Why the USSR preserved hundreds of steam engines - USSR Backup Engines

In today's video, we take a look at why Russia and other former Soviet States have so many train graveyards.
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This video falls under the fair use act of 1976 This video is available to use under the appropriate Creative Commons Licence.
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[@TrainFactGuy]

Давай, товарищ, мы должны сохранить паровой двигатель, чтобы обеспечить победу над капиталистическими свиньями Запада.

[@igninis]

паровоз - паровой двигатель they don't do clunky stuff like English language, therefore translation is a bit off.

[@westinbridges7321]

Come on, comrade, we must keep the steam engine to ensure victory over the capitalist pigs of the West.

[@JohnJ.Crunchalot]

Западные державы не свиньи. Русские просто ненавидят другие могущественные державы...

[@luisitobardajibenitez8013]

Loved the addition of the Papers, Please. Music

[@TheGs4_4449]

Да, товарищ!

[@nicholasscott350]

Sometime in the 1970''s, after two tours in the American Embassy in Moscow, my retired parents took the Trans Siberian railroad across Russia. During a brief stop somewhere in Siberia, my father, former Air Force intelligence, got off the train and decided to look around the train station. A building with steam locomotives caught his eye. The steam engines were all running just enough to keep the engines from freezing. Upon closer examination he saw that they were American Union Pacific steam engines given to Russia during the second world war.

[@ivanvarela3215]

Oh wow. That's a cool sight man!

[@gabrielecarbone8235]

always been so far behind in technology

[@mileslong9675]

During the war, my dad (US Merchant Marine) made a trip to Archangel (or maybe it was Murmansk) delivering supplies. He said that on the deck there were two locomotives. He said all the stevedores and longshoremen were “big fat Slavic women,” because the men were off fighting the war. He went to the best restaurant in town, but it was wartime so there was nothing special. He had ice cream, which turned out to be made from goats milk. That’s life during wartime.

[@ivanvarela3215]

@@mileslong9675 Coolio once more

[@user-rl8hf8kt1r]

​@@gabrielecarbone8235they were reserved.....not actively used

[@Daan_0172]

Other countries like Finland and Sweden also did this and it was very useful for presentation. Here in the Netherlands a new heritage Railway opened in the south east in the 90s and they ended up taking 4 locomotives from the Swedish reserve to run the line. There is also a myth that a British reserve exists but so far there is no proof of that being the case.

[@pinngg6907]

Tbh british doesn't need reserve considering how much is already preserved this day

[@MadBiker-vj5qj]

@@pinngg6907 One might suspect that the preservation movement has been encouraged for exactly this reason. We're even building new ones. 🙂

[@obelic71]

Fun fact those Swedish steam locomotives were chosen for the military reserve for their technical condition mostly just after a major (boiler) overhaul. When they realized that there were no qualified engineers anymore to operate and maintain them they were pulled out of sheds across Sweden to be sold. They were replaced with (fewer) Diesel locomotives for the military reserve.

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

​@@pinngg6907There is no British reserve. They were all chopped for scrap with cutting torches in the 50s/60s.

[@davidchilds9590]

'Some' withdrawn class 8 and class 9 British Railways freight steam engines were mothballed in the mid-60s. A friend saw several being shunted into quarry storage, but there may have been dozens stored. They were removed and scrapped in the '70s, so there is no 'secret store' for preservationists to raid. My guess is that the reduced likelihood of 'armageddon' (as reflected in the abolition of Civil Defence, Royal Observer Corps etc), together with loss of coal handling facilities, water columns etc meant that they were no longer worth keeping as a strategic reserve.

[@erikziak1249]

This was also one of the reasons why the trolleybus system was abandoned in Prague. In case of war, a trolleybus is useless, but a diesel bus can be very well utilized by any army during evacuation of citizens or as troop transport.

[@MrToradragon]

I thought it was due to construction of subway and age of trolleybus fleet in Prague.

