And yes, it is 1st of March already by GMT +3.

NP1 10 kVAC electric traction unit by NEVZ.

Question time:
Are those railway lines in the East that use old Japanese rolling stock run by RZD or a different company?

>>132169
You mean 1067 mm Sakhalin railway, obviously. Yes, this is Sakhalin region of Dalnevostochnaya (Far East) railway, branch of RZD. And by the way, from old Japanese rolling stock there are only D2 DMUs, other rolling stock is Soviet/Russian, including new TG16M dual-gauge 2x(2o-2o) 4000 HP diesel locomotives with hydraulic transmission by Ludinovskiy diesel locomotive plant (Sinara group).

Aside: There is no English Wikipedia article on the D2 so this German article will have to do.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%BDD-Baureihe_%D0%942

In short, it is a diesel-hydraulic MU composed of two driving motors and up to two trailers. Each motor has one VTA-1710-L2 engine placed in-cab between driver and passengers.

>>132166
By the way, I think I never spoke about traction units. It is remarkable machines designed to haul ore trains between quarries or strippings and transfer stations. To operate with usually 1200-2000 ton trains on incredibly difficult track profile they have up to 31 tf of axle load and up to 7600 kW of power output.
But that's not the most interesting thing about them. Technically they are not even locomotives, it is the multiple unit rolling stock which can use up to 3 locomotive sections or up to 3 motor-cars (not more than 4 sections in total, usually 3). Locomotive sections can be powered by 3 kVDC or 10 kVAC (50 Hz) or by diesel-generator (only with electric sections) to provide additional power and give the machine ability to work on non-electrified tracks with plain profile.
Motor-cars are powered by locomotive sections and provide additional adhesive weight. The trick is that when you need to haul the loaded train uphill, id est the maximum adhesive weight is required, the motorized dumpcars get additional weight by the ore, not to mention extra ore that the whole train can move.
On the photo you can see two OPE1As, one with one electric and one diesel sections and one motor-car and one with one electric and two diesel sections.

>>132206
Traction units for USSR were produced by NEVZ (OPE1), Lokomotivbau Elektrotechnische Werke (DDR, EL series) and DEVZ (Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, OPE1A/B(M) and PE series). After the collapse of USSR only two series are in production, 3 kVDC PE2U and modern 10 kVAC NP1 by NEVZ, Russia.
NP1 is the newest and most powerful model with 7600 kW of output in maximum (one electric section and two motor-cars) configuration, 372 tons of weight (loaded) and 1050 kN (107 tf) of traction force at 25 km/h (maximum 1200 kN (122.3 tf)).

>>132208
Now videos of these unusual machines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjanlAMej4E - NP1-015.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCdVllVN0CY - EL10-2105.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8BIfZYTMZQ - OPE1-184.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SF0gwJVlKk - OPE1A, OPE2 (also DEVZ model) and NP1.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFoQYwBkVXU - NP1 cabride, that view!

>>132206

>traction units

You mean what americans call B-units?

If so, did these get to be used "as intended" as unmanned boosters to climb hills or did they end up like in America as semi-permanently married with one locomotive?

>>132212
You see, I guess this invention is so Soviet it even hasn't a proper name in English. This is full-fledged locomotive but at the same time this isn't exactly a locomotive, this is something more. As you can see from my explanation, in a few words this is some kind of modular hybrid of an electric locomotive, diesel locomotive and freight multiple unit. But the only obligatory part of it is electric section with cab, other depends on the model and configuration.

To boil it down... A few locomotive types were available as A- or B-units. An A-unit had a driving cab, a B-unit did not.

>>132212

>permanently attached ore jennies with traction motors

not 'B-unit', 'road slug'

>>132208

>challenging profile

dramatically tele-meshed, still hory krap

>>132211
Watch out, you've got 007 in there!
https://youtu.be/-SF0gwJVlKk?t=2m52s

>>132217

>permanently attached ore jennies with traction motors

Oh, ohhhh. Now I get it. Pretty unique. I thought he would have meant either powerless slugs or boosters.

>>132215 -- Mind, I was told by those in the know that A/B applied to road traction. Yard traction would be cow/calf.

And then there is the slug. A slug has no (working) prime mover of its own but gets traction power from the locomotive it's attached to.

>>132220
Feed the link to Giggle Translate for more info.

In the case of electric units there's not as much difference between slugs (units with motors that use power from another unit) and B units (Бустерная) with their own power.
Slugs usually have permanent ballast, but this allows them to be useful for freight, and they probably won't need the weight when the rest of the train is also empty.
In America, most of our power separates easily, but it seems these are so good at what they do that they don't need to shuffle around.

