Russian locomotive class Ye

Russian class Е [Ye]
Еа-629 (Ел-629) as a monument in Ussuriysk (Primorsky Krai)
Power type	Steam
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works; American Locomotive Company; Canadian Locomotive Company
Build date	1915–1918; 1943–1947
Total produced	3,193+
Configuration	2-10-0
UIC classification	1′E h2
Gauge	5 ft  (1,524 mm) Those remaining in US converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Driver diameter	52 in (1.321 m)
Length	72 ft 9 in (22.17 m)
Weight on drivers	180,200 lb (81,700 kg)
Locomotive weight	207,700 lb (94,200 kg)
Locomotive & tender combined weight	342,500 lb (155,400 kg)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	40,000 lb (18,100 kg)
Water capacity	7,000 US gal (26,000 l; 5,800 imp gal)
Boiler pressure	180 psi (1.24 MPa)
Firegrate area	64.7 sq ft (6.01 m2)
Heating surface: Total	2,594 sq ft (241.0 m2)
Superheater area	569 sq ft (52.9 m2)
Cylinders	Two
Cylinder size	25 × 28 in (630 × 710 mm)
Valve gear	Walschaert
Tractive effort	51,500 lbf (229.08 kN)
Career	Imperial Russian Government; Various American railways.

The Russian locomotive class Ye, and subclasses Ye^a, Ye^k, Ye^l, Ye^f, Ye^m, Ye^mv and Ye^s (Russian: Паровоз Е; Е^а, Е^к, Е^л, Е^ф, Е^м, Е^мв and Е^с) were a series of 2-10-0 locomotives built by American builders for the Russian railways in World War I and again in World War II. They were lightweight engines with relatively low axle loadings. Due to the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, 200 locomotives were stranded in the United States; these were fitted with wider tires^{[clarification needed]} to fit the American gauge and were sent to various railroads. The locomotives were affectionately dubbed as "Russian Decapods."

A number of locomotives were acquired by the Finnish railways (class Tr2)^[1] and by the Republic of China (class ST1)

World War I

Background

When Russia entered the war in 1914, it was dependent mainly on 0-8-0 and 2-8-0 locomotives. What was needed were locomotives with high adhesive weight (and thus tractive effort), which could only be provided by a locomotive with 10 drive wheels, but the only one being built, the class E (Russian: Паровоз Э) 0-10-0, was in short supply, with only 100 produced thus far. Another problem was that the 0-10-0's were being produced only at one factory. At this time, Professor N. L. Shchukin, head of the commission of rolling stock, the Ministry of Railways, proposed ordering 400 2-10-0 locomotives from the United States.

Design

Although the production was to be American, the locomotive was designed by Russian engineers. This called for 10 drive wheels, a low axle loading, a large firebox to burn low-grade coal, and an overall similar design to the class Э class 0-10-0. Because the weight of the boiler, particularly the firebox, caused the axle load on some axles to exceed 16 tonnes, it was decided to add a lead pony truck, thus turning it into a 2-10-0. This also allowed a slightly bigger boiler whilst keeping the axle loadings within acceptable limits.

Some people (including Shchukin) would have rather ordered a 2-10-2 locomotive, but it was decided to keep it as a 2-10-0, as its shorter length would allow to fit on smaller turntables. Another reason was that the small drive wheels allowed a wide firebox above the wheels to be nearly as deep as a locomotive with a trailing axle.

The cylinders were originally planned to be 630 mm stroke by 700 mm bore, but because America uses inches, the designers changed it to 635 mm (25 in) stroke by 711.2 mm (28 in) bore. It was originally planned to use plate frames, but since that would take time away from production in setting up the equipment in American factories, it was decided to use bar frames.

It is worth noting that at the same time, Russian designers were also planning for a tandem compound 2-10-0 and 0-10-0, and ordinary 0-10-2 and 0-12-0 to be produced at home, but the orders were never implemented due to the factories being at the limit of their capacities.

Diagrams showing the basic dimensions of four models...

• 

  Еф, Ек, and Ес

• 

  Ел

• 

  Еа

• 

  Ем and Емв

The First Order

In 1915, the first 400 locomotives entered production. In Russia, they were given the name of class "Е," with subclasses varying on the city of the manufacturer: Еф for Baldwin built (ф=ph for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Ес for Alco built (с=s for Schenectady, New York), and Ек for Canadian built (к=k for Kingston, Ontario).

Locomotive Е^ф-1 at the Baldwin factory, before shipment.

It is worth noting that the locomotives were manufactured without brakes. This is due to the fact that it was determined to equip these locomotives with Westinghouse brakes, but this did not comply with the requirements of Russian railways. Therefore, the braking equipment was commissioned by the joint stock company of Westinghouse in Petrograd. For this reason, upon arriving in Vladivostok, locomotives were first sent by train to Harbin, in the main workshops of the Chinese Eastern Railway. In these workshops, locomotives were equipped with brake apparatus, after which they were prepared to be sent to the railways of the European part of Russia.

