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Mikhail Petrovich Shorokhov, locomotive driver. A loan from the boiler, Sophie Marceau and assistants are worth their weight in gold. Meet the locomotive driver, “the man from the booth” Vadim Gukov. Typical water tower on a railway

Characteristics of work . Controlling a locomotive and driving a train at a set speed depending on the profile of the railway track, the weight of the train in compliance with the schedule. Ensuring the safety of transportation and the culture of passenger service, the safety of cargo and rolling stock. Ensuring rational modes of operating a steam locomotive with minimal consumption of coal or petroleum products. Acceptance and delivery of a steam locomotive: inspection and verification of the operation of the main units, components, systems, electrical, mechanical, braking and auxiliary equipment, instrumentation, radio communication equipment and sand supply devices. Preparing a locomotive for work and equipping it. Monitoring the correct coupling of the locomotive with the first car of the train and the connection of the air hoses, opening the end valves between them. Checking the functionality and correct adjustment of the brake equipment of the locomotive. Monitoring the openness of the railway track, the state of the contact network, oncoming trains, the correct preparation of the route, the indications of traffic lights, signal signs, signs during the movement of the locomotive, as well as signals given by railway workers, repeating them with the assistant driver and implementing them. Submission of established signals, execution of operational orders of persons responsible for organizing train traffic. Conducting negotiations on the negotiation device in accordance with the established regulations. Maintenance of a steam locomotive in accordance with the list of works established by regulations for a steam locomotive driver. Ensuring the safe operation of the steam engine, boiler, its fittings and fittings. Visual and instrument monitoring of the technical condition of the work along the route of electrical, mechanical, braking equipment, coal feeder or equipment for supplying petroleum products to the furnace, instrumentation, radio communication equipment and sand supply devices for wheel sets. Ensuring the smooth running of the train, the safety of boarding, disembarking, and transporting passengers. Checking the condition of the mechanical parts of the locomotive, axle boxes, and wheel sets when the train stops at intermediate stations. Elimination of malfunctions on the locomotive that arose along the route, to the extent established by the regulations of the locomotive crew, and if it is impossible to eliminate, taking the necessary measures to vacate the section of the railway track occupied by the train, ensuring its safe movement. Application of emergency braking to stop the locomotive in the event of a sudden obstacle or sudden supply stop signal. Training of an assistant locomotive driver, as well as persons undergoing an internship in the profession of "assistant steam locomotive driver", in rational methods and techniques for the maintenance, maintenance and management of a steam locomotive.

Must know: design, technical characteristics of a steam locomotive, rules for controlling it; the procedure for maintaining and caring for a steam locomotive during operation; brake control device and technology; railway track profile; wayfinding signs on the serviced area; railway track diagrams; rules for coupling and uncoupling rolling stock; rules for routine repairs and maintenance of a steam locomotive; main modes of economical fuel consumption; methods for identifying and eliminating malfunctions in the operation of a steam engine, boiler, its fittings and fittings, electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, braking equipment, coal feeder or equipment for supplying petroleum products to the furnace; rules for the technical operation of railways of the Russian Federation; instructions for the movement of trains and shunting work on railways of the Russian Federation; instructions for signaling on the railways of the Russian Federation and other regulations related to the scope of work performed; basic requirements for the transportation of cargo and passengers; procedure for action in non-standard situations; technical and administrative acts of serviced railway stations and sections; operating procedure and operation of automation and communication devices; rules for using brake shoes; train schedule; fundamentals of electrical engineering, thermal engineering, theoretical mechanics.

Professional training and a certificate to operate a steam locomotive are required.

The railroad is an amazing place. For some it is income, for others it is just a stage in life. For still others, steel highways are shrouded in an aura of romance and mystery. And there are also those on the railway who enjoy their work, who are ready to spend much more time there than their official duties require.

Steam locomotive driver at the St. Petersburg-Finlyandsky locomotive depot Vadim Gukov- a person from this category. He can’t imagine himself without a steam locomotive (that’s what a steam locomotive is!).

Today, steam traction is a fait accompli, the very possibility of which even the bravest fans of steam locomotives did not believe. Three cars are put into operation every shift, retro trips and military-historical reconstructions are organized, one of which we talked about just recently. Behind the regulator of that same locomotive " Victory Trains"was our today's hero.

The room, which on other types of rolling stock is called a cabin, on a steam locomotive is called a booth. Ask " man from the booth» to tell why a steam locomotive, because it is hard physical work, the comfort of modern cars has never been heard of there.

“I was on the railway by vocation; I couldn’t imagine any other job.” After vocational school, he worked in practice in the brake shop of the Leningrad-Finlyandsky depot. There was a locomotive department there. I was hooked by the unfamiliar car because everyone had a completely different attitude towards it than towards diesel and electric locomotives. Respectful, respectful. Although mud on the locomotive above the roof, he pulled towards himself very strongly. Since then I have been trying to be closer to steam locomotives. True, in the nineties, when the salary was “so-so”, I almost left the road - they called me to a steam tug. In any case, I wouldn’t escape the steam engine.

– Have you ever acted in a movie?

- Of course, we are used to it. You can’t even remember all the films: “White Horse”, “Anna Karenina” - both the American one, with Sophie Marceau, and ours, with Tatyana Drubich, “The Romanovs. The Crowned Family", "The Barber of Siberia", "Citadel", "The Edge". In the film about the line Shlisselburg – Polyany They were filming not so long ago, before the film came out yet. We are not in the picture, but we are the ones who set the locomotives in motion.

Our most important “artist” - O in -324 buildings 1905. It was operated in Estonia, then stored there, at the reserve base of the Valga station. In Leningrad, the car turned out to be thanks to the efforts of Lenfilm. Now it is difficult to accurately calculate how many films this locomotive “performed” in. One time in 2002, together with this locomotive we went to filming in Estonia. And we ended up just one stage from Valga! So the “artist” visited his homeland, but in a completely different country.

– Previously, the driver stood out among the railway workers; he even had white piping sewn into his cap next to the green piping. Isn't that the case now?

– During the times of active operation of steam locomotives, young workers received most of their experience from old people. From them - respect for the profession. Many traditions emphasized a special hierarchy, at the head of which is Driver. That's right, with a capital letter. The entire structure of the railway revolved around him. As the driver said, so it will be. He came to the locomotive wearing white gloves and climbed into the booth from the right. But the fireman and assistant could only rise from the left! Now the driver is often to blame for everything in advance; there is no former respect for him.

Probably, not all readers know that it is not the fireman who drowns the locomotive. His concern is to deliver coal from the tender to the booth, to the tray. Next is the driver's assistant, he is the one throws coal into the firebox. Vadim Gukov admits that he likes to work more as an assistant. Why?

– One of the most important points in steam traction is how to heat a steam locomotive. This is a whole science! It is learned over the years and is not given to everyone. The old people said: “The driver drives the locomotive, the assistant drives the firebox!” The coal should lie evenly on the grate without covering the flame. The most difficult thing is the far right corner of the firebox (for left-handers - the left). The shovel has to be cunning twist at the end of the throw so that the coal lies in this corner.

Navigating a heavy train now is the art of the driver. And on a steam locomotive, the credit goes to the assistant who provides the car with steam.

I was taught to fire with a “fan”, that is, with a ricochet from the wall of the firebox. The coal hits the wall and flies back, while small pieces fly further, closer to the center of the firebox, and large pieces remain near the walls, where the draft is greater. For competent assistants for drivers there were fights. Navigating a heavy train now is the art of the driver. And on a steam locomotive, the credit goes to the assistant who provides the car with steam.

– Surely there are tricks in dealing with a fire-breathing machine?

- A lot of them. Here, for example, “ loan from the boiler" It is used when pulling trains on long climbs. The boiler contains both water and steam at the same time. More water means less steam, and vice versa. So, the water level is specially lowered in order to increase the volume of steam. After overcoming the rise, the “debt” must be returned to the boiler, and this must be done in such a way as not to cause an explosion of the boiler: the upper roof of the boiler without steam becomes very hot and the ingress of cold water can create a dangerous temperature drop. Very dangerous operation, but sometimes the only one possible to overcome the climb.