[@erikziak1249]

@@MrToradragon The subway had little to do with it. The fleet could have been replaced, new trolleybuses were being tested in Prague - Tatra T401 and Škoda 9Tr, just before the system was closed. The Škoda 9Tr was the better option and was produced and delivered all around the eastern bloc for many years. Trolleybuses returned to Prague just a couple of years ago and are being currently extended and new routes planned. With the hilly topography of Prague it is the best option. Back in the 1970s diesel was super cheap and streets needed to be completely repaved and widened. Trolleybuses could not be easily rerouted, as they were dependent on the overhead wires. Current trolleybuses in Prague will all have a small traction accumulator so they can run autonomously (off-wire) and be temporarily re-routed if needed. New lines also do not have 100% coverage by owerhead wires, so certain sections must be driven using stored electrical energy. The charging of the onboard accumulators happens when the trolleybus is driving under wires, so there is no extra downtime to charge, contrary to a fully electric bus.

[@MacIn173]

Soviet cargo trolleybuses and cargo trams look at your comment surprised.

[@AnAmericanPatriot1555]

Yet there are people in government that want mechanical vehicles to disappear leaving its citizens a5 the mercy of the power grid in times of crisis.

[@wilfredprins9718]

now you know why the government is pushing EV's and banning diesel cars... to control the people

[@zeppelinkiddy]

Actually if NATO and the USSR went to war in Europe, the U.S. Army had a plan to use those steam engines! In September 1969 when I signed up for the U.S. Army, I almost became an engineer for these steam locomotives. I was 18 and decided to joint the Army for a three-year enlistment which entitled me to pick my primary Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Sitting with the recruiter I asked him what was the most unusual job he knew of in the Army. He flipped through the Army MOS listings book and finally said "Steam Locomotive Engineer". As a train lover I thought this was great but I asked why the Army even needed this specialty. He noted that if we went to war with the USSR in Europe, as NATO hopefully advanced into Eastern Europe they would need engineers to run the abandoned steam locomotives to move supplies. I said "Sign me up" but it was not to be. In 1969 the U.S. Army had a limit of training only three new steam locomotive engineers and those slots were already filled. Disappointed, I then chose the second strangest job in the Army. I became a MOS 61D20 Amphibious Operation and for two tours in Vietnam I commanded a cargo boat out of Danang as part of the Army's "navy", which at that time actually had more boats than the U.S. Navy, but only moved cargo. A post script to this story occurred in 1984 when my wife and I took the train from West German to West Berlin. As the modern electrified train passed through East Germany, to my surprise I saw working steam engines switching cars in East German rail yards!

[@jlctpaces]

Thank you for serving our country sir!

[@ricksmith4736]

Thank you for telling your story here.... I find these unusual stories the best and if they are not told, they die with us......

[@jacobishii6121]

Fun fact:The army has more boat and maritime operations going than the Navy.........was your training at Ft Useless back then?VA was the home to water operations 20 years ago when I was in.

[@zerooneonetwothree1872]

Thank you for being a government assassin sir. Without people like you, their "engine" wouldnt be running.

[@PennsyPappas]

And what's funny is that the U.S. kept training Military personnel on how to run Steam locomotives because so many allied countries were still using steam engines or had in reserve. So in theory we could've gone in and been able to run the Russians steam engines if the need arose. Not so much now if course but it's funny to think that could've been a very real possibility.

[@F.O.U.N.D.E.R]

And now ?

[@PennsyPappas]

@@F.O.U.N.D.E.R As far as I know they don't do that anymore.

[@someasiandude4797]

I imagine some extremely specialized force gets trained on how to operate a wide range of transportation in case they ever need to hijack something

[@trainzmarcel2074]

warmongering americans

[@someasiandude4797]

forklift certified navy seals

[@piccalillipit9211]

*I NOW LIVE IN THE FORMER USSR* Everything in communist times was thought of with a backup in mind. My electric sewing machine has a hand crank handle, just in case... My 1929 tailors iron the electrical connector broke, I bought a new one 400m from my apartment at the old hardware store for $2. We used to laugh at them for being backward, no they just had a different philosophy. they wanted things to keep working for ever and be easily repaired - iPhone owners may be sympathetic to this desire. ANd my apartment has a nuclear bunker in the basement and EMP shielding in the walls...!!!

[@autobotoctolingthomasho3362]

Holy shit, but whatcha gonna do to the bunker now cuz it kinda remained as a free room ready to be moved in,will you use it as extra storage?

