Locomotive M62

M62
M62 locomotive in Baranovichi, Belarus
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Factory today: Lugansk (Ukraine) Model M62 Build date 1965- Total produced 3,273
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co´ Co´ (Co-Co) Gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) Russian gauge Driver dia. 1,050 mm (41.34 in) Wheelbase 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in), bogie centres Length 17.55 m (57 ft 7 in) Width 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in) Height 4.493 m (14 ft 8.9 in) Axle load 19.3 t (19.0 long tons; 21.3 short tons) Loco weight 116.5 t (114.7 long tons; 128.4 short tons) Fuel type Diesel fuel Fuel capacity 3,900 L (860 imp gal; 1,000 US gal) Water cap 950 L (210 imp gal; 250 US gal) Fuel consumption 340 kg/h (750 lb/h) Prime mover Kolomna 14D40 Engine type Diesel engine Cylinders V12 Transmission Diesel electric Loco brake Oerlikon Air
Performance figures Maximum speed 100 km/h (62 mph) Power output 1,472 kW (1,974 hp) Tractive effort 314 kN (71,000 lbf)
Career Operators BCh, ČD, ČSD, DR, DBAG, MÁV, GySEV, PKP, RZhD, UZ, MTZ, KSR Class M62 (SZhD, RZhD, MÁV, GySEV, BCh, MTZ, UZ), 781 (ČSD, ČD), T 679.1 (ČSD), V200 (DR), 120 (DR), 220(DBAG), ST44 (PKP), K62 KSR Nicknames  POL Gagarin, Iwan,  HUN Szergej  RUS Машка  GER Taigatrommel  CZE Sergej  BLR Муха  LTU Meška  PRK 신성, 금성

Career
Operators	BCh, ČD, ČSD, DR, DBAG, MÁV, GySEV, PKP, RZhD, UZ, MTZ, KSR
Class	M62 (SZhD, RZhD, MÁV, GySEV, BCh, MTZ, UZ), 781 (ČSD, ČD), T 679.1 (ČSD), V200 (DR), 120 (DR), 220(DBAG), ST44 (PKP), K62 KSR
Nicknames	POL Gagarin, Iwan,  HUN Szergej  RUS Машка  GER Taigatrommel  CZE Sergej  BLR Муха  LTU Meška  PRK 신성, 금성

M62 is a Soviet-built diesel locomotive for heavy freight trains, exported to many Eastern Bloc countries as well as to Cuba, North Korea and Mongolia. Beside the single locomotive M62 also twin versions 2M62 and triple versions 3M62 have been built. A total number of 7164 single sections have been produced, which have been used to build 5231 locomotives.

According to the Comecon directives production of heavy diesel locomotives among Eastern Bloc countries was left exclusively for Romania and the Soviet Union. The first few prototypes of this heavy freight locomotive were ready in 1964 and their first destination outside the Soviet Union was Hungary. A total number of 723 units were produced in the Soviet Union.

From 1970 till 1976 the former Soviet Union Railway (SZhD) received 723 engines M62, further 13 M62U have been delivered from 1989 till 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.

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 was probably influenced directly from the Soviet Union. For political reasons, the USSR simply forced Poland to buy Soviet instead of Romanian locomotives, as it preferred satellite countries not to export their products. The first 4 locomotives, produced by the Voroshilovgrad Locomotive Factory (in today's Lugansk, Ukraine), were delivered to Poland in September 1965. Deliveries continued until 1988, with 1,191 locomotives delivered in total (1,114 for PKP, 68 for LHS and 9 for industry). One of the locomotives (ST44-1500 – producer’s designation M63) had bogies and traction engines exchanged with newer types which allowed it to achieve a higher top speed. The series, with numbers between 2001 and 2068 was imported to run on the LHS broad gauge line. In addition to a different gauge, this series was equipped with an automatic coupling system. There were several reasons for importing M62 locomotives to Poland, and today’s views on this decision are quite ambiguous. The locomotive was more powerful than even the strongest of the Polish steam locomotives used for freight transport in those days, yet it could not haul passenger trains (due to lack of carriage heating devices) and caused huge damage to the railway tracks. Another important weakness of the M62 locomotive was with its vast fuel consumption. The advantages of this machine though are a fairly simple construction coupled with a largely reliable diesel-electric transmission. Intensive electrification of Polish railways caused the relatively new ST44 locomotives to be mothballed into reserve stock. Many machines withdrawn from PKP found their place among industrial and private railways, where they only bore the producer’s M62 designation