I was hoping you guys will like the concept. I just hope this misunderstanding is because of the uncommonness of the idea and not my poor ability to explain, hehe:)

>>132217

> hory krap

Nothing surprising here, the traction units are designed to operate on up to 0.06 grades. Otherwise, why do you think you gonna need 7600 kilowatts of power and 107 ton-forces of tractive effort to haul 2000-ton train?

>>132226

> but it seems these are so good at what they do that they don't need to shuffle around

As I already said, the traction units are modular. You can easily detach any cabless 4-axle section and attach another, you just don't need to. Because usually each traction unit always works in the pretty same conditions with the pretty same trains. So as a rule you just order the machine from the manufacturer in preferable configuration and run it this way all its lifetime unless conditions change.

By the way, try to guess why the third motor-car is coupled on another end of the traction unit.

>>132228
And a bit more about the initial misunderstanding.

> I guess this invention is so Soviet it even hasn't a proper name in English

Traction unit maybe is a bit confusing term but the vocabulary (I was surprised that vocabulary has the translation, even the technical one) translates "тяговый агрегат" this way. That's why I'm avoiding the use of the word "unit" instead of "section" for the individual 4-axle module of it.

>>132220
By the way, some OPE1 traction units use simple boosters that can't handle the cargo, supposedly custom-made from the motorized dumpcars. Like on the pic related. Why they did it is a complete mystery.

And haven't mention another interesting thing about them. In the loading (unloading too probably) areas to keep the dangerous zone clear or on the temporary tracks (just because such pylons are more easy to erect/remove) the side contact wire is used. For this all traction units are equipped with side bows on each side of the electric power section. You can see them in work here >>132214 and here >>132230 .

>>132229 -- Assuming the motorised ore cars are, like slugs, powered by the locomotive they are coupled to, I would guess that this order is to avoid overloading the electric couplings.

>>132233

>>132233 -- Our Lost Chinese Correspondent also had some pictures of side-contact wire to show, so it is in use there for the same reasons.

This included pictures of a three-phase line... well, more of a triple-rail than triple-wire. It fed a rolling crane with who-knows-how-many amps at 3×220V/380V.

>>132236
Yup, well, at least this is the only logical explanation anyway.

>>132239

> side-contact wire
> three-phase line

The Krasnoyarskaya hydroelectric plant ship elevator anyone?

>>132241
Now. This. Is. A M-O-N-S-T-E-R. Actually this is considered as absolute gauge record for rail transport. It has gauge of 9 meters.

>>132242
Not impressive enough?
Very well...
- carrying capacity: 1500 tons
- external dimensions of the ship-transfer chamber: 113 m x 26 m x 20 m
- weight: 4500 tons empty and 8100 tons loaded
- elevation change: 104 m
- full operational length of the tracks: 1510 meters
- power output: 156x68 kW (10608 kW)
- tractive effort: 850 ton-forces
- speed: 3.6 km/h
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%8A%D1%91%D0%BC%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA_%D0%9A%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%8F%D1%80%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%93%D0%AD%D0%A1

>>132243
It even has its own turntable.
Now videos if this in work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjUPL2_Jzjg - Overview video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWxMvLf81SM - Video commentary in Russian. By the way this machine was quite helpful in the rebuilding of Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectic plant by moving ships with hydroturbines very efficiently through this border.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seJE56UpZsA - Just to imagine the scale.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZGSZJDM4mI - Work of the toothing and the turntable closely.

P. S. Just thought I shouldn't have really post material on this topic just after the traction units, this is almost a humiliation to them:)

No worries. It's been a good while since the last time this ship lift came up in discussion.

>>132244
I like the gigantic line car they keep parked up there

>>132241
Is that thing using 6 pantographs?

>>132248
Didn't even noticed that this ship transfer chamber isn't the only rolling stock on this line.
>>132250
Apparently. Although I can't clearly understand why. I doubt the voltage here is so low that only one pantograph for each phase won't be enough (the only mention of voltage here I have found is that it is supposedly 35 kV directly from the hydroelectric plant power devices). Probably this is a redundancy so that in case if one pantograph breaks this machine wouldn't have to stuck for hours on such dangerous grade, of maybe this is something about that the phase break may damage the electric devices of the rolling stock.

Very interesting stuff ... please go on... at last I am not the only non western power railway fanatic on 1Chan... Hello from Africa Parovoz!!

>>132244

>turntable pit is spiral

ow

>>132259

it's not a spiral, one side is just higher than the other

>>132262
It seems like it is indeed spiral. Looks like the rotational ramp changes its height when rotating. This is logical when one track is lower than the other.
Interesting, there is even the "dock" for this thing.