[@galanonim4936]

​@@autobotoctolingthomasho3362 I live in Poland and having a bunker under a building is nothing special. (My school even had one) And yes, they are treated just as extra space in the basement

[@no-damn-alias]

So with that shielding your phone connection must be very bad

[@autobotoctolingthomasho3362]

@@galanonim4936 I wish I had a bunker too, y'know, like a secret gaming base

[@desubtilizer]

Vintage Lada cars were able to be hand cranked too

[@hnorrstrom]

The two last steamtrains from the strategic reserve here in sweden was decommissioned in 2016. Stored in remote stations with overgrown tracks in old sheds but sealed in perfect condition in plastic bags and all. These where made in 1908 and havent seen daylight since the 1970's. At one point 150 tranis was kept.

[@trainliker100]

Some steam engines in reserve can be valuable for other situations. Not only power outages, but even in diesel territory such as during flooding. In April 1965 long after the CB&Q railroad had dieselized, they had some flooding deep enough in an area that diesel electrics couldn't go through due to their low truck mounted traction motors. They had a couple of steam engines they used for fan trips and pressed No. 4960, a 2-8-2, into service to haul trains through the flooded area.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

One of the other thing compared to early electric and diesel Locomotives, steam locos were actually easier to maintain as they could run even when quite a lot of stuff is broken or damaged. It was why industrial Locomotives in the UK were often Steam even after steam Locomotives had been got rid of on the main line (plus cheaper to rent and run).

[@bigfloppa8626]

For direct diesel, maybe, but even early diesel electric was much easier to maintain than steam. It’s why they caught on.

[@survivingworldsteam]

@@bigfloppa8626 the saying was that it took two minutes to figure out what was wrong with a steam locomotive, then two hours to fix it; while a diesel locomotive took two hours to figure out what was wrong with it, and two minutes to fix it. Steam engines were simple, but required fabricating parts yourself; diesel locomotives just required a warehouse of spare parts you would swap out when something broke. The other big advantage diesel had over steam was availability. Steam locomotives required frequent maintenance to have it's ashes shoveled out and grates cleaned. They then had to be pulled out of service and their boiler inspected and worn areas replaced after so many hours of operation. This required extensive machine and boiler shops with their army of personal as well, plus water towers with good enough water and coaling or oil facilities and turntables to turn them around. (The Santa Fe was one of the first to dieselize because good water supplies were so hard to maintain in the desert southwest.) Finally, steam locomotives required hours to raise steam, unless you kept them hot with a stationary steam source. Diesels started with a push of a button, and of course were just as easy to operate. It was why it took only one diesel locomotive to replace two or three steam locomotives, and they were able to retire a lot of the infrastructure that belonged to steam locomotives.

[@aoki6332]

@@bigfloppa8626 you do need more maintenance for steam engine but in the end they where easier to replace as diesel engine are way more complex but in term of if everything collapse like in a global war steam engine will be easier to fuel than diesel since refinery will also be gone where you only need to mine coal and the UK wish had a lot of coal could permit itself to still use coal engine changed when gas and diesel become more prevalent

[@moconnell663]

A steam locomotive can be operated much longer between heavy maintenance cycles, as they will just produce less and less power as the moving parts wear, but they will never completely quit.

[@survivingworldsteam]

@@moconnell663 absolutely not. If you have ever used a BBQ pit over a period of years, you are familiar with fireside erosion, where the heat and radiation from the fire erodes the metal to the point where it finally fails. There is also the buildup of deposits on the water side, which insulates the metal and causes the metal to become hot to the point of failure. It was the explosion of a steam tractor and a steam locomotive due to boiler failures as a result of deferred or improper maintenance during the 1990s that caused the FRA to mandate a teardown, ultrasonic inspection, and repairs every 1472 hours of running time. The fact that steam locomotive boilers require heavy inspection and repairs after so many hours of use, along with their slow steamup time from cold that gave the diesel locomotive an advantage. A single diesel locomotive could often replace two or three steam locomotives because they were not subjected to such teardowns and inspections and could start at the push of a button.

[@barrybarlowe5640]

When I was in Romania, in 1980 for a cultural exchange program, they were running steam locomotives. I was assured they were the most advanced, efficient steam locomotives in existence!