– Have there been any funny incidents at work?

- Once I ran after a locomotive. They dragged us from Predportovaya to Ligovo by diesel locomotive, but the locomotive was “hot”, that is, in working condition. Due to a malfunction of the injector, it was impossible to supply water to the boiler. When this succeeded, the water level was no longer reflected in the control device. In this situation, the boiler could explode at any moment and, out of harm’s way, I jumped to the ground and ran after the locomotive. Then everything worked out.

Several years ago, the narrow-gauge steam locomotive Kp4-447 was restored on the Oktyabrskaya Road for work on the children's railway. The driver, of course, is Vadim Gukov. Every free minute he either takes a wrench and checks the reliability of the fasteners, or with an oil can “pleasers” the crew, or rubs the already sparkling car with rags.

“If you don’t love the locomotive, then it won’t work,” the mechanic explains his actions. - It’s alive, there’s no electronics on it, the levers are warm, they’re shaking!

It’s impossible to drag the students of the children’s road away from Vadim: although training in the profession of “Locomotive Driver” is not provided (this is due to harmful production factors), there are more than enough people who want to get acquainted with at least the structure of the machine.

There are few people like Vadim Gukov. Some are dissatisfied with their salaries, others with impossible instructions, which are countless on the road. Vadim Leonidovich does not like to talk about these topics - he loves the locomotive. He's in the right place.

Sergey Vershinin, St. Petersburg
Photo by the author

I can say that I was familiar with the railway and steam locomotives from early childhood. The first station in my tenacious childhood memory was the Novosibirsk-Vostochny station. Previously, this station was simply called “Yeltsovka”. The first acquaintance with her occurred in the summer of 1941. The older girls, in whose care I was, had to take food to my grandfather (the locomotive driver). Heat. It was necessary to go from the tram ring near the Palace of Culture under construction. It was only a little less than one and a half kilometers, but for a three-year-old it was a lot. We came to the locomotive. The grandfather terribly scolds the assistant, or rather the assistant, because while he was preparing the route, she fell asleep and “lost steam.” We need to go, but the steam pressure is not enough. The fact is that all the young men and boys were taken to the front, and the locomotive crews were replenished with eighteen-year-old girls. There were no stokers either. So the poor thing got tired and fell asleep. Somewhat later, L.M. was appointed People's Commissar of Communications. Kaganovich, who had the title of “Marshal Tyagi,” and the situation began to change. A “reservation” was established for locomotive crews, and a “People’s Commissar’s ration” was introduced, i.e. Before the shift, members of the locomotive crew received food: bread, smoked sausage, “live” unrefined red sugar, salt, as well as soap, shag, matches in blue paper packaging and a “striker” - a board for lighting matches. However, women continued to work in locomotive crews. Some of them, for example, N.M. Orlova worked in her husband’s brigade as an assistant driver, then she herself became a locomotive driver.

In the summer of 1943, my grandmother with her children, goats and a cow moved to the Mochishche station. Initially they lived on the 2nd dairy farm, located half a kilometer from the station. The main contingent working on the farm were women from the Volga Germans resettled in Siberia. They lived in huge turf-covered dugouts, rising only a meter and a half above the surface of the earth. I was forever intrigued by their accent and the strange pronunciation of some Russian words. The surrounding land was sown with sugar beets, turnips and rutabaga. Rutabaga could simply be eaten, and the village boys threw sugar beets into the fire. When the beets were burnt, they took them out, broke them and sucked the pulp from the inside of the burnt skin. There were no other sweets. Somewhat later, the grandmother with all her “household” moved to stay in the house of the switchman Anastasia, next to the railway. Next door was the house of trackman Polozov with his large family (unfortunately, I don’t remember either the name or patronymic of the head of the family). His duty was to daily inspect the condition of the 15 km long track. In the morning until lunch, 7.5 km one way. After lunch, 7.5 km in the other direction from the house. Naturally, on foot with a bag over his shoulder with some kind of tool and a hammer with a long handle, which he used from time to time to tap on the rails and connecting strips. This happens every day in any weather. One day I got involved with my uncle Fyodor, who had been discharged from the hospital, to go to the 1st farm (now Barlak). The road ran along the railway track. At some point, my uncle stopped and examined the bar. There was a crack on the plank. He determined the coordinates of the damaged plank to the kilometer post and the picket post, saying that it was necessary to tell Polozov about this. Before volunteering for the front (at the beginning of 1943, from his second year at the institute), my uncle studied at the Novosibirsk Institute of Military Transport Engineers (NIVIT, later NIIZhT and SGUPS). After the hospital, he recovered at the institute. At the end of 1943, some Siberian students, together with students from the Dnepropetrovsk Institute, which was evacuated in Novosibirsk, were transferred to Ukraine. In the spring of 1944, my uncle returned to Novosibirsk, because... wounds opened and concussion tormented me. Having recovered from his battle ailments, my uncle passed the exams and went to work as an assistant driver on a steam locomotive. The institute training had an effect. At the end of 1945 or the beginning of 1946, my uncle Ivanov Fedor Fedorovich passed the regular exams and at the age of 20 received the right to drive a steam locomotive.

Just a few hundred meters from our temporary home, in the direction of the Vitamin Station, commonly known as “Vitaminka,” fields began sown with buckwheat and vetch. In the heat, there was a thick honey aroma over the fields. Being close to the railway, I constantly pestered adults with questions: “Where do the rails go?” They answered: “To the East.” "So what is next?" “To Vladivostok”, “What next?” “Leave me alone. They go to sea." I remember this.

Indeed, anyone who has been to Vladivostok may have seen where the Great Trans-Siberian Route, almost 10,000 kilometers long from Moscow, ends. To be precise, at the milestone in Vladivostok the sign indicates “9288 km” and “About km”. Emerging from the tunnel under Okeansky Prospekt and st. Leninskaya (Svetlanskaya), the train stops at the railway station a few hundred meters from the Egersheld piers. Further on is the sea and in the distance Russian Island.

The beautiful railway station is the same age as the Trans-Siberian Railway, which recently celebrated its centenary in July since the opening of the through route from Moscow to Vladivostok. To the left, at the bend of the Golden Horn, is the spacious Marine Station, built for the centenary of Vladivostok. The marine terminal is connected to the city streets by a highway overpass and access roads.

Vladivostok. There are wonderful bays and a boundless ocean in the distant and “Nashensky” city. Now two new miracles have been created in Vladivostok - cable-stayed bridges. The bridges were built in a short time for the APEC 2012 summit.

Vladivostok. Train Station. Same age as Transsib.

The final milestone of the Trans-Siberian Railway.


Vladivostok. Marine Station.


Vladivostok. Observation deck on the Egersheld. 2013

Let's go back to 1943. At the Mochishche station, trains with military equipment, submarines (as I now understand, the Malyutka type without deckhouses) and combat boats - torpedo and armored boats - often stopped. Every day, ambulance trains passed through the station and stopped, with a large white circle with a red cross inside painted in the central part of the wall of the car. At the Mochishche station, the locomotives were filled with water. At the station there was and still stands a typical, old water tower. At the Mochishche station, ice cars were being cleaned in a dead end. There was often salt in uncleaned carriages. Now, it’s even scary to think, but this salt was collected and used in everyday life. During the war, salt was very scarce. If possible, people carried a little salt in a paper bag (often from a newspaper).

A typical water tower on a railway.

Sanitary car. 04.08. 2009 035

From that time on, I remember an incident that happened to my grandfather in the summer of 1943. Early in the morning, grandfather left for his shift (the locomotives worked for days), and in the middle of the day he returned drunk. He didn’t say anything at that moment and went straight to bed. Waking up in the evening, he said that he had taken a loaded train out of the Pashinsky plant. On the curve, he saw an empty truck rushing towards him. At that time, the village of Pashino was connected to the Inya junction (now Inya-Vostochnaya) by a single-track line. The grandfather pressed on the brake, turned the reverse and began to slow down the train, fortunately the speed was still low. The factory gates were opened, the train was accepted, and the empty train was slowly pulled onto the adjacent track. The director of the plant ran up and ordered the locomotive crew to get out and go to his office. In the office, he poured alcohol for them. The grandfather refused, explaining that he still had almost a day to work, to which the director replied that they would not go anywhere, but would go home to sleep, that he had already called a reserve team, and the competent authorities were dealing with the incident. As my grandfather said, it was only later that he realized what had happened, and a glass of alcohol relieved the stress in time. So my grandfather, a soldier of the First World War, found himself on the front line, passing deep in the rear.