Second & Third Orders, and Stranded Locomotives

Locomotive Е^л-884 at the Baldwin factory, before shipment.

In 1916, after satisfactory performance of the first engines, Russia decided to order a further 475 locomotives, with minor changes. These were sub-classed as Ел. These locomotives were slightly heavier, with an adhesive weight of 80.3 tonnes

In 1917, Russia again decided to order more locomotives. Baldwin was only able to supply 75 at this time. However, when the United States entered the war in 1917, they decided to aid the Allied effort by producing more 2-10-0s for Russia. About 500 locomotives were ordered. However, production was interrupted by the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, and ultimately only 50 locomotives were delivered. This left 200 locomotives stranded in the US. At this point, the United States Railroad Administration decided to convert them to standard gauge by fitting wider tires, and then distribute them among American railways. Erie received 75, Seaboard Air Line received 40, St. Louis – San Francisco (Frisco) received 21, and 22 other railways received lesser quantities. The un-built remainder of the order, 200 locomotives, was canceled.

World War II

Background

After two years of war with Germany, much of the Soviet rail system was in ruins. At the time, much effort had been put into rebuilding the track; however, the hasty nature of the construction meant that it could not support locomotives with axle-loadings of more than 18 tonnes. What few locomotives (as many as 16,000 were destroyed) that had not been destroyed by bombing were either too weak or too heavy. The factories were did not have the equipment to produce locomotives, so it was decided to order more from America.

Design

To significantly reduce the amount of work on designing a new engine and speed up the order, it was decided to base the project on the design of the Ел engine. To reduce costs and accelerate production of steam cylinders, brass bushings were used, and the cast iron dome was pressed, and the firebox was now welded. Because of the possibility of the motion locking-up, Zyablova valves were replaced with valves of the Celler type. These valves allowed saturated steam directly into the cylinders while preventing combustion gases from the firebox to enter.^{[further explanation needed]} The number of tubes for the super heater elements was increased from 28 to 35, raising the superheater area to 76.2 m² (820 sq ft). The evaporative heating surface of the boiler was therefore decreased to 229.2 m² (2,467 sq ft) (with the number of boiler tubes reduced to 162). Due to the increase in weight the engine, and the possible damage in transit across the ocean, the thickness of the frame’s sidewalls was increased from 114.3 to 127 mm. For supplying coal to the firebox, tenders were equipped with an HT-1 automatic stoker. In addition, there were a few minor improvements. Otherwise, the locomotives were unchanged.

Subclasses Еа, Ем, and Емв

An S160 locomotive.

At the conclusion of the third protocol of Lend-Lease in the summer of 1943 (effective from 1 July of that year), the American factories ALCO and Baldwin were given an order for production of more 2-10-0 locomotives based on the Soviet designers' drawings. But American factories were not ready to start manufacturing these engines until the end of the year, which, due to the high demand for steam locomotives, the Soviet Union was forced to order the 150 (later the order was increased to 200) of military-type 2-8-0 of the S160 series locomotive (on Soviet roads they were designated Series Ша). It is noteworthy that these engines were based on steam locomotives, built between World War I, and they even similar features from the Ел locomotive, such as the high location of the boiler.

In 1944 the first steam engines of the Е series, which was given index a (U.S.), resulting in the designation of Еа. The numbers of locomotives built by ALCO began at #2001 and the Baldwin built locomotives at #2201. In September the same year, the first Baldwin built locomotive (Еа-2201) was sent to the pilot ring VNIIZhT which was tested until October. In the course of the tests, it was found that forcing the boiler to 70 kg/m² (7.0×10⁻⁵ MPa; 0.010 psi), a cutoff of 60% and at a speed of 19.6 mph (31.5 km/h), the engine could develop 36,080 lbf (160.5 kN) of tractive effort. It was also found that the locomotive could achieve 1,920–1,950 hp (1,430–1,450 kW), which was a 20–25% increase compared to the WWI engines (1,400 hp/1,000 kW). The improved performance was achieved through improved boiler and the use of mechanical stoker. The temperature of superheated steam was typically 572–644°F (300–340°C), and no more than 698°F (370°C).

In 1945 the winery began producing steam engines of this new design, which received the designation of Ем (modernized).

Еа #2201

Although the locomotives were designed and built according to Soviet designs, the American plants implemented some of their own technologies, as well as changes in design of individual units. Thus, the plant Baldwin locomotives #2624 to Alco #2200 were issued with rocking grates. Most of the Еа and Ем locomotives were issued with bar frames, but some were released with cast frames, which included not only a sidewall with better fixtures, but cylinders integrated with the support for the boiler, the buffer timber with support for the truck, smaller tender coupling, brackets for balancing the spring suspension and brake support shaft. Also, the last thirteen locomotives built by ALCO, issued in 1947, were equipped with feedwater heaters. These 13 locomotives were given the designation Емв. In 1946, at the Yaroslavl locomotive plant, two locomotives were weighed: one was an Еа with bar frames, and the other was an Ем with a cast frame. It was found that the engine Е-2001, Е-2988 and Ем-3892 have common operating weights which were, respectively, 102.8, 99 , 6, and 103.5 tonnes, and the adhesion weight was 91.2, 88.7 and 91.5 tonnes.

