The development of railways in what was to become, for a time, the Soviet Union, started in the days of the Russian Empire of the Tsars, using steam traction.
The first reference to electric traction I've found was a short tram line in Kiev, opened in 1892. But, as early as 1926, following the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, Electric Multiple Units were operating in Azerbaijan from Baku to Sabunchi (around 11 km route length).
Between 1928 and 1932, General Electric locomotives were introduced on the Kashuri-Zestafoni and Suram Pass lines (around 66 km route length west of Gori towards Black Sea) of the Zakavkazskaya Railway and then on the Mineral'nye Vody-Kislovdsk line in Caucasus (around 56 km route length on Murmansk Line).
In 1934, PB21-01 (named to honour the Politburo) and operating at 3kV d.c., built at Kolomna Works, gave satisfactory performance between Tbilisi and Khasari.
The OR22-01 was introduced in 1938. This Co-Co design operated from 20 kV a.c. and used Mercury Arc Rectifiers to rectify power to the motors.
By 1941, 1,870 route km had been electrified.
After World War II, the Soviet Union designed a series of 1-section and 2-section 3 kV d.c locomotives but, in 1957, 25kV a.c. was chosen for all new work. By 1991, the Western Lines, the Caucasus and Trans-Siberian had been electrified, using various methods.
The first post-World War II design for freight work was the 'T8' (for Tbilisi 8-axle), a 2-section 3 kV d.c locomotive which also appeared as a 1-section design. The 1-section had a cab each end: the 2-section had one cab in each section. The class name was changed to commemorate Vladimir Lenin, and each driving end carries his initials in Cyrillic characters which look rather like 'Bn' since his name in Russian is 'Влади́мир Ленин'. In Roman letters, the family is known as 'VL' and successive classes are VL8 (introduced 1953), VL10 (introduced 1961) and VL11 (introduced 1975). Some units no longer carry the 'VL' prefix.
VL8
According to the list on the 'Railfan Europe' site here, the VL8 (introduced in 1953) is almost extinct, although I photographed VL8-310 in Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan Railways: VL8-310 2-section Bo-Bo 3 kV d.c.
VL10
In 1961, the first VL10 was produced in Tbilisi followed by 17 more. From 1967 to 1977, large numbers were series-built at both Tbilisi and, from 1969 to 1976, Novocherkassk, totalling 1,902 units. I believe the class is referred to as 'Chervonets', an informal name for a 10 rouble coin.
Brief data
2-section Bo-Bo.
Wheel diameter 1250 mm.
Each section Power(a) 2680 kW (b) 2300 kW.
Each section Tractive Effort (a) 307 kN (b) 195 kN @ 48.7 km/h (c) 159 kN @ 51.2 km/h Max 100 km/h.
Each section has 4 off 670 kW, series wound, nose suspended, axle hung d.c. traction motors (Tbilisi TL-2K1), with a gear ratio of 3.83:1.
Regenerative braking is provided.
Each section is 16420mm long and weighs 92t, giving an axle load of 23t.
Armenia Railways: The Russian-design 3 kV d.c. 2-section locomotive VL10-825 which hauled the 'Golden Eagle' from Yerevan.
In 1975 a higher-power sub-class was introduced called VL10u ('u' for 'usilennyi', meaning strengthened), with a higher power.
Standardisation meant that many parts, including bogies and series production bodies were common with VL 80K class (a similar 2-section Bo-Bo arranged for 25 kV a.c. operation introduced in 1963).
In 1974-75, three ballasted units were prototypes for the VL10U class.
In 1984-5 the VL10N class was introduced for industrial use with rheostatic rather than regenerative braking.
VL11
VL11, introduced 1975, is a development allowing extra ('booster') sections to be added for higher power.
Tbilisi Station, Georgian Railway: 11-747A on northbound train
VL11m, a modernised version of the VL11, followed in 1987.
Azerbaijan Railways: VL11m 341 waiting with a westbound train west of Hajiqabul. Both pantographs lowered and crew relaxing.
Qobustan Station: Azerbaijan Railways: VL11 M6-509 on the platform line. This is a modernised version (built from 1987) of the adaptable multi-section Bo-Bo VL11 (built from 1976) which was developed from the earlier VL10. The Cyrillic 'b' after the running number indicates cab 'b' (14:25)
The collapse of the Soviet Union 1992 must have been an incredible upheaval for the railways. A huge, previously-integrated railway system was devolved into numerous separate railways and existing rolling stock was divided up according to prior use. Whereas previously the manufacture of traction units and rolling stock had been state-directed, efforts became fragmented.
Book Reference
[1] 'Soviet Locomotive Types - The Union Legacy' by A J Heywood & I D C Button (Frank Stenvalls Forlag) ISBN 0-9525202-0-6.
[2] 'Lokomotivy otechestvennykh zheleznykh dorog (Railroad Locomotives of our Native Land) 1845-1955' by Vitaly A Rakov (Transport Moskva, 1955 in Russian Cyrillic) ISBN 9785277008218.
Related posts on other websites
Elmavalmshenebeli (Georgian loco builder).
Railfan Europe: RZD dc electric locomotives.
VL10 (Wikipedia).
Related posts on this website
Numbering of Russian Locomotives and Rolling Stock.
Russian Railways.
Railway Workshops in Kiev (2005 visit).
Trans-Siberian (17 posts describing a journey from Ulan Bataar to Moscow).
Caspian Odyssey (11 posts describing a journey from Yerevan to Baku).
My Pictures
Ukraine Modern Image (Electric & Diesel).
Kiev Locomotive Works (Passenger) (Electric).
Kiev Locomotive Works (Freight) Electric & Diesel.
Russian Railways (2011 canal/river trip).
Railways in Armenia (2018).
Georgian Railway (2018).
Tbilisi Station, Georgian Railway (2018).
Azerbaijan Railways (2018).
Locomotive Profile: VL10 and similar locomotives.
Russian Railways - The Trans-Siberian Railway (2012: 21 albums).