[@flopunkt3665]

When the east and west German railways were united in 1995 they connected an ICE high speed train from the west and and a steam locomotive from the east to symbolise this new unity 😅

[@stacycentral]

In the mid-80s, I was a senior intelligence analyst and acting chief of our Soviet Eastern Theatre of Operations. I and other train enthusiasts would marvel at the marshalling yards near Komsomolsk and Khabarovsk that contained hundreds of mainline, short line, and shunting steam engines. In addition there were scores of early generation diesel engines, including the Soviet copies of lend-lease ALCOs.

[@peterjones3557]

Went through Russia in 1975; plenty of locos in vast sidings with the cabs boarded up and funnels capped.

[@HouseholdDog]

In 1995 was on a train from Belarus to Poland. There must have been 20 of these trains on the sidings. I always wondered why they had steam locos. Today I know. Thanks so much.

[@SotonyaAcckaya]

Few years ago various companies started to repair some of those units and put them to use as tourist trains. Especially in Karelia region, there is a Ruskeala Express Between local town of Soravala and Ruskeala marble mine. They operate at least 5 steam engines and maintain daily service.

[@toast99bubbles]

Using music from Papers Please is a great idea. I always thought that music had a Thomas vibe to it, so having a video about steam engines beingpreserved with music that has a Thomas vibe works so well.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

Glory to Arstotzka? 😅

[@SgtLuke]

I was looking for a comment that mentioned this.

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

During Russia's attempted terrorwinter when they tried to destroy the electrical grid we actually used this plan. Apparently our former president ordered to restore a lot of these steam engines. And during the winter steam engines with the help of diesel engines where used to carry both military hardware and regular trains. There where some issues with water refilling but it did work out. Some of them had their star repainted in yellow-blue.

[@nickscout2551]

People often underestimate how much of a hoarders soviets were. My dad used to make a load of money by reselling soviet fuel separators for ships. Theese were produced in such a vast quantity that you could literally sell them for ages

[@mrnorthernspitfire3067]

Tom Slemen wrote about something similar in Liverpool, I can’t remember the exact details but some scrap merchants found a hidden area of a scrapyard which led to an underground siding. In the siding were various steam locomotives (A4s, Black 5s, tank engines, saddle tanks) which were part of the UK’s “Strategic Reserve” which was to preserve steam engines for the same reason as the USSR. If I remember right there was mention of various articles about it in train magazines after this discovery came to light, it might be something to look into.

[@Db--jt7bt]

I think the UK a did have a reserve fleet of steam locomotives but it was abandoned in the 60s at the latest. Probably around the time people realized H-bombs would obliterate England if there was an all out nuclear war.

[@hummel6364]

Steam engines are actually really smart, I've been wanting to build one myself, cause all you need it some water and preferably dry wood to start harnessing mechanical energy. Tbf I don't mean steam engines as in trains, I just mean the engine itself.

[@caboose9843]

sounds like a fun little pet project!

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

@@caboose9843 Steam engines are terrible. Very poor efficiency... 10%. Diesel and petrol are 20 to 30%. They also are very polluting. Lots of carbon dioxide pollution and heavy metals or noxious compounds when coal is involved. *Do not build any more steam locos* *Steam locos must be scrapped with cutting torches and the metals recycled* *Global warming and climate change has made the external combustion engine redundant*

[@trainliker100]

There are certainly plenty of plans out there. And available castings. One source is "Reliable Steam Engine Co." where their simplest engine is 4 horsepower, plans cost $50, and castings cost $1,000. For a steam engine you will also need a boiler which can be another challenging project. You do need more than just fuel and water - you need lubrication if usually multiple types. One type that gets mixed with steam to lubricate the innards. Another to lubricate all of the external moving parts.

[@hummel6364]

@@trainliker100 honestly some sheet metal and old propane tanks would be enough to make one. They're not that complex, although I couldn't guarantee any kind of specific power output, or safety, without at least doing some calculations first. If it's enough to run an old car alternator at full load I could expect about 500-700W of output power at about 14V. Then I'd require a step up transformer to get it to 220V European, or at least 110V American to make use of it. There are losses associated, but it would make a cool backup generator. The problem is that I might have to build the transformer myself, as I am not certain that off the shelf 12V converters can handle 14V, even less so at such a high amperage. As I already have solar it would be really funny to run this thing on wood 24/7 and just sell the excess energy to the city as "green energy". I'm sure they won't get suspicious when I produce "solar" power at night. Of course I could just use the mechanical energy directly but that's pretty limiting. Wow this comment got way too long already, sorry for the rant, I'm just writing down my thoughts right now.