>>132269

>a dock for a lock

And it works like a clock.

>>132269

Its not a spiral. That table can't turn 360. It looks like the angle between the 2 tracks is 160-170 at most. So the table can probably get close do doing 180 but i doubt it.

>>132276
Oh, wait... Maybe you're right. The article says the angle is 140°. But one "truck" of the ramp is lower so the rail in the opposite point of the turntable should always be that much lower, which can be achieved if the rail is spiral or if there are two horizontal rails. I thought the rail is spiral because of the height difference on the left (>>132269) but it seems I haven't noticed that there are the same difference on the right, and it looks like there are about 140° between them two.

>>132277

Holy crap this thing is amazing I want to see more...

Russian trains are epic... When I was little I had a videotape about the Trans-Siberian railway. I think it was put out by A&E.

>>132277
google maps makes it look like that's the case. the two ends of the turntable can run on separate tracks on different levels, because it never needs to make a full 180-degree rotation.

>>132279

> I want to see more...

Well, if you have seen the previous photos and these >>132244 videos... I guess there isn't much more from a good quality content. Although... http://gelio.livejournal.com/149891.html
And a little hint: search phrase "Судоподъёмник Красноярской ГЭС" if you would like to try to find more by yourself.

>>132270
Speaking of Xzibit, a shame that there aren't photos of barge with railway rolling stock on the ship elevator. Just think, train on a ship on a "train". By the way, Yenisei is the waterway which connects Norilsk railway with the rest of the network.

>>132282 -- Mind, it would be even better if that hypothetical barge was carrying a small hull on a flatcar and someone had stowed some field railway stock inside the hull.

>>132286

>the Russian turducken

found a photo i had saved of this thing

Where did we stopped? Um-m-m... some High Resolution maybe?

I just hope thaddeh still have seen this post >>132281.

DP-S DMU for Serbian Railways by Metrovagonmash (Transmashholding). Actually not 1520, 1435. But on the photo it's on the temporary 1520 mm bogies.

>>132233
By the way, speaking of unloading. Little video compilation about different types of unloading of 1520 standards cars. Dunno if there's something new for you but still...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyR91u5f2ZY - unloading of a 4-axle dump car.
Unloading of a gondola cars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_gzKVT5VR0 - manual;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyQFv3trX90 - by a rotary car dumper;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsPgAfvtcOg - with the overhead vibrator.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzkUT6IDKc8 - unloading of a hopper-batcher cars with track ballast.

>>132363
High floors on modern rolling stock? The Serbians must hate the handicap.

Speaking of gauge, does RZD have any of those funky "multi-gauge' trains?

>>132377
Yeah, the high-floor railway rolling stock is a big theme for arguments among Russian railfans. The main reasons for it is that we have too much high platforms that the low-floor rolling stock would be fairly underutilized and hybrid rolling stock with high and low doors would have too much issues in operation so it is much easier to equip it with elevators (pic related, I mean). It's not that simple actually, there is tons of reasons for and against, I'm not gonna adduce them all.
As for Serbia, it is a rather small country so it is also possible that they have only high platforms, at least on the lines to be equipped with these DMUs.

You mean the rolling stock with adjustable gauge? Then it's those Talgo trains which are to run to EU. Or also we have dual-gauge TG16M locomotives (>>132173), but they are multi-gauge just technically, their running gear is designed for easy change between 1067 mm and 1520 mm wheelpairs because Sakhalin railway is in the middle of gauge alteration.

>>132378
Interesting. Thanks again for the insight.

I've seen a lot of stations in Russia with both high and low platforms. Is this a standard feature of many stations or only really done in rural areas?

>>132379
Ooops, forgot the pic while correcting factual error in the text...

>>132379
Hard to say. Many stations with more than one platform for each main track have high and low platforms on the different tracks. But in regions platforms on a smaller stations or just stop points usually have low platforms, however the existing high platforms (even one) are making these routes unsuitable for low-floor rolling stock. Also the reason why no one even trying to produce low-floor EMU/DMU in Russia is that such rolling stock will be more expensive and the regions would still order the cheapest models and the route networks in big cities almost don't have low platforms.

>>132381
Speaking of being cheap, could you share some stories of rolling stock and projects that failed to meet expectations or were haphazard messes?

