Exhibits

Trophies

As a result of the armed conflicts that took place with Finland from 1939 to 1945, approximately 90 Finnish steam locomotives ended up in the Soviet Union.

The arrival of Finnish steam locomotives in the USSR can be divided into several stages. During the Winter War from November 1939 to March 1940, the USSR obtained six steam locomotives; under the peace treaty of 1940, the USSR obtained 75 more; during the Karelian offensive in summer 1944, nine; under the peace treaty of 1944, one more.

During military action and a part of peace treaties, the Soviet Union obtained 91 Finnish steam locomotives, three of which were reclaimed by Finnish troops.

However, as a result of military action in 1941, Finnish troops succeeded in reclaiming from Soviet territory three steam locomotives (one of class Tk₁ and two of class Tk₃, per the 1942 class designations) from those that had passed into Soviet hands.

In the early years of WWII, low-power steam locomotives prevailed in Finland, due in part to the weak technological infrastructure of the Finnish railways (weak track superstructure, low-capacity cars) and the type of work they were used for. Thus, the most powerful Finnish TK₃ freight locomotives brought to the USSR were only a little more powerful than the Soviet class O^V.

The weak superstructure of the Finnish tracks and low carrying capacity of their cars meant that most steam locomotives in Finland were low power.

Most of the Finnish freight steam locomotives that came to the USSR were type 1-4-0 class Tv₁ and class Tk₃ (16 and 26 respectively). Passenger and freight locomotives of other classes built between 1898–1913 came to the USSR in small numbers.

Operation

Short Service

Most of the steam locomotives that came to the USSR from 1939 to 1940 were on the Oktyabrskaya Railway on 1st January 1941. This railway’s fleet included 74 Finnish vehicles: 53 freight and 21 passenger locomotives. Two more Finnish steam locomotives were in the inventory of the Leningrad Railway. The fates of these locomotives were diverse. Some were transferred to industrial works railways in 1941, and some remained in the Ministry of Railways’ fleet. And as already mentioned, three of the steam locomotives were reclaimed by Finnish troops in 1941.

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Finnish steam locomotives remaining in the Ministry of Railways’ fleet inventory were mainly concentrated on the Oktyabrskaya and Kirov Railways. There were operated at the Sortavala, Lodeynoye Pole, Vyborg and Gatchina Depots, among others, for service and support work.

The last Finnish steam locomotives were decommissioned from Soviet railways in the 1950s. They remained in operation at industrial enterprises for only a little longer.

Finnish steam locomotives were only in service on Soviet railways for a short period of time: the last of them was decommissioned in the 1950s, and at industrial enterprises, they were used for a little longer. And in 1951, a decree from the Council of Ministers of the USSR saw five Finnish locomotives (three of class Tv₁ and two of class Tk₃) returned to their former owners.

Museum Exhibit

Received in Exchange

Freight steam locomotive Tk₃ 1105 was built at the Lokomo plant in Finland in 1943 and was assigned serial number 143. The “Tk” part of the class name comes from the Finnish words “Tavarajunaveturi”, meaning “freight locomotive”, and “kevyt”, meaning “light”.

Tk₃ freight steam locomotives (designated K₅ prior to 1942) were built from 1928 to 1953 at the Finnish plants Lokomo and Tampella. Additionally, in 1949, 20 locomotives were built by Danish plant Frichs. In total, 161 steam locomotives were built in this class. Tk₃-class locomotives were in operation on Finnish railways until the mid 1970s. Today, some of these locomotives can be found in museums in Finland and some have been installed as monuments.

Only one Finnish steam locomotive survived to the present day in Russia. It stands in the St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky Station. Therefore, in 1998, Soviet TE 3397 was exchanged for Finnish Tk₃ 1105.

As only one Finnish locomotive survived to the present day in Russia — steam locomotive H₂ 293, which stands in the St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky Station — the decision was made to purchase a Finnish steam locomotive from the Finnish Railway Museum in order to expand the collection of the Central Museum of the Oktyabrskaya Railway. In 1998, TE 3397 from the collection of the Central Museum of the Oktyabrskaya Railway was sent to Finland, and in return, the museum received Tk₃ 1105.