[@cleveland2286]

@@hummel6364 get an inverter that runs off 12-14 volt. Harbor freight sells one that can handle 2000 watts continuous for like 130 bucks. Alternator when charging bumps the circuit to 14 volts so you'd be looking at a roughly 50 amp alternator. The problem is that alternators need to spin at usually above 1300 rpm to actually charge, and 4000+ for maximum output so good luck gearing it.

[@Inetman]

A number of these engines were restored to be fully operational and serving as tourist trains or even backup service locomotives. I live next to train tracks and it's always a pleasure to hear a real steam whistle.

[@Slakpranker]

keep the high quality videos coming, but avoid a burnout

[@redw756389]

. 😊

[@thatlittlefox.]

1:58 If anyone is wondering why that loco Looks The way it does. It was made like that to reduce hammerblow.

[@riderstrano783]

Not quite, it’s a teploparovoz locomotive, or more simply, a steam-diesel hybrid. He actually did a video on the British attempt at this concept and actually mentions this engine in that video

[@IndustrialParrot2816]

It was an experimental locomotive

[@schiefer1103]

I mean, in case of an all-out nuclear war it makes sense to have some steam-engines in reserve, and to also maintain a limited amount of steam-powered machinery near railways, or even in ports; try short-circuiting them.

[@hnorrstrom]

I agree but the problem is nobody except enthusiasts knows how to drive or work with these types of machines these days. Older primitive technology should really be thought of to people if a worst case scenario really happens. Most people these days have no clue how to survive without electricity.

[@Letyourcolorsblendwithmine]

The Union Pacific heritage fleet in Cheyenne Wyoming is exactly that. They've got the tooling, the shop and the expertise to keep a Big Boy running as well a a couple others.

[@zakszazso9860]

Thank you for showing photos from Istvántelek! Greetings from Hungary! 🇭🇺

[@jaredhebert942]

Gotta give credit where it's due, they probably took better care of their steam engines than us Americans - and the fact so many iconic & unique ones got scrapped across the board is all the more damning; if the bosses at GE, WABTech, the Class 1 railroads & Amtrak would get themselves in better headspace to give new development of steam a chance again, I still think that's worth exploring given how it's been allowed to elsewhere

[@paveloleynikov4715]

Given it's nature - it helped to save pretty sizeable bulk of post WWII steam engines, which were pretty new when transition to electric and diesel began. Pre-war steam or early diesel and electric? No such luck.

[@solarflare623]

I don’t know if steam could work in service in the modern day. Perhaps if they invented some new kind of low emission fuel they could use steam locomotives to test it. But other then that I see electric locomotives as the future. Then again steam could potentially have a place during war time since they can run on coal which is only needed by power plants these days.

[@drdewott9154]

Honestly the best shot at expanding the number of steam locomotives in the US would probably be to look abroad. The Chinese railways have locomotives built to similar designs to both American and Soviet locomotives so importing ex chinese locomotives (which still operate in regular service to this day in some areas afaik) could maybe be viable. I know some railroads like the Iowa Interstate did that. Alternatively maybe import soviet designs and see if they're regaugeable to standard gauge.

[@allangibson8494]

The US went to diesels. Diesels will function with the electric grid down and their electric systems are hardened against EMP.

[@29boilersunderthesea99]

Do you mean in mainline use or just for preserve railways for tourists/tourist trains allowed on the mainline

[@coryclemett5569]

Admittedly, I too would put steam locomotives on top of that list.

[@vladsnape6408]

It's time to give all those steam engines a service, to make sure they are ready.

[@NeverJhonsen]

You have a knack for matching background music to your videos at times, and this epsiode is of no exception. What a throwback! Thanks

[@BadByte]

Papers, please!

[@joemerino3243]

I really like how much info this video packs into less than 4 minutes.

