П36

P36 stands in the Tashkent Railway Museum, Uzbekistan, as a preserved Soviet steam locomotive for mainline passenger service. Its red side stripe earned these machines the nickname “Generals”. Between 1950 and 1956, Kolomna Works built 251 locomotives for long-distance passenger routes across the Soviet Union. An 18-ton axle load let them travel on most railway lines, while heavier trains addressed growing postwar traffic.

Development began in the late 1940s, when railway authorities sought IS-class power on more routes. L. S. Lebedyanskiy’s team chose a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement. The 1950 prototype used a welded boiler, mechanical stoker, power reverse, cast frame and roller bearings. Testing produced 2,500 to over 3,000 horsepower and thermal efficiency above nine percent. Locomotive 0251 became Kolomna Works’ last steam locomotive.

On the Moscow-Leningrad route, these engines cut travel time by almost two hours and raised average speed from 58 to 69 kilometres per hour. Diesel and electric traction then displaced them, ending regular service by the mid-1970s. This preserved example has two bogies, a six-axle tender, an automatic stoker and two turbogenerators. Its driving wheels measure 1,850 millimetres across, a striking detail of steam-era engineering.