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TheGanz DVM-4 is a diesel-electricshunting locomotive developed and manufactured byGanz-MÁVAG ofHungary in the mid-1950s to meet a requirement issued by theSoviet Railways (SZhD). It entered series production for SZhD in 1958, and was also supplied to theNorthKorean State Railway.
The DVM-4 was derived from the Ganz DVM-2, used by theAlbanian Railways, theBulgarian State Railways (Class51),China Railway (ClassND15), theCzechoslovak State Railways (ClassT 455), theHungarian State Railways (ClassM44), thePolish State Railways (ClassesSM40 andSM41), theYugoslav Railways (Class641), and theAustro-Hungarian jointRaaberbahn.[1]
The DVM-4 is of ahood-type design, with a cab at one end, external walkways around the engine compartment, and a welded steel frame. It has two-axlebogies with box beams and transverse pivot bars; the journal boxes haveSKFroller bearings. Tractive and braking forces are transmitted via pins. Thegearbox was set with agear ratio of 73:21=3.476. The locomotive is equipped withKnorrair brakes and handbrakes; air for the brake system is supplied by an MK-135 three-cylinder, two-stagecompressor. Brake pads are located at either side of each wheel.[2]
The DVM-4 is powered by a Ganz-Jendrassik 16 JVF 17/24-type non-turbocharged (pre-chamber)V16Diesel engine. The cylinders have abore of 170 mm (6.7 in) and astroke of 240 mm (9.4 in). The locomotive has four six-pole, series-wound TS32-44/14traction motors with forced ventilation, axle-hung and nose-suspended.[2]
In the 1950s the Soviet Union began a large-scale program to replacesteam locomotives with diesel andelectric traction. As domestic production of diesel shunting locomotives was just beginning, the decision was made to import such locomotives fromCzechoslovakia andHungarian People's Republic. Ganz-MÁVAG thus began work on a derivative of their successful DVM-2 design, modifying it to meet Soviet specifications, and in 1956 a prototype of the new locomotive was tested on theMoscow-Kursk-Donbass Railway.[2]
After some further refinement, Ganz began deliveries to the Soviet Railways in 1958, who assigned the new locomotive theВМЭ1 (VME1) class designation (В = венгерский, "Hungarian"; М = маневровый, "shunter", Э = электропередача, "electrictransmission" 1 = first class of this category).[2]
The first VME1-class locomotives to be delivered to the USSR were put into service inLeningrad to shunt passenger trains, as they were not powerful enough to work heavy freight trains.[2] 310 units were delivered between 1958 and 1965,[1] and they found work all over the USSR. On theBaltic Railway (encompassing theEstonian,Latvian andLithuanian SSRs), they were used to haul light, local passenger trains aroundTallinn andRiga, in addition to shunting. Some units were assigned to various railway lines in theByelorussian,Moldavian andUkrainian Soviet Socialist Republics.[2]
The first VME1 locomotives were delivered to the Belarusian division of the Soviet Railways in May 1960, when VME1-040 and VME1-042 were assigned to theMinsk locomotive depot. Two more, VME1-047 and VME1-049, were assigned to theGomel locomotive depot in June of the same year, and VME1-127 was assigned to theBrest depot in September 1961, and after a three-year pause, over 50 more were assigned to Belarusian depots.[2]
In 1964 the SZhD received three very similar locomotives of works type DVM-7, which were designatedВМЭ2 (VME2) class; these had the sameprime mover as the DVM-4, but upgraded to produce 589.4 kW (790 hp).[1]
In 1968, VME1-024 was refitted with asynchronous traction motors and AC transmissions, and was reclassifiedВМЭ1А (VME1A).[3]
Most of the VME1 were retired between 1975 and 1985. VME1-043 is preserved at the railway museum atSaint Petersburg'sWarsaw Station.
Fourteen DVM4 locomotives, identical to the Soviet Railways' VME1, were delivered new by Ganz to theKorean State Railway ofNorth Korea in 1964;[1] these were numbered 150 to 164. At least four were rebuilt at an unknown time by theKim Chong-t'ae Electric Locomotive Works inP'yŏngyang, converting them to 3,000 V DC electric operation by removing the Diesel engine and adding a pantograph for current collection.[4] In some cases they have retained their original numbers, but at least one has received an out-of-sequence number (001). Whether any of these locomotives is still operational in unrebuilt Diesel-powered form is unknown, but at least two of the converted electrics are still in use. Two liveries are known to have been applied to these locomotives: the standard light blue over dark green, and overall light blue with yellow lightning stripe.
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