[@danylokosmyna7115]

Wow It actually extreamly handy I'm from Ukraine and during russian bombardment of electrical infrastracture modern trains (like hyndai) were unable to function without electricity so we reactivated those steam powered trains . I live in Lviv near main train station so I frequently heard them. Especially it is somehow romantic to sit in a darkness in silence and listen to sounds of working steam engines and iconic whispering of whistles. Thankfully we restored electricity.

[@1_railfan]

Wow, & I thought Barry's scrapyard was a good place to be saved. However, before these engines were gonna be preserved, they were gonna be enlisted!

[@PreservationEnthusiast]

Chop them for scrap with cutting torches!

[@Romir0s]

«unintentionally preserved» > The video is literally about how it was done intentionally Saint-Petersburg museum of railroads rides them from time to time for a show. The museum itself has a decent collection and worth visiting.

[@tjmfarming9584]

In Western Australia our government run railway at the time - the WAGR did something similar, however it wasn’t because of the Cold War directly, rather it was because of the fears that there would be an oil crisis putting the diesel fleet out of commission. Thankfully this also didn’t happen, and like the USSR, many of the locos were preserved or scrapped…

[@henrydawson8767]

As an Australian I actually never heard about this before. Suffice to say, I'd be fascinated to learn more. I don't suppose you have have any pointers towards some interesting material based around said topic?

[@tjmfarming9584]

@@henrydawson8767 if you search up WAGR 1960’s steam it should show up films from that era. There’s one video I think called Rail around 1990? Or similar that shows the lines of steam locomotives lined up in Collie. Many of those that were dumped are still there and preserved…

[@mattaustin2128]

I’d imagine that all of them were preserved or scrapped.

[@KrillMister57]

So the trains in Metro Exodus is not a far fetch at all! Cool!

[@smilingnid4276]

There is something majestic about seeing an old engine rest as it is slowly overgrown. Something akin to the ships sunk as reefs.

[@Bartonovich52]

Most steam engines that are preserved and running were working engines long after they were obsolete. In places like steel mills, mines, and logging operations where the lines were short and fuel was plentiful and a byproduct of the main operation. The reason being is because steam engines since they use water and very corrosive gases to heat it will rust out very quickly unless constantly being used, oiled, and wiped.

[@abbeystump]

Good to still see them on display outside most Russian railway stations today.

[@2006Mercury]

I'm in the Midwest United States in there is a local steam engine show once a year and all the equipment being used at the show I think could be used today if we really needed it and I think people should be going back to simpler ways of doing things

[@DragonsAndDragons777]

Mmm, Papers Please theme 🤤

[@reubensandwich9249]

Arstotzka so great, passport not required.

[@MysticUser.]

GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA!!!

[@DragonsAndDragons777]

Yesss

[@KibuFox]

I remember hearing accounts of people seeing long lines of british steam locomotives being stockpiled in tunnels.

[@damianharris2167]

Railway Ghosts and Phantoms by W B Herbert has a chapter on the strategic reserve. Interesting read whether it is true or not.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

They just didnt want to get their paint wet.

[@asmodeus599]

It's kind of weird to see the MÁV class 424 in a video about the USSR ( 1:11 , 3:04 , 3:20 )

[@danielbedrossian5986]

The last two are in the storing and reparing area, István telek. The red star may confuse people about their origin, but I don't know the first pictur's case though, because it is an old photo way before the USSR took control over Hungary, and the 424 have more resembelence to some of the german designes than any russian designes...

[@kovacsabelkristof3566]

​@@danielbedrossian5986 I'm pretty sure that the picture at 1:11 is an official photo of the very first unit of the type, taken in 1924

[@balazssomogyi5635]

@@kovacsabelkristof3566 yes, it is: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%81V-Baureihe_424

[@loading9110]

The choice of background music. A man of culture. I see. Glory to Arstotzka.

[@FierceMotorworks]

Purely mechanical, only requiring fire and water to function. The steam engine would be my apocalypse vehicle of choice too haha

[@Heisenburger-rv3xg]

you should maybe do a video about one of the most built (and maybe even one of the most underrated) 2-10-0 decapods to ever exist the DRG Class 52 (would be nice if you do a video about it)

[@Heisenburger-rv3xg]

(also i have to add: on May 21th 1994 about 10 Class 52s were celebrating the 52th Anniversary of the Class 52 at the Railway Museum Strasshof in Strasshof an der Nordbahn, Austria. With them was the newly restored 52.100 which was brought from Yugoslavia in 1991 to the Railway Museum Strasshof and is now owned by the 1. Austrian Tram and Railway Club [short 1.ÖSEK])

[@rubywest5166]

Turns out those final few Railroad Tycoon 2 Second Century levels *weren't* just an ass pull way of getting to use more steam trains in the missions!

