Freight locomotive E^R791 81

During the Great Patriotic War, the steam locomotive units of the USSR’s railways suffered great damage. Some steam locomotives were destroyed in military action, some were broken down for scrap metal by the occupying forces, and even more were severely damaged and had to be struck from the railway fleet inventory. Additionally, many steam locomotives were in need of serious repair work, which the destroyed steam locomotive repair plants in the western part of the USSR made particularly difficult.

Delivery during the war and in the immediate post-war years of approximately 2,200 Sh^А, E^А and E^M steam locomotives from the USA and the arrival of Class 52 steam locomotives (renamed in 1951 to class TE) both captured and as German reparations were a great boost to the USSR’s steam locomotive operations. However, even these machines remain insufficient to meet the railway’s need for new locomotives.

The first E^R760 01 steam locomotive was manufactured in Romania in 1946. Production began at MÁVAG in Hungary from 1947, and at plants in Czechoslovakia and Poland from 1949. In total, the plants in these countries produced 2,920 class E^R steam locomotives for the USSR from 1946 to 1957. Of these, 316 were manufactured in Romania, 1,345 in Hungary (five more were built with a 1,524-mm gauge to operate on a section of the Hungarian railways), 360 in Czechoslovakia, and 899 in Poland.

Initially, the imported class E^R steam locomotives were no different to the E^R class produced in Kolomna in 1943. From 1949, for the Czech and Polish imports, and from 1951 for the Romanian and Hungarian, the imported E^R class had a more powerful 40-pipe steam superheater, which improved efficiency and traction. When tests were performed in 1957 on the 1955 E^R792 09 at the Shcherbinka Station test loop, compared to the 1931 E^M716 55 tested in 1941, the E^R792 09 had a maximum power of 1,670 hp compared to 1,450 hp, and its efficiency was 7.4 % compared to 6.9 %.

After construction, the E^R steam locomotives were sent from the manufacturers on special 1,435-gauge transport wheelskates to Soviet border stations, where the 1,524-mm gauge wheelsets were rolled under them. After testing on the wide gauge, they were sent on to their destinations.

Upon arrival from the plants on the USSR’s rail network, many new class E^R locomotives were not put into operation. Instead, they were sent to cold steam locomotive storage bases, where they were kept in storage by the Ministry of Railways in case of military action. They were put through routine tests and re-conservation every few years and remained directly at the disposal of the Ministry of Railways. Post-war E^R steam locomotives were supplied to almost all USSR railways from the Baltic states to the Far East. Later on, the majority of them were assigned to the railways of the European part of the country.

In addition to the railways for public use, some of the new foreign-built class E^R steam locomotives were delivered to the works railways of large industrial enterprises. Most of these were late-1955–mid 1956 Hungarian-made and late 1955–1957 Polish locomotives. A few Romanian steam locomotives built in 1948–1949 likely also ended up on industrial railways. Class E^R steam locomotives were put into operation in the coal-mining industry and in iron and non-ferrous metal extraction enterprises.

After use in industrial enterprises, some of these steam locomotives were transferred to the Ministry of Railways’ rail network. In turn, from the 1960s, post-war class E^R locomotives were transferred from the Ministry of Railways to industrial enterprises; however, the number transferred was small and the Ministry of Railways preferred to keep these relatively new vehicles in their fleet.

The post-war class E^R locomotives were destined to close out the era of steam traction on the USSR’s railways. By 1970, steam locomotives handled an almost negligible volume of the total railway traffic, transporting approximately 3.5 % of freight turnover. The number of sections served by steam traction dwindled each year. By the end of the 1970s, diesel and electric locomotives were already in operation on all significant lines.

Steam locomotive E^R791 81 was built in 1955 at the Joseph Stalin Metal Works in Poznań (Polish People’s Republic, now H. Cegielski-Poznań S.A.). The tender was built at the Pafawag plant in Wrocław. The steam locomotive’s serial number is 2216.

After construction, the steam locomotive was delivered to the Oktyabrskaya Railway in August 1955. Later, it was in operation on the Belarusian and Oktyabrskaya Railways at the Leningrad-Finlyandsky, Zhlobin and Sonkovo Depots. It remained in operation until 1966. Its total mileage came to 823,002 km. After the end of operation, the steam locomotive was store at the Gatchina Storage Base.

In 2012, by order of Russian Railways, the steam locomotive was transferred to the Central Museum of the Oktyabrskaya Railway for storage in the museum’s archive.

On the initiative of senior vice-president of Russian Railways V.A. Gapanovich, it was decided to create a sectional model of one of the post-war class E^R steam locomotives for display at exhibitions put on by Russian Railways. Steam locomotive E^R791 81 was selected for this purpose.