>>132382
Depends on what exactly do you mean by expectations and haphazard mess. Russian railway machinebuilding is a graveyard for dozens of projects gone by very different reasons. In the generous Soviet times some projects were created with the only intention to test some technical solutions so they even never meant to reach regular service. The whole bunch of truly amazing projects (like 2TE126 >>131677) were closed in the next decade after the collapse of USSR by economical reasons. Of course, there were some projects that were closed because the manufacturer(s) couldn't get them into shape completely, by the paradox is that it is not like they actually couldn't, MPS/RZD just rejected these projects and stopped the funding (or funding just stopped due to these projects just lost their target customer) so the reasons for such closure still are economical or business reasons. Like ED6 or that sad story with Sokol high-speed EMU which officially was unsuccessful model but in fact was just killed by RZD because they suddenly wanted to make friends with Siemens. At least one project still was originally unsuccessful, it was 2o-2o-2o 7200 kW dual-system passenger electric locomotive EP10 with AC traction motors designed in 1998 so after 6 years of struggle with it NEVZ gave up on this project and in the next few years following the same basic concept they designed from scratch very successful EP20 locomotive.

>>132382
And the most close to "failed to meet expectations" that I can name is 2TE25A. But the fun fact is that it isn't unsuccessful project and it was never closed, this series even reached limited serial production. This is a great flagship machine (technically even more advanced than your ES44AC) except for one "BUT", due to some tweaking with internal power draw numbers on the stage of blueprints it is significantly underpowered for its cost, only 3400 HP per unit (6800 HP total) and the cooling system can't handle more powerful prime mover. Nothing prevented them to design it for 4400 HP diesel (and then it would be the ultimate freight diesel locomotive) but RZD was too interested in beautiful numbers so they were terribly short-sighted in this matter so now you can't equip this design with more powerful diesel without designing the body from scratch. But they still order these machines for he most difficult non-electrified range on BAM where you need the most durable tech. I guess, some day they still order 4000+ HP 6-axle per unit freight diesel locomotive based on 2TE25A technical solutions.

>>132387
So what's the story behind the Sokol? Was it actually a promising design that orphaned by RZD because of cash filled envelops from Siemens or was there an internal fight amongst management around whether RZD should commit funds to designing HSR sets from scratch or buy something off-the-shelf?

>>132389
Summarizing all I heard about it, I guess a bit of both. The design was very far from perfect originally, but it wasn't completely incurable. They localized 25 mostly minor flaws in the design so to correct them all they apparently needed to build another prototype. But this wasn't possible without RZD's (MPS's then actually) "blessing" so it is obvious they didn't really wanted it to be fixed. Again the lack of perspective or some dirty financial interest because even if they had to fund two more prototypes it would still be far more cheap than buying Siemens Velaro, but anyway they saved themselves some effort by investing significantly more money in the off-the-shelf design now known as the Fastpo... um-m-m, Sapsan.

>>132281
Another angle by the way, the upper reach apparently.

So considering GE tried to push into the Russian market did any Russian manufacturers ever try to sell locomotives in the US?

>>132426
Actually they DID sell, it was TEM7A-1001-1011.

> However they haven't pass some sort of certification of yours so some of them were sent back and now are still happily running on various industrial lines and some were left to rust in the USA.

Wondering why even order the batch of machines at once being not sure they will pass the certification. Probably it was some confusion between some structures.

>>132428

Last I heard they were still sitting not far from a Texas shipping port

>>132436
Not all of them, all except for 1003, 1007 and 1009 (apparently) were shipped back to the manufacturer in Russia where refitted with 1520 running gear and then sold to Russian customers.
One of them. The unit owned by Gazpromtrans.

>>132439
Any idea why some of them stayed behind?

>>132440
This question will haunt me all my life, I'm afraid. As well as

> why even order the batch of machines at once being not sure they will pass the certification

>>132441
Do you think sending an email or giving a call to the company that shipped them over would enlighten us or was the deal done in such a dubious way that it would probably only further confuse us?

>>132442
Dunno about your companies but as for Ludinovskiy plant I doubt someone there will answer such fairly strange question officially. However maybe in the next year I will have a chance to speak with a LudTZ engineer in person but, again, I doubt he even knows. It was 24 years ago, it is unlikely this knowledge hovers around the company like a legend.

>>132428
>>132436
>>132439
>>132440

According to my brief google-fu, I've come to the conclusion that those that were left behind were scrapped. This site has some decent pictures, and a brief google search seems to confirm they were scrapped sometime around 2002 or 2003.

http://www.pbase.com/lynnh/russian_tem7a_engines

>>132456

In addition, it seems they were not ordered but were shipped in lieu of payment for grain aid.

>>132456
Now this makes some sense. However, it is still unclear why some were scrapped. Probably some were purchased after there was the order to start scrapping all that was left. According to trainpix.org database there are two known years when some were rescued, 2002 and 2004.

