Exhibits

Explosive Growth

By the 1860s, the rail industry in Russia had entered a period of rapid growth. In the 19th century, most railways in Russia were privately owned and could order their own rolling stock as needed. During this period, the Russian government encouraged the purchase of cars and steam locomotive from within Russia rather than abroad. In this context, many engineering plants focused on building cars, as the goods wagons of the time were small, had a minimal number of metal parts and were simple to manufacture.

During the development of rail communication in the 19thcentury, the need for covered goods wagons for the safer transport of goods became apparent.

At the same time, in the 1860s, the desirability of the ability to transport freight between different railways without the need for unloading and reloading was clear. In 1869, the First General Congress of Railway Representatives was held. Eighteen railways sent representatives. The congress laid the foundations of the transport of freight between railways with different owners without unloading, and also established the minimum common standards for rolling stock required to make this possible.

The Introduction of Standards

Standard Dimensions

To facilitate the transport of troops, in 1875, the Ministry of Railways stipulated “standard dimensions” for any new orders of railway cars. Later, adherence to the uniform dimensions (the standard) became stricter, and the variety of wheelsets, axleboxes and buffers gradually reduced. This made it possible to introduce unloading-free connections on all railways with a gauge of 1,524 mm in 1889.

The Ministry of Railways introduced the “standard dimensions” in 1875 to facilitate the transport of troops.

The earlier car designs were displaced by the mass delivery of cars conforming to the unified norms, known as “normal”, or standard cars. According to various sources, by 1906, the fleet of standard-type cars made up 90–98 % of the goods wagon fleet, and the majority of the remainder were 1873 state-type cars. The “withdrawal of dilapidated and poorly designed old-type cars” began in July 1936, including those with wooden dead-wood.

Museum Exhibit

The frame of the car on display was designed for operation on a 1,435-mm-gauge track and converted to a 1,524-mm gauge. Initially, its frame had metal channels and transverse I-section equipment bars, and the other bars (buffer, longitudinal equipment, diagonal and intermediate transverse) were made of wood. The wooden dead-wood was reinforced with metal box beam.