It was at the Mochishche station that I saw a real armored train. It was impossible to surprise the boys with steam locomotives. We kids knew many locomotives by their whistles, but the fire-breathing bulk of the armored train amazed our boyish imagination and inspired confidence in victory over our “indestructible and legendary” enemy. We knew all the domestic steam locomotives operated on the Tomsk Railway. Main cargo FD (Felix Dzerzhinsky, wheel arrangement 1-5-1), main passenger IS (Joseph Stalin, 1-4-1) and S U (1-3-1), shunting Y U (1-4-0) and E M (1-4-0). At the Chulymskaya station I had to see the SO K series steam locomotives (Sergo Ordzhonikidze, 1-5-0) operating on the Omsk Railway with a condenser tender, because The saline water did not allow the use of steam locomotives with conventional boilers. In everyday life, the steam locomotives of the SOK were called “mokrushas”. The swan song of steam locomotives is the L series locomotive (1-5-1), which entered the railways in the post-war years. During the Great Patriotic War, freight locomotives of the E A series (1-5-0) were supplied from the USA under Lend-Lease. It should be noted that during the mandatory certification of steam locomotive drivers, the knowledge of American steam locomotives was tested not only of the E A series (1-5-0), but also of other models. From an early age I heard the names and saw American steam locomotives in books. The memory retained the names of some models: “Compound”, “Decapod”.

Since 1949, trains from Novosibirsk to Chulymskaya station were driven by electric locomotives of the VL-22 series (Vladimir Lenin).

Between the Yeltsovka station and the Inya junction, on the left side you could see the brick buildings of an automobile plant under construction, which did not produce a single car. Only one science fiction story, “Blue Limousine” (late 40s, unfortunately I don’t remember the author), mentioned a car with the brand of the Novosibirsk Automobile Plant. You can learn about the fate of the automobile plant while walking around the Kalininsky district.

Let's continue the story about steam locomotives and the railway. From the crossing bridge you can see a landscaped island next to the railway tracks. This is a memorial area. There is a monument to the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War here. In the memorial list we see the name of Hero of the Soviet Union Konstantin Zaslonov. The fact is that the young engineer Konstantin Sergeevich Zaslonov worked in the second half of the 30s at the Novosibirsk-I locomotive depot. At the end of the 60s, an article about Konstantin Zaslonov appeared in the newspaper “Soviet Siberia”. To my shame, I only learned from a newspaper article that Konstantin Zaslonov worked at the Novosibirsk-I locomotive depot. Soon after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the film “Konstantin Zaslonov” was released. The boys watched the film many times, but they never heard that K. Zaslonov was connected with Novosibirsk. I asked my grandfather: “Did he know K. Zaslonov?” Grandfather, as they say, “split” and talked about his work in those distant years. How he raised “Kostya” and taught him relationships with the working class. Apparently, K. Zaslonov was a demanding leader who did not tolerate slobs and slackers. Therefore, as my grandfather said, heavy wrenches and sledgehammers often fell near Kostya.

Memorial at the Novosibirsk locomotive depot. 10.04. 2012 038

In 1937, K.S. Zaslonov was sent as the head of the locomotive depot at the Roslavl station in the Smolensk region, and in 1939 he was transferred to the Orsha station in the Vitebsk region. At new places of work K.S. Zaslonov, apparently, also did not gain enormous popularity among the working people. Most likely, this was the bet of the underground workers. Young, energetic, with a “tarnished” reputation, he did not arouse suspicion among the Germans. Actions of K.S. Zaslonov and the underground workers contributed to the defeat of the Germans near Moscow in the winter of 1941-1942. A street on the outskirts of Novosibirsk in the Dzerzhinsky district is named after Konstantin Zaslonov. Just as Konstantin Zaslonov and his comrades in arms once shielded Moscow from the west, so now he stands on the border of the city of Novosibirsk, protecting it from invasion from the east.

Memorial at the locomotive depot. 26.08. 2008 008

My maternal grandfather Ivanov Fedor Grigorievich was a soldier-artilleryman of the First World War. Before being drafted into the army, my grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop. After the dissolution of the Tsarist Army, he returned to his small homeland, where at the beginning of 1918 he united his fate with my grandmother Dmitrieva Klavdiya Andreevna, who returned to her homeland after the work of factories in Petrograd stopped. She worked as a stamper at the War Department's well-known Pipe Factory, based on the events of February 1917. They received a plot of land on a farm near the village of Krasnaya Veshnyaya, Kunyinsky district, Pskov province. The border territory of the region passed from one region to another. According to my mother’s documents dating back to different years, Velikolukskaya, Leningrad, and Pskov regions wrote about her place of birth. Let's leave aside the territorial affiliation of the village of Krasnaya Veshnya and continue the story.

At the end of the 20s, my grandparents and four children moved to Novosibirsk. At first, upon arrival, grandfather, in the direction of the Labor Exchange, worked as a loader. At this time I met the hereditary loader S.A. Shvarts, who by this time occupied high positions in city structures and was repressed in 1937. Then my grandfather graduated from a technical school and began working on a steam locomotive as an assistant and then as a driver. Soon my grandfather was promoted to trade union and party work.

Pom/mash cadets for Kuzbass. FZU art. Novosibirsk 1930

Bottom row (lie), in the center Ivanov F.G.

Issue of propagandists of participatory courses Vol. Railway 1935

They are sitting. Second from left is Ivanov F.G.

Before the well-known repressions of 1937, grandfather was in a responsible job. During the repressions, grandfather did not sign some “paper” and lists. After the refusal, the investigator promised him that someone else would sign for him. Grandfather did not spend the night at home for several days. One day we arrived at night, but my grandfather was not at home. In the morning a new owner moved into his office. He asked his grandfather: “Who are you?” Grandfather replied that he was F.G. Ivanov. Then the new owner of the office said: “You are a machinist. So go to the locomotive and work." Apparently, the new owner of the office turned out to be a decent person. Before retiring in 1956 (after the new pension law was passed), my grandfather worked as a machinist. True, in 1956 he had a meeting with a “familiar investigator”, who at that time was engaged in the rehabilitation of repressed people. For many days my grandfather went to the authorities, where he helped restore the good names of the depot employees who had not returned from the Gulag.


My grandfather Ivanov Fedor Georgievich

Rectangular photograph on the right side.

Cover of the manuscript by Evgeniy Gavrilovich Kovalev

In the summer of 2012, I was introduced to the manuscript of the driver of the locomotive depot of the station. Novosibirsk-Glavny Kovalev Evgeniy Gavrilovich “Cities begin with the road.” Kovalev E.G. I worked on the railroad all my life. The manuscript contains a wealth of material not only about the locomotive depot of the station. Novosibirsk is the main one, but also the railways of Russia and the USSR. Of course, the manuscript awaits literary processing and publication.

My memories are also connected with Krivoshchekovo. I visited Krivoshchekovo often, because... The steam locomotive of my grandfather and uncle (YU series) after the war, as they say, was initially assigned to the Krivoshchekovo station, and then transferred to the ChIK station. Grandfather was a senior machinist. The uncle worked in his father’s brigade, and then the uncle organized a Komsomol youth brigade, which received another locomotive, and the uncle was appointed senior driver. I loved, and my grandfather and uncle did not refuse me and took me with them on the locomotive. We got to Krivoshchekovo traditionally - by commuter bus.

I loved looking into the fire-breathing furnace of a locomotive boiler, inhaling the smell of warm fuel oil and hearing the hiss of steam.

