myaroslav
Spotted alive a relatively rare VL40 locomotive - a half of VL80, equipped with the second cab during overhaul. An idea to get two light locos by splitting a heavy one was quite obvious and had been tryed independently in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The obtained locomotives, being similar in their main equipment, differed by cabs and designations. However, splitted version turned out to be less versatile than original. First, the 4-axle locomotive was too light to haul heavy trains, especially on routes with hard profile, while freight bogies limited the maximum speed and the possible power in passenger service. Second, the splitted locomotives were relatively old and becoming obsolete, so VL40 initially were a temporary solution with relatively low remainig lifetime. The largest fleet, about 50 VL40u, is being operated by Ukraine which wasn't able to buy new passenger locomotives. Kazakhstan had made about 20 units before it started ordering new passenger locos in China. Russia, which was the first country to try VL40, produced less than 10 which were retired soon. In the photo there is VL40m from Kazakhstan and VL40s from Russia, which got to museum quickly after rebuild. The plate of the last one stores the number of original locomotive. #trainspotting #train #electric