By the way you're maybe wondering why such old series remains in production. Basically, because this loco is good as fuck. The TEM7 family of road switchers originated in 1970-s(!!!) and underwent a handful of improvements, however in general the design is pretty same. Technically what is in production these days is TEM7AM model, but this is details. The key is almost perfect for its purposes running gear and also the successful design in general. The LudTZ also offers more powerful and advanced twin-diesel 2400 HP TEM14 model based on TEM7A design but still TEM7A is popular across the Space-1520. That's because for its performance TEM7A is cheap and very convenient in maintenance, I'd say modern TEM7s is something like AK-74M from the railway world:)
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Di8-xAlhY - modern TEM7As inside and outside.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOfpYCoSDzo - TEM7 with maintenance train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GID2tymFkIU - TEM7A with freight train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bTZU_31uVk - TEM7A in Lithuania. Some TEM7As were ordered by Lithuanian and Estonian transport companies. Yeah, Russian tanks in the Baltics! :)

>>132460
Pic is modern TEM14 series.

Trains? Russia? This video has'em covered...

https://youtu.be/gGXy1S2bECw

Picture strongly related.

>>132480
And not only Plesetsk. New https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostochny_Cosmodrome , for instance. All Russian cosmonautics couldn't have been possible without railway transport.

>>132482
Space, trains. Fuck yeah! The true future of Humanity! :)

>>132489

That made me think of this...

>>132490
Hm-m-m, didn't know Masha and the Bear became international product.

It actually survived better than Precure on Netflix, if you believe that.

https://www.sankakucomplex.com/2016/03/06/glitter-force-mv-unveiled-what-did-they-do-to-precure/

Link is NSFW.

>>132463
that pic is clearly postmodern trainz

>Haim Saban

not even once

>>132520
Unfortunately, now it works in a standard RZD livery like this one.

It's fun seeing trains from a
"REGIONAL POWER"

>>132524
A bit too powerful for just regional? :)
[Granit related]

>>132490
>>132513

"Stay on target!"

>>132513
Oh my. The bile and tears are delicious. It's almost as if they hadn't noticed the intended audience is pre-teen girls rather than basement-dwelling weebs.

>>132482
That's really cool! I always liked the looks of Soviet/Russian rockets, including the ones used by the Strategic Rocket Forces.

Using rail to transport the launch vehicle seems to work really well for Russia.

>>132537
Yeah, "we put A FREAKIN' ROCKET in your train, yo". Xzibit is really jealous... Twice for this thread:)

>>132526

Well, "Masha and the Bear" are set in a train station in Russia...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masha_and_the_Bear

Weird fact, one of the videos is one of YouTube's most popular.

It's also on Netflix.

BTW, where is Kartma?

Debut photo of 25 kVAC 8400 kW 2x(2o-2o) freight electric locomotive with AC traction motors 2ES5 by NEVZ with a freight train.

And another photo to the piggy-bank of modern railway monsters, 8300 kW LNG gas-turbine GT1h-002 with a freight train.

Transmashholding EP2K for RZD and Alstom KZ4ATs for Kazakhstan railways, St. Petersburg-Passenger-Moskovskiy depot (apparently Alstoms were shipped to SPB and then will proceed to Kazakhstan by rails).

I know what you're thinking.

>>132580
Das cute.
What's the modeling seen like in Russia anyway?

>>132547

Lurking, mostly.

>>132547
>>132583

you two are harshin teh 1520

>>132582
I have already mentioned it once, I doubt I could add some new info.
There are a couple of semi-enthusiast workshops, anything beyond that is completely enthusiasts. Except... There still are a couple of big layouts on the RZD's sites (or at least one, don't remember clearly) apparently supported by them. And this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Maket_Rossiya (https://grandmaket . ru/en/) thing, of course.

Yep, an LV steam engine with a freight train. In ordinary work. In 2016. Guess why.

>>132662

Ok you have my attention... What's the story on this?

>>132663
Nothing emergency actually. The steam engines still work with retro-trains originally. But this kind of operation is too sparse so to recoup the upkeep of steam engines and for the sake of the machines themselves they give them light freight or maintenance work. But this is common only on Oktyabrskaya railway, also Moskovkaya railway (branches of RZD) rarely involves steam engines in maintenance train work.

For example...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2a8PGPmo_A - L-5289 with freight train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjoknqu38Z4 - L-5289 and SO17-2359 with freight train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwaVz4ZjtY4 - SO17-2359 and SO18-2018 with freight trains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVEoszxFy04 - L-3653 with snow-clearing train.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bGdt2ojbvQ - LV-0233 with freight retro-train. Yep, freight retro-train... O_O Author says this is indeed retro-train after the anniversary of Kavkazskaya depot.