Grandfather's steam locomotive carried out shunting work at the Krivoshchekovo station. The farthest trip was to the Krivodanovsky quarry. After my grandfather's locomotive was transported to the ChIK station, the trips became more interesting. Grandfather's locomotive served as a pusher. It was a more powerful steam locomotive of the E m series. By this time, the electrification of the railway had begun. My uncle Fedor Fedorovich Ivanov completed training and received the right to drive an electric locomotive. He worked as an electric locomotive driver until retirement.

Station CHIK is an abbreviation and stands for Extraordinary Imperial Commission. Some episodes of the film “Hot Snow” were filmed at the CHIK station. Between the ChIK stations in Kochenevo there is a saddle and a rise towards the Kochenevo station. It was not always possible to overcome the rise with one locomotive with a freight train, so a pusher was required, which was placed at the tail or head of the freight train. Mostly at the tail of a freight train. On approaching the station, the driver of the lead locomotive gave a signal with a certain code to the pusher to continue moving or to move away. Sometimes pushers accompanied the freight train to the Zakholustnoye station (Lesnaya Polyana), and less often further: to the Duplenskaya station. Freight locomotives ran in a western direction on one “shoulder”, to the Chulymskaya station. Passenger locomotives ran on two “shoulders” to the Barabinsk station.

The pusher was returning back to the ChIK station alone. In the middle of the last century, in order to increase capacity and eliminate pushers, a new embankment was erected and a new track was laid. Thus, the section of the railway between the stations ChIK and Kochenevo became three-track.

It must be said that at the ChIK station, crews were preparing steam locomotives heading west. The firebox was trimmed (slag was removed). Therefore, multi-meter layers of slag have accumulated at the ChIK station over decades. They were taken away in the early 50s of the last century for the construction of slag-cast and cinder-block residential buildings. In addition, the tenders were filled with water, which is called “to capacity.” This is explained by the fact that the water in the area around the Chulymskaya station is saline, which negatively affected the operation of locomotive boilers. Therefore, freight locomotives of the FD series - Felix Dzerzhinsky were filled with water with the expectation that it would be enough for the return trip. Passenger locomotives of the IS series - Joseph Stalin took water with the expectation that it would be enough to the Barabinsk station and back. From the Chulymskaya station, the trains were moved by steam locomotives of the C series - Sergo Ordzhonikidze, which had a tender - a condenser for preparing water before supplying it to the boiler of the locomotive. In winter, the steam locomotives of this series were shrouded in a dense cloud of steam and the railway workers called them “mokrushas”. For some time, the Chulymskaya station was the border between the Tomsk and Omsk railways. Later, these railways were united into one West Siberian Railway, stretching from west to east for more than a thousand kilometers.

Initially, the border between the Omsk and Tomsk railways passed, like the hourly train, along the Ob River. The railway bridge was single track and trains often waited for oncoming trains. There were checkpoints “Left Ob” and “Right Ob” on both the left and right banks near the railway. The checkpoint was a two-story building with an open area on the second floor. Semaphores and switches were controlled from the checkpoint. When opening the semaphore, it was necessary to insert a special key into the socket of the device. Only after this, by turning the lever through a system of cables, the semaphore was opened. On a single-track section, such as the passage across the bridge, the semaphore could be opened only after the key had been delivered from the opposite bank. After opening the semaphore, the key was attached to the so-called “rod”, and the locomotive crew transferred it to the neighboring site, where the procedure was repeated. The “rod” was a wire ring with a diameter of at least 50 cm with a wire handle to which a key was attached. When passing the checkpoint, the “rod” with the key was dropped at the feet of the duty officer. My grandfather and I visited the checkpoint several times. The memory retained the internal appearance of the checkpoint. The meager light of kerosene lamps illuminated the checkpoint room, which was always warm. The smell of kerosene burning on the wicks of lanterns and lamps. The semaphore control devices were tapping. On the semaphore control devices there were overhead letters: “Vol. railway", i.e. Tomsk railway. At the “Left Ob” checkpoint, the devices had the letters “Om. railway", i.e. Omsk railway. At the checkpoint, conductors of freight trains were passing the time with a bunch of signal lights, waiting to cross the bridge. From time to time, the workers went out onto the upper open area to a passing train with a set of signal flags or lanterns.

There was a dead end next to the checkpoint. The dead end could accommodate a steam locomotive or no more than two two-axle covered 18-ton cars, called “teplushkas”. In this dead end, grandfather was unloading hay to feed the cow. Railway workers were allowed to mow grass in designated areas of the exclusion zone. To transport hay, a “heatbox” for two persons was provided. I will not bore readers with a story about the delivery of hay to its destination, but will tell you about an incident that occurred at this dead end.

At the end of the 40s of the last century, a steam locomotive, which for some reason at considerable speed hit the appendix of a dead-end section, flew off the fence. The fence slowed down, but did not hold back the shunting locomotive, which flew off the track and fell from the embankment towards Krasny Prospekt, standing almost vertically. At the same time, the locomotive's tender remained at the top, so that the locomotive and the tender formed a giant letter "G". Apparently, the arrow was mistakenly moved to a dead end. The locomotive remained in this position for several days. Then the locomotive was raised and the dead end was restored.

Let's continue the story about steam locomotives. If the weather allowed, you could stand on the front platform, feeling like you were standing on the captain's bridge. Behind him was the power of a steam engine, which pushed a locomotive with a dozen cars forward. Steam rhythmically emitted from the spool with a hiss. The locomotive devoured the distance, swallowing rails and sleepers. Kilometer posts flashed by and picket posts flashed by.

I knew the control handles: how to reverse, how to pump water into the boiler with an injector, and much more. Stoking a cauldron was an art. On older models of steam locomotives, coal was thrown into the firebox by hand. On new models of powerful steam locomotives, coal was fed into the firebox using a stocker. From time to time, the driver or assistant driver opened the firebox doors and determined by eye the need to add coal. The coal in the firebox had to lie in an even layer. Coal was thrown into the firebox in the right place so that the grates did not burn out or scattered in a fan. Occasionally I was allowed to throw a few shovels of coal into the firebox, and then they opened the firebox so that I could admire the creation of my fragile hands. On a flat light yellow surface rose black tubercles with a crimson edging, burning from below a new portion of fuel. The tubercles were correctable, but still a defect in the work and were called “goats.”

It was interesting to observe how the locomotive was transferred from one shift to another. It was a procedure that had been worked out for decades, more like a ritual. Having gone up to the booth and shaking hands, they placed a metal chest (a kind of case) called a “organ organ” on the shelf. Under the lid of the barrel organ, the locomotives carried documents (route sheets). In a special compartment there are matches and shag. The rest of the space was used for food (they worked for days) and other things that you can’t count on. You could sit on a hurdy-gurdy while waiting for a suburban one. Usually, after taking turns, the locomotives sat in a circle on their barrel organs, smoked and smoked. The purpose of the organ-organ was multifunctional. The room where locomotive crews received route sheets was called “brekhalovka”. Let's continue handing over the shift. We exchanged phrases about the past shift, about the condition of the steam engine and chassis. They opened the firebox door and inspected under the firebox for the absence of burnt-out grates, and the condition of the arch for curvature. We checked the water level in the boiler and the operation of the injector for pumping water. Steam pressure according to the pressure gauge. The amount of coal and its brand. The next stage is inspection of the chassis. Checking the wear of the outer diameter of the wheels. The driver stood behind the wheel closest to the booth and looked at the outer surface of the rims. Checked the flatness. The wheel sets of a steam locomotive are mounted rigidly in the frame, and increased wear of one of the wheels reduces the coefficient of adhesion. Using a long-handled hammer, the wheel rims, crank and drawbar were tapped to ensure there were no cracks. We checked the tender's wheel axle boxes.

The boys recognized many locomotives by their whistles. They knew especially well the bass whistle (like a steamship) of the FD 21-3000 steam locomotive. This is the locomotive of the legendary N.A. Lunina. The names of members of the locomotive crew N.A. are immortalized on the steam locomotive monument. Lunina. Two or three times, while with my grandfather at the depot, I saw N.A. Lunina. I especially remember the incident in the summer of 1943, when N.A. Lunin dispersed the members of his brigade.

