Russian locomotive class O

The Russian locomotive class O (from Russian: Основной) was an early type of Russian steam locomotives. 9,129 locomotives were built between 1890 and 1928; hence it was the second most numerous class of locomotive in Russia, after E class, which was a unique number even on the international level.

O class steam locomotive
Preserved steam locomotive Ov-841 at the Moscow Railway museum, Rizhsky Rail Terminal
Type and origin Power type Steam Build date 1890–1915, 1925–1928
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-8-0 Gauge 1,524 mm (5 ft) Driver dia. 1,200 mm (47.24 in) Length 9.672 m (31 ft 8+3⁄4 in), w/o tender Loco weight Engine only: 52 to 55 long tons (53 to 56 t; 58 to 62 short tons) Fuel type Coal Firebox: ​  • Grate area 1.85 m2 (19.9 sq ft) Boiler pressure Various, from: 11 kgf/cm2 (1.08 MPa; 156 psi) to: 15 kgf/cm2 (1.47 MPa; 213 psi) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size Simple: 500 mm × 650 mm (19.69 in × 25.59 in) Compound: hp: 500 mm × 650 mm (19.69 in × 25.59 in) lp: 730 mm × 650 mm (28.74 in × 25.59 in)
Career Class О

Variants

Basic variants were early O^d and O^D (Russian: О^д, O^Д) with Joy valve gear and most numerous later O^V (O^В) with Walschaerts valve gear. Some locomotives were built as two cylinder simple expansion and others as two cylinder compounds.

Armoured locomotives

During World War I, the Russian Civil War and the Eastern Front of World War II O-class locomotives were widely used as standard armoured locomotives in armoured trains due to rugged construction and low silhouette. Relatively lightweight, these locomotives could carry more armor without overloading the track.

Gallery

• 
  A model of a Soviet Armoured train in the Museum of the Moscow Railway at Paveletsky Rail Terminal in Moscow. It composes one Armoured Russian Locomotive Class O.
• 
  0-8-0 Armoured locomotive Ov 5067 at the Central Armed Forces Museum, Moscow
• 
  Ov 7024 Moskva-Ryazanskaya, Sortirovochnaya depot, Moscow, an 0-8-0
• 
  Locomotive OD class the 100th manufactured at Krasnoye Sormovo in 1899
• 
  Steam locomotive Ok (Od) on the Estonian Railway circa 1920
• 
  Soviet armoured train No.2 "Yuzhnouralskiy Zheleznodorozhnik" (South-Ural Railroad Man), of 38th Armoured Train Unit, Briansk front, abandoned at Marmyzhi 29 June 1942 (OB-3 type)
• 
  Od-1080 at the Russian Railway Museum, Saint Petersburg
• 
  Ov 6640 at Varshavsky Rail Terminal, St. Petersburg
• 
  Od 716 of Chinese Eastern Railway

See also

• The Museum of the Moscow Railway, at Paveletsky Rail Terminal, Moscow
• Rizhsky Rail Terminal, Moscow, Home of the Moscow Railway Museum
• Russian Railway Museum, Saint Petersburg
• Finland Station, St.Petersburg
• History of rail transport in Russia

External links

• The Moscow Railway Museum at Rizhsky Rail Terminal
• Report on a visit to the Varshavsky Rail Terminal