Exhibit description

Diesel locomotive TGM3-021

Simpler and more reliable

Research on power transmission from an internal combustion engine to the driving wheel pairs was conducted back in the 1930s. They showed the extreme unreliability of mechanical transmission and the impossibility of using electric transmission for low-power diesel locomotives due to complex manufacturing and high cost. To create a new diesel locomotive to replace the industrial steam locomotive, a hydromechanical transmission was chosen. Its development took place during the Second World War.

Weak German

In Germany, V36 shunting locomotives were produced since 1937. After the war, one of them ended up in the USSR, where in 1949 it was tested. They revealed sufficient reliability and convenience of hydromechanical transmission for low-power diesel locomotives.

At the end of 1956 the Murom Plant named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. built the first two three-axle shunting locomotives with hydraulic transmission of the TGM1 series. The series turned out to be unsuccessful. The construction of a new one was entrusted to the Lyudinovo Diesel Locomotive Plant.

Soviet beauty

Under the supervision of the chief designer of the Lyudinovo Plant, Alexander Khrychikov, the locomotive was redesigned. This is how the TGM3 series appeared, that is, "diesel locomotive with hydromechanical transmission, shunting, type 3". The plant produced the first five locomotives in 1959

From 1959 to 1977 less than 4,000 TGM3 of all modifications were built. About 1,200 worked on the railways of the Ministry of Railways. 75 machines were exported to Bulgaria, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and China. In Poland from 1963 to 1966 the SM15 series was built according to Soviet designs.

Exhibit history

The museum displays the shunting diesel locomotive TGM1 575, built at the Lyudinovo Plant named after Dzerzhinsky in 1960.

The TGM1 575 was added to the museum's collection in 1997. Before that, it was located in the Velikiye Luki depot of the October Railway.

Historical context

Outwardly, the diesel locomotive was more reminiscent of industrial electric locomotives. It had a highly raised driver's cab located almost in the center, and hoods at the front and back were slanted to the outside.

After testing, it turned out that the locomotive had a short wheelbase, which led to its rocking while moving. The units were located too compactly, which made them difficult to access for repair and dismantling. The large slopes of the cabin walls impeded visibility, and the refrigerator elements were located too far from the diesel engine.