Next to the railway, towering above the transport route, the FD21-3000 steam locomotive, driver N.A., is forever installed on a concrete pedestal. Lunina. As far as I remember, the locomotive had a different coloring. It had a greenish color with a blue tint. In the 70s, when the locomotive stood at a dead end at the depot near the place where the monument is now erected, it was completely black.

Machinist Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lunin is a machinist, which is called “from God.” Even before the start of the Great Patriotic War (1940), he initiated the movement to repair steam locomotives using the train crew itself and reduce their downtime in the depot, increasing the mileage of steam locomotives without major repairs to 100,000 km. For his work N.A. Lunin was awarded the titles of Stalin Prize laureate (1042) and Hero of Socialist Labor (1943). In 1943, he used his personal savings to purchase a train of coal of 1000 tons and sent it to the hero city of Stalingrad.

Locomotive driver N.A. Lunina FD21-3000. 19.07. 2008 1115

The first steam locomotive FD, on which N.A. Lunin drove trains before receiving the anniversary locomotive; due to circumstances, he ended up in Ukraine. Once I came across a small article about historical steam locomotives, where it was said that in the first months of the Great Patriotic War in Ukraine, a German armored train caused a lot of trouble for our troops. To destroy the armored train, a decision was made to ram it. The driver from the Pyatikhatki station (Dnepropetrovsk region) dispersed the FD steam locomotive and rammed an enemy armored train. The driver ordered the assistant to jump. The assistant remained alive. The driver and locomotive were killed. It was the steam locomotive N.A. Lunin.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Lunin.

The memory of Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lunin is immortalized in Novosibirsk. He is an Honorary Citizen of the city of Novosibirsk. At the house at st. Saltykov-Shchedrin No. 1, where N.A. lived. Lunin, memorial plaque installed

St. Saltykov-Shchedrin No. 1. Memorial plaque. 07/29/2011 007

His name was given to the Novosibirsk College of Transport Technologies.

Memorial plaque on the wall of the Novosibirsk College of Transport Technologies named after. ON THE. Lunina. 15.08. 2008 043

The square at the intersection of Chelyuskintsev and Narymskaya streets is called “Lunintsev Square” - followers and associates of N.A. Lunina.

At the building of the Administration of the Zheleznodorozhny District there was a stand “The Pride of the Zheleznodorozhny District”. Soon after the creation of the Central Administrative District, which included the Zheleznodorozhny District along with two other districts, the stand was removed.

The pride of the railway district. 13.05. 2011 005

Alijanov A.Kh., Borisenko T.Ya., Gumilevsky A.P., Ivachev F.N., Kondratyuk Yu.V.,

Lunin N.A., Malanin I.I., Manakov V.S., Myasnikova L.V., Nikolsky N.P., Redlikh V.P., Shamshurin, D.A., Yaroslavsky E.M.

Among the worthy names was the surname of N.A. Lunin: “LUNIN Nikolai Alexandrovich (05/22/1915, Ryazhsk, Ryazan province - 10/03/1968, Moscow), laureate of the Stalin Prize, 2nd class. (1942), Hero of Socialist Labor (1943). In the railway district of Novosibirsk there is Lunintsev Square.”

“100 years of N.A. Lunin." 06/18/2015 5928

In May 2015, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Stalin Prize Laureate Nikolai Aleksandrovich Lunin. On the green slope at the foot of the monument to the legendary locomotive and driver there is an inscription in fresh flowers: “100 years of N.A. Lunin."

In the Pervomaisky district there is a steam locomotive of the FD20-2610 series on a pedestal. This is the locomotive of the Hero of Socialist Labor, Pavel Dmitrievich Sholkin, who was the first to take up the initiative of N.A. Lunina. The names of members of the locomotive crew P.D. are immortalized on the pedestal. Sholkina.

I remember a funny incident with a steam locomotive on a pedestal. In Kyiv, not far from the railway station, there is a steam locomotive on a high structure made of metal beams. Looking at it from afar, I said to my colleague: “The IS locomotive is on a pedestal.” When we got closer, my colleague said that I have poor eyesight, because the locomotive is FD. Indeed, the letters FD P 20-576 were on the locomotive. There's no getting around the wheel formula. Changing a locomotive on a pedestal is troublesome, so the inscription “Joseph Stalin” on the front part was removed, and the letters IS were replaced with FD P, which, according to the authors, apparently should mean FD P “passenger”. This is reminiscent of an anecdote when a proposal was made to replace the head of the leader with the head of T.G. on the bronze monument to Stalin that was destined for demolition. Shevchenko, who also once wore a soldier's overcoat.

I still remember models of Soviet steam locomotives. I know their wheel formula, as well as the types of tenders. I am familiar with the American E a series locomotives supplied from the USA during the Great Patriotic War under Lend-Lease. Grandfather had many different books on the design and operation (the word was written with “O” at that time when talking about technology, and with “U” when talking about a person) of steam locomotives. Drivers regularly passed exams for the right to operate a steam locomotive, or, as they say now, passed certification. From technical books I learned not only the design of domestic steam locomotives, but also strange American ones. For example, a compound locomotive had two simultaneously operating steam engines or locomotives that had a two-axle driving bogie. I learned a lot from my grandfather’s textbooks and manuals.

Being retired, grandfather did not forget his profession. I’ll tell you about my grandfather’s proposal to the River Shipping Company. On the left bank of the Ob River there was a timber processing plant, which changed its name over time: OJSC timber transshipment plant, timber transshipment and wood processing plant. Simply put, this was a “timber transshipment” for decades. The main production profile consisted of unloading, loading and cutting of wood. In the summer, barges with fuel oil were unloaded here, and to heat the fuel oil they used the locomotive's steam boiler, which was driven to the shore under its own power.

I know firsthand about the unloading of barges with fuel oil in the 60s. After retirement, my grandfather Ivanov F.G. was registered with the party at the nearest territorial institution - River Shipping Company. At one party meeting, the issue of unloading barges with fuel oil was discussed, because... There were always problems. The fuel oil often froze, which made pumping difficult. Grandfather suggested using a steam locomotive, or rather a locomotive boiler, to heat the fuel oil.

A few days later, grandfather was told that there were no problems with renting the locomotive. But where can you find specialists to service the locomotive? By that time, the number of locomotives had dropped sharply. Grandfather promised to quickly resolve the issue with rare specialists. A few days later, a brigade consisting of drivers F.G. Ivanov, Stalin Prize laureate V.G. Petrov. and Kulebabina was formed. Please excuse me, but I don’t remember Kulebabin’s first and patronymic. Perhaps the surname sounded a little different. But I remember well that he lived on the left bank of the Kamenka River next to the bridge on Biysky Spusk.

When I was with my grandfather on a stalled steam locomotive, I saw with what responsibility the Old Guard treated their duties.

It should be said that in the post-war period, steam locomotives were often used to heat buildings and factory buildings in the winter. For example, for heating the Transportnik club. Veterans of the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant recalled that a steam locomotive was also used to heat the inherited buildings of the unfinished automobile plant.

After the electrification of the Kuzbass route, the trains went to the Promyshlennaya station in the Kemerovo region. As a student, in the summer I often went with my uncle “at night,” on a trip to Chulymskaya and back. Inspection and acceptance of the electric locomotive. A smart girl inserts a tape into the speed recorder and seals it. A command is received to deploy the electric locomotive. The locomotive docks with the train. The braking system is checked. Finally the signal to depart arrives. Train departs. Winding around the switches of the Inskaya and Pervomaiskaya stations, the train enters the main passage. Along the high arc of the embankment above the Berdskoe highway and the arcade above the floodplain of the Ob River, the train is drawn into the spans of the railway bridge called Komsomolsky. The unique railway bridge is the brainchild of the first five-year plans, the connecting link of the Ural-Kuznetsk pendulum. Coal from the Kuznetsk basin to the Urals, ore to Siberia.

