myaroslav
#VP1-899 steam locomotive, the first exhibit of oldest and largest post-soviet narrow gauge museum in #Lavassaare, Estonia. It took some time to find the best type of narrow gauge steam locomotive. The small boiler should have large furnace to burn any kind of fuel (as many lines were used to obtain peat or logs, often wet), be efficient and supply enough power. But the engine has to be very light to operate on poor tracks and not tend to sleep. The best and popular in production in the soviet world type was P24 with 'all-track' axle load of only 4 tons, designed in the beginning of the WWII and taken in series production soon after the war. Different manufacturers in 6 or 7 countries used different designations of the type. #Kp4 (assigned in Poland) was the most popular. #VP1 and #VP4 types were assigned by Votkinsk factory, which was the only of many to try major improvements of the design adding spark arrestor to the chimney, steam dryer (to the later design) and waved firebox which reduced the number of stays. Unfortunately I didn't try to open the firebox, so posting here the drawing only. Later the license was transferred to China and probably North Korea, making the overall engine count hard to define. #trainspotting #narrowgauge #steam #museum