>>132665
I'm surprised US freight companies don't do this with their steam programs.

>>132674
Too unreliable. Too few employees that know how to operate steam engines.

>>132675
You could say the same thing about Russia though.

>>132674

They sort of do. Last year when they had to ferry 611 from I think Roanoke to Spencer, they tacked on about a dozen freight cars that had to go to Linwood Yard. The passenger coaches were further south behind 4501 at the time, and the freight cars had to be moved anyway.

Beyond that, the only other major freight RR that owns their own steam engines is UP, and the state of that program is a whole thread by itself. Although some shortlines that share their tracks with tourist RRs occasionally let the steamers haul freight.

>>132676
Do not deceive yourself, this is still relatively rare event judging by the quantity of photo- and video material of this. I guess this is done partially to keep the "steam" employees busy and give them additional practice, otherwise they would just sit in the depot and get paid for nearly nothing except for one or two days in a week. But again, apparently the steam engines do not get any significant amount of this additional work. Doubtful we are speaking about more than 10-15 hours a week. Still, this is very old tech and the spare parts for it are often extremely expensive since you need to exclusively order some of them from a factory.

>>132688

If this was cropped to 300x100 pixels, it could be submitted for a 1chan banner.

the text overlaid could be '(P) is for Parobozh'
and '1chan' in Cyrillic

>>132689
Okay. The best I have come up with. I think about Parovoz it is unnecessary.
Although not really worried if this will be a banner.

>>132690

[*chan] nice work. Thanks!

Send to 'Contact e-mail' or maybe thaddeh will see this..

If you refresh -

http://1chan.net/rail/banners/rotate.php

some of the (older) banners are 'j*japan' and 'u*usa'

>>132692

[*yAH}?

>KOI8 is haaaarrd

>>132692
I'll notify him.

>>132688

>buying spare parts

You mean to say you don't have a machine shop on site to manufacture your own? Given that spares are, as you said, nonexistent, you would think that would be a prerequisite for any steam program.

>>132701
Honestly, I don't know all of the details. But for me it is obvious, given the small amount of details required, that arranging the manufacturing on the existing capacities of some repair or locomotive plant is still more convenient than building even small workshop from scratch. Of course, steam depots, at least the major ones, have repair capabilities, but they are not manufacturing details. Or what did you mean by "your own"? Of course, we are talking about Russian manufacturers, I have only heard that some advanced repair equipment was ordered from Germany.

>>132482
By the way, speaking of cosmos, today is the 55-year anniversary of the flight of the first man to space, Yuriy Alexeevich Gagarin on the Vostok spaceship carried by a 8K72K rocket. Why is this related to the thread? Because, well...

> All Russian cosmonautics couldn't have been possible without railway transport.

Which is, in my opinion, awesome.

This railway line on Baykonur is even called "railway to the stars", which is more than telling.

Who would have thought that casually coming here for the futallaby source code would hit so close to my childhood. Much of when I was a young boy was spent in trains across the Motherland. God damn if those weren't some of the most formative experiences of my life. There's nothing quite like playing cards and sharing food with strangers in a double bunk, with your mother stepping out at long stops to buy fresh berries from old babushkas to supplement your perishables as the days wear on, then stepping out into some obscure backwoods platform with no boarding hall, being driven to your village through nightfall, then waking up in the back of an old Lada just in time to watch the sun go up... I miss those innocent times. Godspeed to you old bastards.

>>132719

> then stepping out into some obscure backwoods platform with no boarding hall, being driven to your village through nightfall

Damn, that seems like a long way to the dacha:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EqYAUxNsCw

>>132713
Out of curiosity, did the railways suffer heavy damages when the N1 rocket exploded in 1969?

>>132726
Dunno. Probably as every other infrastructure within the blast radius.
A pity story with that N1, it just de-facto ruined USSR's lunar program. But look at how it was transported...

>>132720

That is a fantastic shot. 9/10. Now if it only had a rocket. :^)

Paravoz-> Спасибо for all of these excellent photos and informative threads. My experience is that Russian rail is poorly covered here in the west. I rarely see magazine articles about them, and when I do they are usually quite good but leave me wanting to know more. Russian trains look quite good and seem to be utilized well in your vast country. I love checking in here and seeing any updates. Thanks again!

>>132731
Actually the pic wasn't posted by me, but I liked it too.

> Now if it only had a rocket.