To implement the “pendulum” project, a double-track railway bridge was built. The construction of the bridge was carried out in two stages: in 1931, train traffic was opened along the first track, and from 1939 - along the second. The extremely short construction time for a bridge of such a complex design was a demonstration of the enthusiasm and creative impulse of the designers and young builders. It was thanks to young builders that this railway bridge across the Ob River went down in history under the name Komsomolsky

The bridge is truly unique - 2 tracks on each pier, alternating load. The speed of heavy trains is 80 km/h with a train weight of 5-6 thousand tons or more.

The bridge and long embankment for the railway tracks on the right bank were built by hand. The largest equipment at the construction site was an excavator with a bucket volume of 0.4 cubic meters. The rest is wheelbarrows, carts, shovels, sledgehammers and other equipment.

The train rushes across the bridge. The sun went below the horizon. Below is a sleepy river. On the right are the houses of Maly Krivoshchekov, Chemskaya station and the dark massif of Bugrinskaya Grove. The Tin Plant chimney is visible on the right. On both sides there is an industrial zone, behind which the lights of the “boring” residential areas are visible. Bridge over the Tula River and Kleshchikhinsky crossing. On the left are warehouses, and on the right is a deserted area with rare birch trees. The train is approaching the Ob station. Transsib and Kuzbass merge here.

The current landscape is different from the look of the 50s of the last century. Now we would see the arch of the beautiful Bugrinsky road bridge, the blocks of the North-Chemsky, South-Chemsky, Stanislavsky and South-Western residential areas. The Kleshchikhinsky crossing is closed, and car traffic goes under the bridge over the Tula River.

Short summer night. Green street for the train. For many kilometers along the course, green traffic lights lined up. Occasionally a yellow light appears. Reset speed. When approaching a yellow traffic light, the “Vigilance Signal” squeals disgustingly in the cabin, the handle of which must be struck within 8 seconds. Otherwise, the automatic braking system will work and the train will stop. Now, to turn on the electric locomotive systems, you need to take the key from the Chief Conductor and start the entire system. This is already an emergency. Dozens of trains will stop on the tracks. The recorder will record everything, and after analyzing the data from the recorder, it will be written down. The train arrived at Chulymsay station. A few hours of rest in the rest room for locomotive crews and on the way back.

When talking about steam locomotives, one cannot ignore the “Museum of Railway Equipment,” which is located in the open air at the Seyatel station (formerly 2nd Razezd). The museum at Seyatel station is one of the best railway museums in Russia, which contains unique exhibits. The Museum's exhibition presents a large collection of steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives and carriages that worked primarily on the railways of Western Siberia.

The Altai direction railway was single-track, so there were sidings along the route where oncoming trains could pass each other. Currently, the Altai Railway has two tracks. However, individual Traveling Stations retained their name. I have known the area of ​​the 2nd Passage since 1944, when my grandmother with her children, grandchildren and livestock went to Nizhnyaya Yeltsovka for the summer. In those early years, it was possible to get to the 2nd Passage only by commuter train. Passenger trains and commuter trains in the Altai direction were driven by steam locomotives of the C U series (wheel formula 1-3-1) with the largest wheels in diameter.

At the 2nd crossing, I repeatedly saw how a baton with a key was passed on the move to open the semaphore and confirm that the crossing was free. In the 50s, steam locomotives of the C U series were replaced by steam locomotives of the L series (wheel formula 1-5-1). Steam locomotives of this series, which entered the railways in the post-war years, became the swan song in the construction of steam-powered locomotives.

Examining the numerous exhibits of the Museum, you are transported to the distant past. Familiar mainline and shunting steam locomotives, electric locomotives and other railway equipment. For a complete picture of the past, the smell of burnt coal, smoke above the chimney and the hiss of steam are not enough. The young and uninitiated need a great imagination to imagine the fire-breathing bulk of a steam locomotive in motion.

Museum of Railway Equipment.04.08. 2009 025

Interest and passion for technology led me to the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at NETI, where I qualified as a mechanical engineer and worked for 45 years at enterprises in Novosibirsk.

I talked about drivers and locomotives. The question arises: “Why”? Probably because steam locomotives were my introduction to technology and the volume of accumulated information was quite large. The middle of the last century was the swan song of fire-breathing locomotives. Nowadays, few people can say that they have seen a “live” locomotive. Memories brought to the surface a lot of information about distant years. L. Sobolev has a story “Individual Approach”, in which the commissioner, in order to wean the old boatswain from expressing himself in a non-literary way, on a dare, dumped so much non-literary vocabulary on him that the admiring boatswain uttered an amazing phrase: “And keep such a breakthrough in yourself”! So I dumped out a ton of information about drivers, locomotives and railways that filled my childhood. Here it is appropriate to agree with driver E.G. Kovalev that “Cities begin with the road.” The future metropolis of Novosibirsk, indeed, began with the railway.

Antipenko B.N., July 2015

Mikhail Kolyagin,

locomotive driver

OLD MACHINIST

The locomotive was put into storage, in reserve. The repairs were completed long ago, the unpainted parts were thickly greased with grease, but Ivan Ivanovich was in no hurry to report on the completion of the work. He walked around the locomotive, meticulously examining every detail, hitting every nut with a hammer.

Senya,” he turned to his assistant, “bring me the key—the axle string needs to be lifted!”

The agile and dexterous Senya Goncharenko hastened to carry out the driver’s orders. Returning with the required key, he asked hesitantly:

Uncle Vanya, why do we need all this? We are not preparing our locomotive for the train, but as a reserve, for long-term parking...

His mischievous gypsy face stretched out expectantly.

“I also found a strategist,” Ivan Ivanovich said sternly. - How do you know how long the locomotive will remain in reserve? Maybe tomorrow there will be a command to refuel.

We probably won’t wait for such a command,” Senya sighed. - Our locomotives have done their share of work. Do you see how many of them were instructed?

The locomotives stretched out in an even three-row formation. They stood silent and silent. The first in this column was the locomotive of Ivan Ivanovich. On the booth there hung a sign, updated by Senya’s hand:

“Senior locomotive driver - first class mechanic Ivan Ivanovich Seliverstov.”

“Like on a monument - with all the titles,” Ivan Ivanovich thought after reading what was written, “and the storage base is similar to a cemetery.”

He forced his eyes away from the locomotive and took a deep breath.

A thick sound was heard from the direction of the station, and a minute later the carriages of the train standing on the tracks began to roll smoothly. Ivan Ivanovich and Senya looked at the electric locomotive approaching them: one almost with sadness, and the other with poorly hidden admiration.

The electric locomotive, showing its green side with gills, rushed past and turned into the mountains.

That's power! - said Senya Goncharenko, looking at the endless line of hurrying carriages, but looking at his interlocutor, he stopped short. Ivan Ivanovich’s eyes expressed such melancholy that Sena felt sorry for him. Then he abruptly changed the conversation.

“I wouldn’t go to work on an electric locomotive,” Senya said. - It’s not for my character. I need liveliness in my work,” and, squinting his black eyes, like pieces of coal, he continued: “And on an electric locomotive, the driver and assistant sit in their chairs, as if in an office, and all the way they are just struggling with sleep.” Is this really work?

Senya fell silent. He saw: this time his words did not revive the driver.

When the first batch of electric locomotives arrived in the Southern Urals, Ivan Ivanovich looked at them with interest. A man who loves technology, he was even glad that a new powerful machine powered by electricity had appeared. It never occurred to him that an electric locomotive would ever begin to crowd out a steam locomotive that had been proven for decades.

But the electric train workers, having become accustomed to the new environment for them, were already driving trains that exceeded the old weight standard by a hundred or more tons. The locomotives were clearly being handed over. But Ivan Ivanovich did not give up. He tried his best to preserve the prestige of the locomotive.

One day, after resting at the turnaround depot, he went to see the station duty officer.

Prepare a train for one thousand eight hundred tons today,” he said calmly.

The duty officer, a young specialist who had recently graduated from technical school, laughed.

What are you, comrade mechanic, - said the duty officer, - on a steam locomotive through the mountains - one thousand eight hundred tons? Yes, this is three hundred tons more than the norm. Are you laughing?..

