M62 locomotive

According to the Comecon directives production of heavy diesel locomotives among Eastern Bloc countries was left exclusively to Romania and the Soviet Union. The M62 was developed by the Vorohsilovgrad Locomotive Factory (today: Luhansk Locomotive Factory) on order of Hungary. The M62 designation originates from the Hungarian order, as the Hungarian railways previously ordered Swedish locomotives called M61 in Hungary. The Soviets disliked this and forced Hungary to buy Soviet locomotives, but the USSR did not have suitable diesel locomotives at the time, spurring the development of the type. The first few prototypes of this heavy freight locomotive were ready in 1964 and the first buyer outside the Soviet Union was Hungary. A total number of 3,273 units were produced in the Soviet Union. ==Operators==

Soviet Union M62 Between 1970 and 1976 the Soviet Union Railway (SZhD) received 723 M62 engines, further 13 M62U units have been delivered between 1989 and 1990. These engines were single 3M62U sections. For the Soviet military 154 locomotives named DM62 were built. These engines have been modified for pulling SS-24 Scalpel ballistic rocket launcher trains. For industrial railroads 39 engines of the version M62UP have been built. These engines had improved trucks, larger fuel tanks and modified exhaust silencers. Poland ST44 in Warsaw In the early 1960s an urgent need appeared in Poland for a heavy freight diesel locomotive. The Polish industry at the time was not able to produce such a locomotive, so a decision was made to import a large number of M62 locomotives from the Soviet Union, which were already imported by Hungarian MÁV. In Poland those machines received ST44 designation During first-revision repairs all locomotives had front lights changed from small ones into standard, Polish large types. The decision is said to have been made after Poland had started to import ST43 locomotives from Romania and probably came directly from the Soviet Union. For political reasons, the Soviet Union simply forced Poland to buy Soviet instead of Romanian locomotives, as it preferred satellite countries not to export their products. Since 2007 Newag offers extensive modernisations of the M62 locomotives that involve the replacement of the prime mover and generator, fitting new drivers' cabs and new body. The modernised units bear the manufacturer's designation 311D (standard gauge) and 311Da (Russian gauge). The modernised locomotive develops , 331 kN tractive effort and has maximum speed of . Modernised units have been supplied to a number of operators in Poland, PKP Cargo classifies them as ST40 and PKP LHS – as ST40s. In 2017 Polish train operator , in co-operation with VIS Systems, converted one ST44 to 3 kV DC electric. The new locomotive, designated 207E, uses the original's bogies and underframe; it develops power and has maximum speed of . The company has converted another unit since and plans to convert 12 locomotives altogether. North Korea K62 Because of its low maintenance requirements the M62 locomotive is quite popular with the Korean State Railway of the North Korea, where they serve not only on non-electrified lines but on electrified ones as well. 64 locomotives of this type were imported from the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation between 1967 and 1995, numbered in the 내연6xx (Naeyŏn 6xx) series. Between 1996 and 1998 31 locomotives were delivered from Deutsche Bahn. In 2000 six units were delivered from Slovak Railways and 13 units from Polish State Railways. None of the delivered locomotives were painted in standard North Korean livery (which is light blue over green) and they still bear the same livery as in previous service, except the former German ones, which were given a different, green livery. Those units acquired from Germany are numbered in the 내연7xx (Naeyŏn 7xx) series, while those acquired from Poland and Slovakia are numbered in the 내연8xx (Naeyŏn 8xx) series. Two copies were built in North Korea, numbers 8001 and 8002, and given the designation “Kŭmsŏng” (“Venus”). 8002 has been on display at the Museum of the Three Revolutions since its construction, while 8001 is in regular service. Though most of these machines are no longer in service on the island, one of them, numbered 61602 is on display at the National Railroad Museum in Havana. This one was driven by Fidel Castro on the inauguration of a tram between Cumbre and Placetas in the center of the country. Other surviving M-62Ks have been spotted in the central city of Cienfuegos; these are numbered 61611 and 61605. (See photo here:) Mongolia M62 From 1980 till 1990 MTZ received 13 single units M62UM and 66 twin units 2M62M. ==Technical data==

Overview The M62 locomotive has a Co-Co wheel arrangement, running on two bogies with three axles on each bogie. Chassis and bogie frames are constructed out of box elements. The two-stroke diesel engine and the main alternator are mounted on a steel frame. The frame is fixed to the chassis with elastic supports. Electric traction motors are mounted on bogie frames with a tram system. was unreliable because it was developed in a short timeframe from scratch, without previous design experience. In the 1950s domestically built Soviet diesel locomotives, having the wider track base and taller tunnel clearances, used vertical opposed-piston engines. These (e.g. Kharkov 2D100/9D100/10D100) were based on the Fairbanks-Morse 38D8 design which was installed by F-M in their H15-44 Hood and H20-44 Hood road switcher locomotives, as well as the F-M 'Erie-Built' Passenger and Freight cab units. The Soviet opposed-piston engines, like their US counterparts, were simply too tall to fit in locomotives designed for the standard-gauge railways with the tighter tunnel allowances of Eastern Bloc satellite countries. After the fall of the Soviet Bloc, 31 units of MÁV's M62 fleet were rebuilt with Caterpillar engines in the 1990s, but lack of funds stopped further upgrades. No train heating The M62 was a dedicated freight mover and lacked any carriage heating or power supply equipment, even though most Soviet satellite-state customers needed to use them in dual cargo/passenger role regularly (Soviet trains of the era were heated with individual per-coach drum fireplaces). In cold times a dedicated heating wagon had to be added to MÁV's M62-drawn trains, producing steam from oil-fired boilers (1960-70s era), later on generating electricity for electric heating (1980s era). This proved to be a costly solution, in contrast to the M61 NOHAB, which could produce 750 kg of steam per hour using an internal water tank and engine waste heat, with minimal effects on fuel consumption. ==Nicknames==

This locomotive has a certain cult following among railfans, and is referred to by several nicknames, usually derived from its Soviet provenance: • Gagarin in Poland – from the space flight pioneer • Iwan/Ivan or Siergiej/Sergej in Poland or Czechoslovakia – from two popular Russian names • Szergej in Hungary – from a popular Russian name • Taigatrommel (Taiga drum) in Germany – from the amount of noise and vibration the locomotive, the first locomotives was exported to the GDR without exhaust silencers. • '''Stalin's last revenge''' in Germany – for the same reason. • Mukha ( = fly) in Belarus. • Sinsŏng ( = Nova) in North Korea. • In the Soviet Union the locomotive had one widespread nickname – Mashka () (diminutive of Maria, a reference to the "M" designation). • In Ukraine the locomotive had nickname Marusya (Variation of Mashka/Maria) ==See also==