Soviet Er Class 0-10-0

[Szdfan]

My Dad, who lives in the Kaliningrad oblast in Russia, sent this photo that he took this weekend of Er-791-94 at the Kaliningrad-Passazhirsky train station.
 

This is apparently the first steam fan trip in the area in 20 years. He noted that the 0-10-0 pulled a singular coach that was sold out, even though tickets were expensive. 
 

Hopefully, this is a sign of future steam trips. 
 

Jeremy 

[JR East]

Nice ten-wheeler 

[Szdfan]

4 hours ago, JR East said:

Nice ten-wheeler 

Yeah, the 0-10-0 is a bit unusual. The Russians (and Soviets) built 11,000 of these. Germany had several 0-10-0 classes, but it’s an unusual wheel arrangement.

[JR East]

On 5/31/2021 at 3:34 PM, Szdfan said:

Yeah, the 0-10-0 is a bit unusual. The Russians (and Soviets) built 11,000 of these. Germany had several 0-10-0 classes, but it’s an unusual wheel arrangement.

 

Probably because some locs were picked out of Germany after WW2. They did a copy of the German missile V2, why not the same with locomotives

[Szdfan]

21 hours ago, JR East said:

 

Probably because some locs were picked out of Germany after WW2. They did a copy of the German missile V2, why not the same with locomotives

So on the one hand, yes, Soviet frequently design copied foreign designs. The TEM2 diesel switcher is based on the RSD1, which the Soviets obtained from the US through the lend-lease program. GAZ based some of their early cars and trucks on the Ford models A and AA. Lada is based on Fiat.

 

And it wasn’t just the Soviets — Tatra in Czechoslovakia based their streetcars on US PCC cares. The Chinese QJ locomotive is based on the Soviet L Class, and so on.

 

On the other hand, the Er is a subclass of the E class, which is a Russian design that predates the Communist Revolution. By World War II, the Germans had abandoned the 0-10-0 for the 2-10-0 (the primary locomotive that the Soviets received from the Germans after WWII were thousands of the BR52 “Kriegslokomotiven,” designated TE class.)

 

I don’t think German influence is out of the question though when it comes to Russian 0-10-0s. The Prussians were using 0-10-0s prior to WWI (i.e. the G 10, later BR57) and considering the amount of German influence in Russia at the time, it’s not impossible that the Russians would have looked to the Germans for inspiration and influence for locomotive design. I haven’t done enough reading to confirm or dispute this. 

 

 

[Szdfan]

(I think it’s obvious that while I’m getting into Japanese trains and starting to collect Japanese models, my first love are railroads in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, European model trains are crazy expensive and at this point of my life, not affordable.)

 

(That being said, I’m REALLY enjoying learning about Japanese trains and researching the end of steam in Hokkaido.)