The closest pic I could find. Shieeeet, I'd like to take some photos here:)

The fun thing is that every photo of a launch table on Baikonur, Plesetsk or Vostochniy is related on this board because it always contains rails.
P. S. No, this isn't an explosion, this is normal launch on its very first moments AFAIK.

"Hey you fellas in front of the photo line......."
Looks like there are some other fans there geting some pics.

>>132730

>four locos

Holy shit.
That would make for a wonderful 'demo' at one of those international locomotive trade shows.

>>132731
Indeed this is some great stuff. Thanks OP for all the content!

>My experience is that Russian rail is poorly covered here in the west.

Kind of a generalized issue though, isn't it? Railway news outlets and mags tend to mostly cover a country or a region and rarely touch on areas beyond it.
I mean shit, I don't know a single thing about the Mexican rail system beyond the fact that KCS and UP own a bit of it and that system is just south of my country.

>>132730
'Holy shit!' is right. The scale of that rocket is amazing. I can imagine that syncing the speed of those units took some talent to achieve. Man, I can't get over that image. I've seen a few pics of the N1, but wow...!

>jawdropped.jpg

>>132736

> four locos

These are two two-unit locos. Don't forget, Russia is all about multiple-unit locomotives.
>>132738

> syncing the speed of those units

...is achieved by telemechanics. These two PTE3 (modified TE3) 2x2000 HP locomotives were connected via the transporter.

But the transporter unit of Buran program looks way more impressive. It was hauled by two PTE3 or two two-unit (originally three-unit) 3M62P locomotives.
Another great project buried by the collapse of USSR (however some claim it was one of the reasons of the collapse given its unbelievable cost).

BTW pic related (known to you TEM7A >>132460) is the locomotive for new Vostochniy cosmodrome >>132482. Livery looks very cool in my opinion.

>>132751
I like that P36 behind it.

>>132740
>>132736

>four locos

I am very disappointed in all of you that you didn't pick up on this.

>>132765 -- What kinda dodgy plonk is this?

>>132770

>lelreddit maymay?

>banned Alien Technology?

>Snail's breakfast beverage of choice

>Most Interesting Man in the World

>Legalized cocaine in a can. From Chicago

www.fourlokostories.com

Bumpin'.

>>132830
Gorgeous. The grade crossing got me thinking of a question I forgot to ask a while ago: since when have you guys had those grade crossings with massive deployable steel plates?

>>132840
Dunno but probably since late Soviet years. But these are usually only on the major lines or big roads. Unfortunately, based on practice, all crossings should have those plates because some drivers can possibly stop on railway crossing only with something which can completely destroy a car in event of an impact and better it won't be a train. However these can be only guarded crossings because such devices even despite design safety measures can cause major difficulties or even a significant safety risk for both railway and a road in case of a malfunction (which, again, can be caused by some headless driver) but many crossings are located in remote areas so it is very inconvenient to provide full-time personnel for every such crossing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzsIjw5h2bc - I was almost right, such barrage devices began to appear on the railway crossings in 1991.

>>132842
Thanks for the info! On a related note, I read a few years back that the high speed services increased the length of time a crossing needs to be locked. Is this true or is the delay on the crossing gates the same for every train?

>>132843
Yeah, I was also thinking of mention of high-speed railway crossings. This is kinda true. All crossings (maybe most of, but probably all) on high-speed and rapid railway lines such as Moscow - SPB and Moscow - Nizhniy Novgorod get guarded railway crossings equipped with massive barriers which can also stop a car by brute force in addition to conventional equipment including barrage devices. How I have heard of one of the guards on such crossing, this system is redundant: basic equipment still works automatically by a signal from the section of approach while this additional barriers lower manually from the control unit (or also automatically but...) by schedule which is synchronized with passing of the rapid and high-speed trains. You can even see the schedule on the right, it is public.

>>132844
I really love the ones in the ground. Especially watching videos of people trying to beat them.

>>132846
Speaking of idiots vs railway crossings or what did I mean by "practice"...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ617jbUM3M - That's why you need some brute force to protect the railway from canned idiots. Also shows the work of barrage devices' "fool protection", still not "idiot protection".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSKIc2JzT3M - And that's what I exactly mean by "practice". FTGJ there are a couple of examples of a barrier malfunction, however, IIRC, the signals still worked correctly, but everybody didn't care...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuX6auShx_A - One of the most severe recent accidents. Location is Kazakhstan but the line is RZD's south passage of the Transsib. Some claim the driver fell asleep or hasn't been able to stop the machine due to glaze.

>>132848

>all those bus crashes

Wow. Do they not instruct drivers to always stop at a grade crossing?

