MTV-82

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Museum MTV-82 tramcar in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

MTV-82 (МТВ-82 in Russian) is a Soviet four-axle tramcar. MTV stands for Moscow Tram Vehicle. The first prototype of MTV-82 tramcar was built on the military Factory No. 82 (it corresponds to 82 number in the vehicle index) in 1946. The mass production started in 1947 on the Factory No. 82 and it was transferred to Rigas Vagonu Rupnica (RVR - Latvian acronym; Рижский Вагонный Завод, РВЗ - Russian full name and acronym) in 1949. In 1961 mass production of MTV-82 in Riga ceased, it was replaced in production by its direct successor, RVZ-6 tramcar. In total, Factory No. 82 and RVR produced 453 and 1707 MTV-82s respectively. These tramcars worked until 1983 in Moscow, Kiev, Gorky, Sverdlovsk, Vladivostok and many other Soviet cities and towns. The Soviet tram drivers and repairmen liked MTV-82 very much for its simplicity, reliability and durability. Most of MTV-82s were in operable state before scrapping, but renovation of Soviet trams was fatal for many types of "old-fashioned" Soviet tramcars (see also LM-49).

1 Technical details
2 Survivors
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Technical details

MTV-82 is a broad gauge (1524mm) high-floor four-axle tramcar. Its full-metal hull is mounted on a massive steel carriage with two double-axle boggies. The hull has two doors at both ends, which have pneumatic gear for opening and closing. The main brake system is also pneumatic. MTV-82 is equipped with four 55 kW electric motors and is able to reach a maximum speed of 55 kilometres. The controller for engines uses direct system for electric current regulation. Initially the MTV-82 did not have a low-voltage subsystem but it was added later for external brake and turn light signalization. The vehicle has 40 seats and is able to transport nearly 120 passengers with full load. The three main dimensions of MTV-82 is 13611 mm length, 2550 mm width and near 3000 mm height, overall weight without passengers is 17.5 metric tons.

[edit] Survivors

Three MTV-82s survived to our days. Moscow and Ekaterinburg have two operable MTV-82 in their tramway systems. Nizhny Novgorod tram & trolley museum has a third operable MTV-82 in its tramcar collection. These MTV-82s do not serve as usual tramcars, but they can be hired for city excursions (but this is a quite long, formalistic and bureaucratic procedure in today's Russia). A group of tramway enthusiasts from many cities of Russia with guests from Estonia and United States hired Nizhny Novgorod Museum MTV-82 for their meeting in 2004.

Odessa Transport Authority found unique solutions to existing MTV tramcars in their possession. One of them is engine #914, which was converted into an open "retro-style" excursion tram. Its design was reengineered to commemorate Pullmans of the early 20th century, along with historical dark-red livery. Even now, engine #914 is running both along the "excursion routes" and Route 5, the most picturesque tram route in Odessa.