[@alexgreen6488]

Wow informative and straight to the point. Need more videos to be like this.

[@dragonblaster-vu8wz]

Now I wonder if Britain did the same thing with some of their steam engines. With how many lines were closed down by Beeching, there was bound to be a tunnel, shed, or siding the locomotives could be stored

[@davidpreston9909]

There are allegations on the Web if you know where to look, or look hard enough.

[@sameyers2670]

There are rumours of a Strategic Reserve but nothing definite. Point of note re Beeching, not all closures were as a result of his report, and it was the Transport Minister of the day that ultimately closed the lines.

[@IlFerroviere]

Love the "Papers Please" theme in the background 👀

[@martinbudinsky8912]

Gotta admit. Its so simple its genius.

[@dx1450]

Saving steam locomotives for a post nuclear world was actually a pretty smart idea. But I wonder how many of those old rustbuckets would have been rail ready?

[@Krisz98]

3:09 Thats a Hungarian 424. Some were preserved for the future, as the era of steam ended. As of now there's a lot of restoration projects for these old steam engines. But some of them have to wait sadly because of lack of funds.

[@mikeklinger1712]

Smart move! With an EMP I'd be looking for a classic car

[@jachymmatejka6309]

I love the fact of Papers Please theme being played in the background

[@Schlipperschlopper]

Soviet Trains are the best in the world!!!!

[@lonskieg]

The threat of EMP attack from the Sun is still a real thing to this day though.

[@longfang8117]

I'd love to see the Pennsylvanian railway engines

[@MaskinJunior]

Sweden did the same thing. To this day we have steam engines conserved in oil wrapped in plastic out in sheds hidden in Sweden.

[@juliap.5375]

What the point? 😮 Sweden de jure had neutral status. Nobody and never programmed nukes with targets in Sweden. Not US, not UK, not France (France developed nukes specially only against Germany, as they said at own time), not USSR, not China, nobody… It is only nowadays, after it will join to NATO soon (burning of well known book will not save them from this; funny attempt of Swedish elites / deep state to resist against US/NATO pressure), Sweden will be target for nukes, both from Russia and China. Moreover, because it is close to Russia, it will be priority target for Russians. In such case it is already pointless, few minutes and there are no country.

[@foxdavion6865]

And this is the lore behind how Metro Exodus has steam trains.

[@amadeosendiulo2137]

Exactly my train od thought.

[@worldcomicsreview354]

USSR: If we get nuked, electric traction will be useless. Hiroshima: We got nuked and had the trams running a week later.

[@horizob]

Top marks for the video. Extra points for the "Papers Please" music :)

[@someoftheyouse]

Anyone who's played Metro Exodus knows this is a big vibe.

[@Kerfufflekitten]

The thumbnail pic has been on my cellphone wall paper for years…I love old trains!

[@Marc_von_Hoffrichter]

Great video mate. Cheers cobber, thanks.

[@allangibson8494]

Steam locomotives are actually MORE fuel efficient than diesel locomotives. They are however maintenance hogs and take a minimum of three hours to start from cold unlike the five minutes for a diesel locomotive.

[@BryanVonFriently]

Even in their rusted state they still exist meaning there is still chance of restoration for them

[@maxwellg1361]

Good use of the Papers Please theme music.

[@utonevvezeteknev6781]

3:20 It is located in Budapest. It is supposed to be a protected place, but you can get in.

[@jorgelugo101]

The paper please theme in the background is just the cherry on the cake

[@lightkidgaming4299]

i dont care im in school, new train of thought video time!

[@alicehodges9964]

The Steam Engines Are Really Interesting To Learn About And See I Love All Locomotive

[@HKlink]

That Papers, Please music is on point.

[@coxfuture]

We must have different definitions of the word "unintentionally", it sounds like their preservation was pretty intentional to me

[@kenbrown2808]

there is always the question of how effective the "maintenance" was even when it was being done.

