On August 5, 1924, a trial body of the world's first mainline diesel locomotive, built according to the project of Professor Yakov Gakkel from the Electrotechnical Institute, was launched at the workshop of the Baltic Shipyard in Leningrad.
The history of this locomotive dates back to 1904. Even then, the need for mainline diesel locomotives was recognized by many advanced Russian engineers and scientists. Russia became the home of original projects of such machines. None of these projects were realized in Tsarist Russia. However, they sparked discussions in engineering circles and active mobilization of specialists and inventors. The most outstanding of them was Yakov Gakkel, a well-known designer, a former participant in the construction of the St. Petersburg and Kyiv trams. Gakkel began developing his diesel locomotive in May 1921, when the Soviet Republic's railways were short of steam locomotives, cars, and coal. He presented the first project of a locomotive with a 600 hp diesel engine to the Higher Technical Council of the People's Commissariat for Railways (NKPS). The council members had several objections. This, however, did not deter the author, and he turned to Professors V. Mitkevich, M. Shatelin, and G. Grafitov. They supported the project, and at the session of the State Planning Committee (Gosplan) on June 4, 1921, they decided to implement it. With the support of the scientific community and Gosplan, Gakkel persistently improved his diesel locomotive, first increasing the engine power to 1000 hp. For a comprehensive study of the problems, a committee of the Higher Soviet of the National Economy was formed under the chairmanship of Professor N. Shchukin. Gosplan chairman G. M. Krzhizhanovsky reported Gakkel's diesel locomotive project to V. I. Lenin. Lenin immediately recognized the importance of creating a new locomotive and ordered funds to be allocated for its construction. On January 4, 1922, the Labor and Defense Council set immediate conditions and procedures for transferring the developed diesel locomotive projects to factories for detailed development and announced a "Competition for the best diesel locomotive design." Gakkel's project was thoroughly worked out and simplified in the committee for studying and designing diesel locomotives, and in February 1922, it was approved along with the budget by Gosplan. The manufacture of the locomotive was entrusted to the Institute of Heat Technology and NKPS. On December 19, 1922, the "Elektrika" plant began manufacturing traction electric motors; on January 20, 1923, the frames and bogies were made at the "Red Putilovets" plant; and on June 23, 1923, the mechanisms and body were produced at the Baltic Plant. The generators had been previously manufactured by the "Volta" plant. They were intended for the submarine "Yaz." Gakkel recalled: "All the units were made from Russian materials, with Russian tools, technology, and engineers. Only the bearings on the English diesel engine, taken from the Russian submarine "Lebed," were foreign. The modification and testing of the diesel engine at the Baltic Plant were supervised by Professor B. Oshurkov. The work was planned to be completed by August-September, but the flood of August 23, 1924, delayed the process. All ten electric motors of the locomotive were soaked with water and had to be repaired and dried. Only on November 4 was the locomotive transferred in parts by a port crane across the Neva and assembled on the loading tracks of Gutuevsky Island. Two days later, at 2:41 PM, engineer B. Darinsky, the first driver of the diesel locomotive, delivered the new locomotive to the Leningrad-1 station and handed it over to the depot of the 1st section of the Traction Service of the October Railway. On November 7, 1924, the workers of Leningrad saw the first mainline diesel locomotive in the world. It made a run to the Obukhovo station and back. Its body bore the inscription: "Built in 1924 in Leningrad according to the project of Y. M. Gakkel. In memory of V. I. Lenin." The primary engine of the diesel locomotive was a 1000 hp diesel engine. Its shaft was connected to two independently excited generators. One of them was used as a starter, powered by a 110V battery. Each generator had a current output of 1500 A and voltage ranging from 30 to 380 V. With parallel connection of the generators, the maximum current increased to 3000 A, and the constant voltage limit reached 760 V. Traction was controlled by parallel or series connection of the generators and changing the excitation current. The diesel engine's shaft speed remained constant, and voltage was maintained by a centrifugal governor.
The traction motors, with a maximum power of 100 kW, were suspended on springs and connected to the locomotive's axles through single-stage gearboxes with a gear ratio of 4.625. The bogies for the diesel locomotive were designed under the guidance of Professor A. Raevsky and engineer K. Shishkin. All three bogies could pivot, and the two end bogies could also move longitudinally along the body. This allowed the locomotive to negotiate railway curves with a radius of 150 meters. On January 17, 1925, the diesel locomotive was presented at an international meeting in Stolnigg. G. M. Krzhizhanovsky said in his speech: "How pleased Vladimir Ilyich would have been!" On December 30, 1925, the NKPS commission accepted the locomotive for operation. It hauled trains from Moscow to Kursk, Kharkov, Baku, Chelyabinsk, and Kuybyshev. There were also record runs: 4500 km without visiting a depot, transporting heavy freight trains through the Suram Pass in the Caucasus. There were also amusing incidents. Sometimes station personnel would receive the train without realizing that the first car was the mainline locomotive itself. During the design, construction, and testing of the locomotive, it was referred to as G31 in honor of Gakkel. Railway workers later referred to it as Yu002, ShchEL1, and finally Shch1, indicating its equivalence in power to the Sh series steam locomotive, with an electric transmission, built as the first. This locomotive indeed opened the era of mainline diesel locomotive construction. As stated in the acceptance act of the State Commission, it "deserves to be noted on the pages of the history of railway technology."
OLEG KURIKHIN, Candidate of Technical Sciences