“I’m not laughing,” Ivan Ivanovich got angry. - You are laughing and giggling, but here... - The driver wanted to say: “... and here, one might say, my fate is being decided.” But he didn’t finish, but only looked sternly and disapprovingly at the duty officer.

A blush appeared on the duty officer’s plump cheeks, and his face became serious.

“Okay,” he said, picking up the intercom, “now I’ll ask permission from the dispatcher.”

What prompted Ivan Ivanovich to take such a train, he still cannot figure out. An experienced driver, he knew that on a mountain profile with long climbs and small radii of curves it was impossible to fully use the manpower of the train by accelerating it along the slope. Every extra carriage will therefore make itself felt. The driver clearly went too far. Only a great desire to “argue” with the electric locomotive and reinforce the prestige of the locomotive pushed him to take this imprudent step.

Afterwards, going through the details of the entire flight, Ivan Ivanovich did not find a single miscalculation or mistake of his own. He drove the train, as always, accurately and skillfully. Semyon maintained full steam pressure in the boiler all the time, and he himself promptly supplied sand under the slopes. The locomotive never even skidded on the climb; it simply did not have enough strength. Ivan Ivanovich was not angry with the locomotive, as happens in such cases. He watched the car weaken on the climb and felt sorry for it as if it were alive.

Well, honey, push yourself a little more.

And when the train stopped, Seliverstov for the first time thought that something irreparable had happened.

An electric locomotive came to the rescue. He approached so quickly after the locomotive stopped that it became clear to Ivan Ivanovich: the electric locomotive was waiting at the station located behind the rise. “Probably the shift commanders didn’t rely on me from the very beginning,” Ivan Ivanovich thought bitterly.

The driver got out of the electric locomotive cabin and went into the locomotive hut. It was Grisha Nazarov, Ivan Ivanovich’s former assistant. Seliverstov was now most afraid of the jokes of the electrician. But his fears were in vain. Grisha greeted politely and asked for a certificate of brakes; the driver of the leading locomotive must have it. Then, a little later, Nazarov coughed hesitantly and asked in a somewhat guilty voice:

You know what, Uncle Vanya, I want to test an electric locomotive. What is he capable of in our conditions? Please do not open the steam. I'll try it alone.

Ivan Ivanovich looked at Nazarov from under his brows and asked briefly:

Do you hope?

“How can I tell you, I still don’t have enough experience,” Nazarov answered, “I’m counting more on the car.” Now, if you, Uncle Vanya, with your experience sat down at the controller of an electric locomotive, then I can safely say: it will carry two thousand tons of trailer.

“Just don’t do any propaganda,” Ivan Ivanovich suddenly interrupted him sternly, “let’s run to your locomotive and get going quickly!”

Soon a thick signal, similar to a steamship whistle, was heard from the electric locomotive. The carriages moved reluctantly, as if they liked to stand in the shadows between the rocks. Pine trees peered out from the rocks, bending their shaggy heads. And when the telegraph poles rushed towards him, Ivan Ivanovich brightened up. An elastic headwind brought coolness and spicy smells of the forest into the booth. The train, skirting the mountains, was now rushing at high speed, announcing itself with inviting whistles and roars.

For about twenty years, Seliverstov has been driving trains along the steep passes of the Urals. On his part of the path, he knows every crack in the rock, every meander of the river running behind the slope; knows where a remote forest path runs away from the railway, but every time these continuously changing, as if on a screen, landscapes of his native nature affected him in a new, refreshing way.

Ivan Ivanovich could not imagine life without this. He loved his locomotive with all its weaknesses, just as a hereditary horseman can love his horse. And recently, a new force began to invade his life, merciless in its desire to push aside everything old and obsolete, to change the entire appearance of the railway worker. And it was difficult for the old driver to immediately believe in this power and give up what was his pride and joy.

After the ill-fated flight, Seliverstov was called to the road department. He expected a “dispersal,” but the deputy head of the department, Ivan Demyanovich Chernyavsky, greeted him with a joke:

Well, Ivan Ivanovich, who was right, who was stronger? Are you now convinced of the advantages of the new technology?

Seliverstov was silent.

You took a risk in vain, Ivan Ivanovich, an experienced, serious driver, but you did this... We won’t punish you, but we will still punish your locomotive. An order was signed to place him in reserve.

No matter how Ivan Ivanovich expected this order from day to day, the news was a heavy blow for him.

Only mine? - he squeezed out.

No,” Chernyavsky hastened to reassure him, “there is not a single train locomotive left on the site anymore.”

Well,” Seliverstov responded dully, “I’ll apparently have to switch to maneuvers, if, of course, there is a place for me there.”

At first he was tired during maneuvers. After work, my head was buzzing and my hands were hurting, but that wasn’t the main thing. As soon as they drove out from behind the dense walls of the trains to the end of the station, from where the mountains were visible, he felt uneasy. Forgetting about everything, he looked at the silver road along which the gray worms of trains, reduced by distance, crawled. As if understanding his condition, Senya Goncharenko approached him.

Uncle Vanya, rest, I'll work.

And Ivan Ivanovich was grateful to his young friend. As soon as Seliverstov was sent to the shunting locomotive, Senya volunteered to work with him again. Dexterous and smart, he already confidently mastered the reverse and often replaced the driver. Now Ivan Ivanovich did not prove to his assistant the advantages of the steam locomotive over other locomotives, but Senya increasingly admired electric locomotives:

Have you ever been in a cockpit? - he exclaimed excitedly. - Go for fun. That's where the beauty is!

The driver sometimes lost his temper:

Go on your own, but I have nothing to do there.

Senya fell silent and, as usual, abruptly changed the topic of conversation.

But Seliverstov still had to visit an electric locomotive. The reason for this turned out to be his old watch. One day he had to go to Miass. He arrived at the station seven minutes before the electric train departed. But imagine his surprise when he was told that the train had left about five minutes ago. For the first time, he looked at his watch with resentment. His father gave them to him. For almost twenty years they walked minute by minute, and here...

You have to wait eight hours for the next train, but you need to go. And then he noticed Nazarov hastily walking along the platform.

Where are you going? - he asked, seeing Seliverstov’s travel suitcase.

“But I was late for the train,” Seliverstov answered reluctantly.

So come with me to the car! - Nazarov exclaimed joyfully. - I'm leaving.

No,” Ivan Ivanovich shook his head, “I’d rather go on the brakes.”

What are you, Uncle Vanya, are you tired of living, or what? In this weather, wearing an autumn coat will quickly get you through!

Seliverstov had no choice but to agree. Entering the cabin of the electric locomotive, he tried to contain his admiration, but Grigory noticed this. Like a hospitable host, he invited him to undress and hung his coat in the closet.

“Look,” Ivan Ivanovich muttered, “it’s like in the apartment: they got themselves wardrobes, hung up a dressing table.

“They come from the factory with all this,” Nazarov’s assistant hastened to explain.

Seliverstov looked at him sternly, as if saying: “Be quiet, I know it myself.”

Grigory turned on the tiles and soon a pleasant warmth began to spread from under his feet. Ivan Ivanovich sat down more comfortably in his chair.

Maybe you’ll go to the back cabin,” Nazarov politely suggested, “I’ll turn on the tiles there too.” Take a rest.

No,” answered Ivan Ivanovich, “I’m used to looking ahead when I’m driving.”

We set off soon.

Seliverstov watched Nazarov's movements sideways.

“Nothing special,” he thought, “and I would sit down and go now. The controls are almost the same as on a steam locomotive. The driver's crane is the same. Indeed, only the structure of this machine needs to be studied.”

The train turned out to be long, with many two-axle platforms. It is necessary to be especially skillful in driving such a train at high speed through the mountains, otherwise it can be torn apart. Suddenly there was a strong pull. This made Seliverstov wary.

What, my friend, have you forgotten the path profile? - he asked sternly. - Don’t you know that at this point it is necessary to compress the train - to support it with a locomotive brake?

Nazarov looked around guiltily.

