Bookvica

[FIRST BOOK ON ELECTRIFICATION OF THE RAILROADS] Elektricheskie zheleznie dorogi [i.e. The electric railroads] / Edited by A. Goldberg

Konovalov

Item #2521

Moscow; Leningrad: OGIZ, 1931. [48] p. 17×25 cm. 1 of 7000 copies.

Original illustrated wrappers designed by A.Pupkov. The photo of the German electric locomotive on the front cover. Also on the cover the slogan ‘To capturing the newest technology on the public transport!’ Wrappers are foxed, the block is clean. All in all in a good condition for a technical book. The edition includes 20 tables (graphs and photographs) of the latest electric technology on the railroads.
The first electric railroad was opened in USSR in 1926 – in Azerbaiajn, on the basis of pre-revolutionary railroad. The Baku City Council approved the proposal to electrify the Baku-Sabunchi-Surakhani line, which was started in 1924. The branch was then equipped for direct current with a voltage of 1200 volts. But the rolling stock had to wait. 14 motor cars, manufactured by the Mytishchi Carriage Factory on the basis of already mastered trams, arrived in Baku only in 1926. Trailer (passenger and mail-luggage) cars were manufactured at the Bryansk plant, called the “Red Profintern”. The electrical equipment was supplied by Elin Factory. After successful low voltage trials, the trains were tested on 13 May 1926 at full power.

The majority of the railroads were electrified in USSR after WWII, so this book could be regarded the first on the subject, actively arguing that the process needs to start. Lenin is 1920s has spoken in favor of electrification on the railroads, but at the time it was not possible yet. In 1930s the situation started to change and the electric railroads started to appear – mostly in mountain regions and in areas around big cities (for local trains). Caucasus was the place where the first lines were installed like the electric traction on the Khashuri-Zestaponi main railway (63 km) on the Surami mountain pass. It used electric locomotive C (Surami) – the ancestor of the group of Suram electric locomotives built by General Electric for the USSR. In the book the overview of the most advanced electrical technology on railroads in the West is given. With the examples from USA, Germany and some Russian railroads, the book could have been used as a manual for the engineers when creating new electrified lines in USSR.

Rare. Worldcat doesn’t track this edition.

Price: $850.00