Did the Russians Really Invented the Air Train: What Historians Say About It

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the fall of 1933, in the Moscow park named after V. I. Gorky, an unusual building appeared. A smaller copy of the air train (high-speed monorail) in the same year was patented by the Soviet mechanic Sevastyan Waldner. A monorail 2.5 meters long, driven by electric motors, slid at a speed of over 100 km / h along a circular overpass with a radius of 36 m. Even the planes of that time did not develop such a speed. At the time of development, this project had no analogues in the world.

Effective Soviet engineering and the first ultra-high-speed vehicles

In the 20-30s, inventors all over the world pored over the creation of new types of vehicles. This was spurred on by the constantly growing passenger-and-freight traffic, which required an increase in payload and improvement of speed indicators. Mechanical engineers developed high-speed railway vehicles with aircraft engines (so-called air cars), and attempts were also made to design monorail transport. The fastest railroad transport was air carriages. The so-called air car of Abakovsky at the dawn of the 1920s accelerated to 140 km / h. An air train based on a similar air car power plant became a more perfect project. In 1933, Soviet designers built a prototype of a fundamentally new vehicle, based on both a monorail and aircraft engines.

Passion for mechanics and unique motorcycle tires

In 1915, Sevastyan Waldner, the son of a Russified French nobleman, was drafted into the army, where he mastered automotive technology and the principles of its maintenance. Showing a genuine interest in mechanisms, he was already hatching all kinds of technical developments in his head. A few years later, Waldner took part in the creation of the high-speed motorized railroad "Matval" and some other types of railway equipment. His partner in this work was the company commander Matisson (the name of the patented mechanism consisted of the first syllables of the names of the inventors). After the October Revolution, the motorized tires, assembled from captured German parts, were used on the fronts of the Civil War.

In 1919, a heavy-type trolley lined with armor at a speed of up to 90 km / h in 9 and a half hours passed the way from Moscow to Petrograd. Information about this rapid throw reached Felix Dzerzhinsky, and by the end of 1919, with his submission, the "Matvalbyuro" was established in the RSFSR. From now on, armored tires with trained crews not only fought, but were also used by scouts and guarding the railway. Even Lenin was noted in this project, on whose instructions Waldner, after the death of Matisson, began to design a new type of trolley. Cars of his authorship were successfully used on the Transcaucasian railway, overcoming serious passes at a decent speed. By the time the motorcycle tires were decommissioned, each of them had at least 2500 km of run, and they were finally withdrawn from use only in 1938. And one held out in the ranks of the training units of the NKVD right up to 1942.

"Bureau of the Air Train" and the model of the future car

After studying the test results of the first model of the air train, Waldner's invention was recognized as particularly important. For further development of the new transport, the Waldner Air Train Bureau was created, headed by the inventor himself. High-speed traffic provided for special requirements for aerodynamic performance, therefore, specialists from the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute were involved in the project. They formed the outer casing of the device. Air train passengers and transported goods were to be accommodated in 2 elongated streamlined gondolas connected by several bridges at the upper border of the hull. This design provided the car with high reliability and stability in different driving modes. It was planned that the 63 m long air train would accommodate about 300 passengers, and its speed could reach 250-300 km / h. For lightly loaded railway lines, a truncated train for 80 seats was developed.

In the course of the development, a publication was published in Our Achievements, where it was reported that the Waldner air train would soon significantly reduce the travel time of passengers. It was indicated that the journey to Tula from Moscow would take no more than 50 minutes, and the trip from Moscow to Leningrad would take a little more than three hours. In addition, even a partial transfer of passenger traffic to new air train lines will free up traditional railways for the movement of freight trains.

Foreign glory of Soviet engineering and a sharp curtailment of the project

The project was provided from A to Z. A special test track was built, several overpasses, a full-size monorail, as well as experimental models of modified air trains. In 1934, preparations began for the construction of a fundamental monorail line, half a thousand kilometers long, connecting the cities of the Turkmen SSR. The future construction of other monorail lines on the territory of the Soviet Union was also considered. In the same year, Popular Science published a voluminous article about the Waldner train. This project thundered all over the world, accompanied by regular attention from foreign colleagues of Soviet engineers. There was even information that an air train with a jet engine would be built.

But in 1936, all work, without exception, stopped abruptly. Hundreds of drawings and all project documentation were sent to the archive. The true reason for the incident was not officially announced. It was assumed that the project was ruined by the development of air transportation, which fell at that time. Aviation was in the lead in many ways. After the winding down of the air train project, Sevastian Waldner and his colleagues switched to the development of alternative types of railway machines, and also designed various assembly units for the existing equipment. For some time, the topic of monorail cars and air cars was completely forgotten, but after a few decades, the developers will return to it again.

And Minister Witte remembered precisely for these innovations.