“And now we need to open up,” Seliverstov said a few minutes later, “otherwise there might be a delay again.”

Nazarov, like an obedient student, followed all his instructions.

Ivan Ivanovich, forgetting that he was a passenger, moved almost close to Nazarov and all the way taught his former assistant how to drive the train.

They entrusted you with such a car, but you don’t know how to operate it,” he grumbled, “that’s probably why the coils on your engines are burning.” Eh, you!

Once, while on duty on the locomotive, Senya noticed that Ivan Ivanovich was frowning and silent. If Senya addressed him, he guiltily looked away to the side. Senya asked with concern in his voice:

Uncle Vanya, didn’t you have some trouble at home? Why are you so gloomy today?

“You see, Senya,” Ivan Ivanovich said quietly, “I’m to blame for you.”

What's happened?

I enrolled in a course for electric train operators - that's what! - Seliverstov blurted out in one breath.

Senya, as if on a spring, jumped out of his seat.

This is true?! - he exclaimed joyfully.

It turns out that it's true. Why are you happy?

“How can you not be happy,” Goncharenko said hastily. - I myself didn’t know how to start a conversation with you. After all, I graduated from the electric locomotive driver assistant course a week ago. I studied secretly from you, on the job. I also did internships on an electric locomotive in my free time.

“Well, she’s a beast, she’s cunning,” Seliverstov said affectionately.

“Uncle Vanya,” Senya said a little later, “will you take me as your assistant when you finish your courses?”

Do you really doubt it?

No, but still, just to be sure... - he sighed with relief.

Ivan Ivanovich looked at the mountains. A train was approaching from there. The roar, growing every minute, somehow especially keenly worried the heart of the old driver. Soon, soon Ivan Ivanovich will return to where the peaks of the Ural ridge turn blue.

From the book Portraits of Revolutionaries author Trotsky Lev Davidovich

Essay Lenin (Ulyanov Vladimir Ilyich) (1870-1924) - Marxist theorist and politician, leader of the Bolshevik Party, organizer of the October Revolution in Russia, founder and leader of the Soviet republics and the Communist International - born April 9/22, 1870 in the city

From the book Popular Russian People author Leskov Nikolay Semenovich

COUNT MIKHAIL ANDREEVICH MILORADOVICH Biographical sketch The October book of the “Military Collection” contains very interesting materials collected by Mr. Semevsky for the biography of Count Miloradovich. We borrow from them the most prominent features that define moral and

From the book Voices of the Times. (Electronic variant) author Amosov Nikolay Mikhailovich

5. 1930-32 Arrests. Lenka is a company. Technical College. Breakthrough work. Practice in Leningrad. Father's death. Driver. End of the exercise. That summer ended sadly: I lay there and read. Kuprin, Artsibashev:..Before September 1st, I came to the city, ran to Lyonka and found out amazing news:-

From the book Yuri Semin. People's Trainer of Russia author Aleshin Pavel Nikolaevich

CHAPTER 1. ENGINEER OF A FIRST-CLASS LOCOMOTIVE In sports, as you know, everything is decided by goals, points, seconds. It would seem that nothing could be simpler: whoever has more titles, medals, cups, certificates can feel himself in an aura of glory, universal worship, an object of national love. Maybe

From the book Stone Belt, 1986 author Petrin Alexander

From the book Great Mao. "Genius and Villainy" author Galenovich Yuri Mikhailovich

Essay first His home and life Probably the generally accepted opinion is that a person under normal conditions should have a family, a home, and this house is sometimes seen as “my fortress,” that is, the place where a person is protected from the outside world by the walls of the home, behind which he is

From the book Stone Belt, 1978 author Berdnikov Sergey

MIKHAIL ANOSHKIN COMMISSIONER TOKACHEV Essay In June 1938, elections to the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR were held for the first time in the country. I was then studying at the Kyshtym Pedagogical School, and the Komsomol organization instructed us students to compile voter lists. Case

From the book Stone Belt, 1987 author Propalov Vasily Foteevich

Mikhail Fonotov ARTEL Essay In a triangular park at a fork in the road, under poplars, among dusty lilac bushes, there is a long slatted sign: “The Yuzhuralzoloto association is proud of them.” In those days when I came to Plast, the shield was clean. Apparently, the visual propaganda was updated.

From the book Southern Ural, No. 6 author Kulikov Leonid Ivanovich

MACHINIST Now the rise, now the slope, now the plain - The steel tracks are endless. And there are native paintings everywhere, And you won’t find them more beautiful. Constantly leaning against the glass, the driver looks vigilantly into the darkness. A Russian song, a simple song Helps him on the road. The traffic light turns green, Path

From the book Kings of Agreements author Perumal Wilson Raj

Chapter 5 “Even before the starting whistle, we knew the results of all the matches of Lokomotiv Moscow.” Yuri Semin was released from prison in May 2006. A few weeks before release, prisoners are transferred to another block, where they are allowed to watch TV and read the latest newspapers. IN

From the book Air Route author Sikorsky Igor Ivanovich

Historical sketch The idea of ​​flying through the air originated among people many thousands of years ago. Drawings and sculptures of the ancient Egyptians, made 2000-3000 years BC, often depict figures of people with wings. The same images can be found on ancient

From the book The ships of science are named after them author Treshnikov Alexey Fedorovich

Mikhail Somov Essay three

From the book From Zhvanetsky to Zadornov author Dubovsky Mark

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From the book by Jacqueline Kennedy. American Queen by Bradford Sarah

14 Essay on Courage She set an example for the world on how to behave. General de Gaulle The car drove up to the hospital. In the terrible turmoil, Jackie sat leaning over John, pressing his head to her chest, as if trying to shelter her from the outside world. She just sobbed quietly. Lady Bird

From the book It Happened Then author Rolnikite Masha Girsho

UNPUBLISHED SKETCH Zvezda did not publish a travel sketch about the second trip abroad, in June 1967, this time to the German Democratic Republic. The editor-in-chief of the magazine, G.K. Kholopov, considered that “the wrong attitude towards the Germans is evident.” Apparently he came to this conclusion

From the book Freud by Guy Peter

Bibliographical sketch

At the dawn of steam power, boiler explosions were quite common. This was due, first of all, to an insufficient level of knowledge in the field of thermodynamics and resistance of materials, as well as the low quality of materials used to manufacture the first boilers and the primitive technology of their production. By the beginning of the 19th century, a sufficient level of knowledge had accumulated in the design and operation of steam boilers, and explosions of stationary boiler plants became rare.

This is what it looked like...

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

In the 19th century, boiler explosions were characteristic mainly of steam locomotives, since their boilers are of lightweight construction and are highly forced, and, in addition, also experience shock loads when moving on rails. In addition to this, the locomotive boiler is a fire-tube boiler, where steam pressure acts on the outer surface of the heat exchanger tubes, which also reduces strength. It is for this reason that at the end of the 19th century, strict standards for the design, maintenance and repair of locomotive boilers were developed and adopted. The designs of stationary and ship boilers have a significantly greater safety margin and explode much less frequently than locomotive boilers. Officially, the very first boiler explosion on a steam locomotive occurred back in 1813, when engineer Brunton, demonstrating his “Mechanical Traveler,” decided to increase its speed by further increasing the steam pressure in the boiler, but the boiler unexpectedly exploded, killing 15 people.

Photo 4.

No radical way has been invented to combat this phenomenon, which usually arises solely due to the “human factor”.

Driving a steam locomotive is not easy. Using water gauge glasses, the operator must monitor the water level in the boiler, avoiding a strong increase or decrease in the level. Depending on the mode, the steam consumption is different and you have to increase or decrease the water supply to the boiler.

Photo 5.

Photo 6.

If for some reason the driver misses the level, he must supply water very carefully. If you open the injectors to capacity, jets of water will pour into an overheated boiler with red-hot, red-hot walls and pipes, too much steam will be formed at once, and in some cases the speed of the safety valve may not be enough - the pressure of the resulting steam will simply burst the boiler. Sometimes this happened, but the driver who violated the instructions rarely had the opportunity to tell someone about his mistake...

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