Of course they do. But does that mean the drivers will always listen and obey? If they did, there would be less need for heavy crash barriers on crossings.

I think the best way to motivate drivers would be to simply not remove all wreckage from the crossings except for the pieces that interfere with railway or road traffic. Even some economy after all. But when I watch such videos I feel like probably on some crossings with such practice in a decade there would be giant piles of rusty metal...

>>132856
Problem:
Any wreckage left unguarded would be stolen for scrap within a week.

>>132878
Didn't think about it. But probably in some cases people would be afraid to steal it in such well-observed place. And also heavy wreckage like engine would require appropriate tech to lift and carry it. But it isn't even worth speculation, on practice no one will enact this rule because everyone will claim that this is rude, unaesthetic, even dangerous (that someone gonna be injured) or something like this.

>>132872
BTW note the locomotive.

FD20 "Felix Dzerzhinskiy" steam engine.

So what are RZD's operation internationally? I know they operate a few lines directly in Kazakhstan but their international holdings seem to be very significant.
For instance, what's the reason they're upgrading lines in Serbia and (not to verge into politics) what are their operations like in Abkhazia?

>>132922
Have to confess, I'm not really into this topic.
AFAIK "a few lines in Kazakhstan" are just parts of the Transsib which historically ended up located on Kazakhstan territory. In Abkhazia RZD owns its picturesque railway which is fair given they have rebuilt it from almost inoperable condition (in 2009 Abkhazian authorities have passed the railway to RZD for 10 years under condition that they will restore its functionality). Now operational 195 of 221 km. As for EU, I have heard about certain RZD's investments to Serbian and Greek railways but I have no information about what is planned and what was achieved already in practice.
Pic is Abkhazian railway with its aboriginal rolling stock (mostly there is RZD's rolling stock), 10 years ago restored electric traction here was just a fantasy.

Also Abkhazia.

>>132929
>>132923
Seems like RZD did a pretty good job rebuilding the lines. Do you happen to know if they've also restored passenger service and those wonderful stations they have/had?

>pic related

>>132934
Still its overall condition is very far from great. They focused the efforts only on basic functionality but beyond that the progress is slow. As far as I can tell, this is because they have allocated very limited funds (initially at least).
FTGJ all railways in the countries of South Caucasus are in very poor (the same "basic functionality") condition compared to RZD.

>>132934
Passenger service is restored in general, yes, but it looks like these station buildings are still untouched, for now, at least.

Meanwhile 3 posts until the bump limit.

>>132872
And about what I mean by "note the locomotive"... what if I say this isn't dual-mode locomotive? While it still has a pantograph and can operate on non-electrified lines.

>>132962 -- Can work away from the wires, has a pantograph yet not a hybrid of any kind... Talk about a stumper.

Well, until I stumbled onto a ten-year-old posting on railroad.net: "Pantograph is used to scrub the ice off the catenary." D'oh! (slaps forehead)

>>132964
Yes! You're right, this device (on 1520 at least) is called a vibropantograph. The strange thing is that almost all road switchers with such device are located in the Ukraine. This particular one is based in Crimea so now it is part of Crimean railway (while Crimea for some de jure for some de facto is now a part of Russia their railway however is operated by an independent from RZD company). But I have heard only of one or two diesel locomotives with a vibropantograph and also heard of a 3-unit VL11 permanent system with one pantograph used as ice cleaner on RZD. So obviously this method is optional but why UZ (Ukrainian railways) needs so many locomotives with vibropantographs while RZD don't is a mystery to me.
Maybe our rolling stock (which is possible) usually have more durable pantographs which can clean reasonable amounts of ice by themselves (there is even a clause in the Rules of Technical Operation which tells to raise an additional pantograph in case of ice on the catenary IIRC)?..

>>132971
BTW the pic is just regular pantograph on 2ES6 3kVDC freight locomotive by Sinara Transport Machines.

>>132971 -- Or maybe Ukraine just gets the wrong kind of ice.

>>132973
Hah, it looks like jokes about Ukraine got even to /rail/ :)

I guess this is bump limit?..

>>132971
That's such an oddly specific device. The CPR just gets rid of snow and ice with some 2x4s strapped to the top of old boxcars.

>>132974 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_wrong_type_of_snow

>>132976

Really like this shot. You're doing god's work, товарищ.

>>132983
So I guess this was rather an "internal" joke after all:)

So... I think I have enough strength for another thread. I promise, after this we'll stop for a while because you're probably getting tired of this RZD stuff.
Tell your thoughts if you have something to add or oppose.

Ending the thread with a pic of a glorious Transpolar railway.

>>132992 -- Sweeeeet...