The exact decommissioning date of the last machine is not known. On January 1, 1976, 247 locomotives of the series were still in the SŽD's inventory, mainly on the Transbaikal (150) and Far East (59) railways , but no longer in regular use, which ended on the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1974.

Many vehicles have survived, some of them running, such as the prototype locomotive П36 0001 in the Railway Museum in Moscow, the П36 0123 in the Oldtimer Museum Rügen in Prora or the П36-0251 as the last passenger train steam locomotive made in Russia in the Russian Railway Museum in St. Petersburg .