Steam & Excursion > Russian Steam

Steam preservation is alive and well in the capital of the former Soviet Union.
Many people have heard of the steam roundhouse in Wolsztyn, Poland, (sort of in limbo, non-working condition right now) but few have heard of this gem. Podmoskovnaya Depot is currently Europe's only operational roundhouse that exclusively services steam locomotives for a mainline railway. The station, water tower (operational) and roundhouse (13 stalls) were built in 1901 and are a rare example of preserved pre-revolution railroad infrastructure in Russia. There are currently 10 locomotives at the complex. 7 of them are in ready-to-roll condition, and 4 of them had "hot water" when I visited today. Steam can always be found running on Moscow's main lines on the weekends. A dedicated team of 24 machinists work 7 days a week on the restoration and maintenance of the locomotives. For the last decade or so the future of the depot was quite uncertain. At one point there were plans to bulldoze everything and build housing units here. Luckily, however, the city of Moscow needed to build a new depot for servicing its brand new high speed trains. (visible to the right of the roundhouse) Somehow a complete restoration of Podmoskovnaya was included in the budget. The newly restored depot grounds opened in July. All of this is financed by the government owned "Russian Railways".

- The depot, water tower, and roundhouse at Podmoskovnaya
- Soviet steam
- A look inside the roundhouse

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- The shop switcher
- Back in the USSR
- One of the stalls in the roundhouse is used for display.
 

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Amazing! Thank you! This is hard to understand with all of the recent financial turmoil there.

That's cool.   Another 2nd (or 3rd) place for America.     Do they a "footplate" experience like Wolsztyn?   Would you be obliged to give the crew the vodka before the run? 

- I've heard of a double header, but what do you call this? Two L class locomotives are back to back, sandwiching a single coach.
- A P36, the semi-streamlined locomotive commonly associated with the Transsiberian Express, departs for a daytime trip.
- P36 0120 returns to Kazanskiy Station in Moscow late at night



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/15 10:56 by pkwlsn.

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Tominde Wrote:
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> That's cool.   Another 2nd (or 3rd) place for
> America.     Do they a "footplate" experience
> like Wolsztyn?   Would you be obliged to give
> the crew the vodka before the run?

I haven't heard of them allowing any cab rides, if that's what you mean. But they definitely allow people to climb aboard and watch the fireman shovel coal while sitting at the station.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/15 11:03 by pkwlsn.

0-10-0, 2-10-0, 4-8-4, any other wheel arrangments?

Great in informative post! Thanks!

Cheers,
Jack

tomstp Wrote:
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> 0-10-0, 2-10-0, 4-8-4, any other wheel
> arrangments?

Two 2-10-2s and two 0-6-0s are present as well.

Posted from Android

Interesting pics!! Thanks....

The similarities to the Chinese QJ's in appearance is striking!  Interesting shots, thanks for sharing.  I had no idea this place even existed.

Neat stuff with couplers, even though a bit "colorful".

Thanks for posting these very interesting photos!

But, do they all have "shiny staybolt caps?"

Eddy

Another visit to Moscow is now on my bucket list!!!!!   thanks, Arlen

PhillipJohnson Wrote:
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> The similarities to the Chinese QJ's in appearance
> is striking!  Interesting shots, thanks for
> sharing.  I had no idea this place even existed.

That's because the Chinese QJ's design was largely based on the Soviet LV.

Posted from Android

Fascinating!

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com 

pkwlsn Wrote:
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> PhillipJohnson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The similarities to the Chinese QJ's in
> appearance
> > is striking!  Interesting shots, thanks for
> > sharing.  I had no idea this place even
> existed.
>
> That's because the Chinese QJ's design was largely
> based on the Soviet LV.

The origin of the QJ is an American (Alco and Baldwin) construction of a 2-10-4 (Alco) and 2-10-2 (Baldwin) engine delivered to the Soviet Union in 1931.

For a more detailed history see: http://www.softwaretesting.no/chinarail/qjdetails/qjhistory.html

Cheers,
Jack