The Soviet locomotive class L (Russian: Л) was a Soviet main freight steam locomotive type. They were nicknamed ''Lebed'', "Swan."
[Ross, David, ed. (2003). ''The Encyclopedia of Trains and Locomotives.'' Barnes & Noble, p. 206. .]
Description
The L class 2-10-0 was the first Soviet locomotive to use
Boxpok
A Boxpok is a steam locomotive wheel that gains its strength through being made of a number of box sections rather than having traditional solid spokes (the name is a variation on "box-spoke"). Being hollow, they allow better counterbalancing a ...
-type wheels, which were commonplace in steam locomotive design post-World War II. A casing between the dome and chimney covered a steam drier pipe.
History
It was designed and built by the
Kolomna Locomotive Works
The Kolomna Locomotive Works () is a major producer of railway locomotives as well as locomotive and marine diesel engines in Russia. The plant started production in 1869 with a freight steam locomotive, one of the first in Russia. In the Russian ...
shortly after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
under supervision by L.C. Lebedyanski. It was originally designated Class P (for ''Pobeda'', "victory"), but was redesignated Class L in honor of its designer.
In conjunction with the
FD class 2-10-2, it was primarily used to haul mainline goods across the terrain of the Soviet Union. Over 4,000 L class locomotives were constructed from 1945-1955, and they operated with the Soviet Railways until 1975.
Today there are over 300 example of L class locomotives surviving in various states of repair in the former Soviet Union, constituting the single largest surviving class of locomotives in the world. Many are still in operating condition.
See also
*
History of rail transport in Russia
Russia was and is the largest country in the world. Its geography of north–south rivers and east–west commerce, plus, importantly, the mostly flat terrain, made it very suited to develop railroads as the basic mode of transportation.
Today R ...
*
Russian Railway Museum
The Russian Railway Museum is situated next to Baltiysky railway station in Saint Petersburg. The museum was established in 1978, its current site and exhibition opened to public on 1 November 2017. The museum utilizes the nineteenth century ...
,
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
References
{{Rolling stock of Russia
L
2-10-0 locomotives
Freight locomotives
5 ft gauge locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1945
1′E h2 locomotives