[@tulsatrash]

I want to know more about strategic steam locomotive reserves.

[@martybadboy]

So would the Chinese govt. 🔭

[@MichaelMcKinnon-jf1yy]

The UK and US did as well with railroad museums although the UK has a cache of abandoned steam locomotives and train cars

[@ivan200804]

There is a biggest train museum in the world in Novosibirsk. Amazing place.

[@bondgabebond4907]

They are prepared for a Mad Max scenario.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

Weren't there rumoured to be missing Black Five locomotives in the UK that were kept in case of a nuclear war or EMP?

[@jerrysgardentractorsengine2243]

Forget the USSR GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA, COMRADE!

[@harrisonallen651]

I can’t imagine the soviets using steam engines as a test for nuclear strikes

[@klooks1013]

Nice use of papers please theme 👍

[@JohnJ.Crunchalot]

перевод "Come on, comrade, we must keep the steam engine in order to ensure victory over the capitalist pigs of the West"

[@thomasnovacek4686]

3:21: These vehicles are standing around in Budapest...

[@russetwolf13]

Metro Exodus did not lie to us. Well, except for having a huge, fictional unarticulated duplex engine and expecting us to think that would be possible to run.

[@VhenRaTheRaptor]

Always an interesting topic, the Soviets and their habit of stashing anything that could be useful into storage for a rainy day.

[@91ronalddankert]

love the 'papers, please' music

[@bertiewooster3326]

In 2007 I came across 100s of them in Siberia all abandoned

[@RexyRonin]

Hopefully those that were left behind get rescued soon

[@ThisGuyAd.]

For anyone that was wondering, that guy on the left at 2:20 is Jizlane's dad

[@tacomator2895]

The UK was the worst manufacturers of steam locomotives due to their lack of knowledge on the workings. Hence why they lasted so shortly

[@leopardone2386]

"Artyom, report back to the Aurora immediately! Miller out!"

[@k-getrengganis7401]

There is two types of locomotives that useful when there is an EMP bombing, which is steam locomotives and diesel-hydraulic. Yeah, steam doesn't use electric things other than the headlights. Diesel basically needs electricity for starting it only and there is air-starter using compressed-air rather than electricity. The hydraulic transmission didn't need electricity because things are driven hydraulically although the newer ones did use electronics. So, in the occasion of war, the enemy blows EMP, the steam is put into service and when the air pressure in the air tank are full, simply attached the pipes to the air starter of diesel engine, and then you can run the diesel. Note that the diesel is using mechanical injection pump or mechanical unit injector or something like that and not the Commonrail ones because, yeah, commonrail use electronics.

[@qdaniele97]

The problem is most diesel locomotives are diesel/electric ones: the diesel engine runs an alternator and the electricity produced drives motors in each axel. I doubt an EMP would do anything to an already running diesel/electric locomotive, the electric transmision system is too simple to be damaged and even if the diesel engine had some electronics it wouldn't be needed to keep it running (in really big diesel engines, once started, the difficult thing is not to keep them running but to shut them down. They "want" to keep going and will burn anything to do so, from gasoline vapours in the air to their own oil). The problem that someone else already mentioned is that, in case of flooding of the tracks (would it be as conseguence of a nuclear war or just heavy rain), the electric transmission won't work as the water would reach the electric motors in the axels.

[@rohlicek3884]

fun fact: both electric locomotives you showed were manafactured by škoda

[@petter5721]

The swedes had reserv stem locomotives stored in shelters throughout Sweden until mid 1990.

[@JRotten]

They may want to start knocking the rust off the old girls.

[@SolomonSamson747]

Love the papers please theme song

[@SantaFe19484]

I saw the same photo that was being circulated over Facebook.

[@buddyclem7328]

Great video!

[@telesniper2]

At the time of "modernization" (electrification), they should have just slightly modified the boilers of the active steam engines so as to use electrically generated steam. That would have made more sense. It would be simpler than coming up with purely electrical locomotives, and allowed flexibility of retaining a standard boiler as backup in case of doomsday. AFAIK the only electrically fired boiler steam locomotives were teh Swiss E 3/3 8521 and 8522. I think it's a neat solution given a certain set of constraints.