The last steam locomotive was Ем #4260 (Some sources say #4250), built by Baldwin for Soviet railways, and delivered on August 27, 1945, and that was when Baldwin stopped producing locomotives for the Soviets, followed by Alco in 1947. Overall, no less than 2,047 Russian decapods were built for the Soviet Union between 1944 and 1947. However, the recorded numbers of the locomotives built and delivered varies between US and Soviet sources. Thus, according to Vitaly Rakov, only 2,047 locomotives were built, of which 1,622 were of class Е, 412 were of class Ем, and 13 were of class Емв. Ем locomotives #3621-3634 were not delivered. Peter Klaus pointed out that the USSR did not make engines with serial numbers USATC #4878 (Е-2378), 5908, 5938, 5940–5942, 6734, and 10060–10086, and according to R. Tourett, 47 of the 2110 steam locomotives built were not sent to the USSR.

Surviving Locomotives

Seaboard Air Line No. 544, cosmetically restored at the North Carolina Transportation Museum   Еа-534   Еа-3246 near Tynda station   Еа-2201, built by Baldwin in 1944

• SLSF 1632 - Belton, Grandview and Kansas City Railroad, USA.
• Еа-2026 - Depot Hrechany, Ukraine.
• Еа-2533 - Depot Sibirtsevo,Vladivostok.
• Еа-3215 - Sibirtsevo, Primorye.
• Ем-3753 - Vyazemskaya, Khabarovsk Territory.
• Еа-4160 - Irkutsk.

• Ел-266 - Railway Museum in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
• Ес-311 - Museum at Oktyabrskaya, railway station, Shushary.
• Ел-345 - Brest Railway Museum.
• Ел-534 and Еа-2201 - Central Museum of the October, railway station in Warsaw.
• SAL 544 - North Carolina Transportation Museum, USA.
• SLSF 1621 - Transport Museum in St. Louis, United States.
• SLSF 1625 - Museum of the History of American Railroads in Dallas, USA.
• SLSF 1630 - Illinois Railway Museum in Illinois, USA.
• Еа-2371 - Tashkent Railway Museum.
• Еа-2441 - Technical Museum of AvtoVAZ, Togliatti.
• Еа-2450 - Moscow Railway Museum in Riga station.
• Еа-3078 - Novosibirsk Museum of railway equipment.
• Еа-3510 - Rostov Railway Museum Station Gnilovskaya.
• Ем-3635 and Ел-4000 (?) - Museum near the station Lebyazhye, Leningrad region.
• Tr2-1319 - Finnish Railway Museum in Hyvinkää.

• Ес-350 - Chelyabinsk.
• Ел-629 - Ussuriysk.
• SLSF 1615 - Rocket Park (Missile Park) at Altus, Oklahoma, USA.
• Еа-2325 -
• Еа-2885 - Station Komsomolsk-sorting.
• Еа-3070 - Circum-Baikal railway.
• Еа-3220 - Station Zilov, Chita Region.
• Еа-3246 - Station Tynda, Amur region.
• Еа-3306 - Vladivostok.
• Ем-3884 - Station Tommot, Yakutia.
• Ем-3931 - Station Vyazemskaya, Khabarovsk Territory.
• Ем-4249 - Vikhorevka, Irkutsk region.
• Ел-4729 - Nizhneudinsk, Irkutsk region.
• Еа-5052 (?) - Station Lena, Irkutsk region.

References

1. ^ "Tr2" (in finnish). koti.mbnet.fi. http://koti.mbnet.fi/kasii/hoyryveturit/tr2t.htm. 

Sources

• Hollingsworth, Brian (2000). The Illustrated Dictionary of Trains of the World. London: Salamander Books Ltd.. pp. 136–137. ISBN 1-84065-177-6. 
• Rakov, V. A. (1995). Локомотивы отечественных железных дорог 1845—1955 (2 ed.). Moscow: Транспорт. ISBN 5-277-00821-7. 
• Tourret, R. (1977). United States Army Transportation Corps Locomotives. Tourret Publishing. ISBN 9780905878010. 
• Sucmen Veturit. (1975). Valticnrautateichen hoyryerturit. Malmö. 
• Леонид Макаров. (2005). «Декаподы». Техника молодёжи. 
• Альбом схем паровозов и паспортов. Moscow: Фабрика наглядных учебных пособий НКПС (типография «Гудок»). 1935. 

External links

• "Suomen Rautatiemuseo - Kalustogalleria - Tr2 perustiedot [Finnish Railway museum - stock gallery - Tr2 locomotive]" (in Finnish). www.rautatie.org. http://www.rautatie.org/web/fi/gallerydet.asp?id=7&section=1.