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Preserved Items in Victory Park, Moscow |
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Harvey Smith was based in and around Moscow off and on from 1997 to 2014 and has now moved to St. Petersburg. Apart from this report he has also posted information on other attractions in Moscow and the rest of Russia, there are links at the bottom of the page. Parker Wilson adds (12th October 2015), "The railway related exhibitions are closed on Mondays as well as the 4th Thursday of each month." The first locomotive I found stands in Park Pobeda (Victory Park). This park now has it own designated metro station. The locomotive is at the front of a World War II era train and is a version of the 0-10-0 E class. The class is the largest locomotive class in the world, with numerous variations and sub-types. Approximately 11,000 E class locomotives were produced from 1912 to 1957 in Russia and overseas (including Sweden). This is a 2010 picture which replaces the original 2007 picture which had a lot of tourists hiding the locomotive's true splendour!
The great thing is that you do not have to pay to see the finest exhibit, which is housed in the park but outside the museum. This is a 305mm railway gun of the type (TM-3-12) also displayed at the St.Petersburg Outdoor Train Museum. It was only after I visited a small artillery museum on Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki Harbour that understood the supreme irony of the Russians displaying this gun at the Moscow Victory park. All 3 TM-3-12 guns were captured on the Hanko peninsula in 1941 and used by the Finns until 1944. So in fact they spent more time in Finnish active service in World War II than in Soviet service. But that is history. The Finns must have been grateful for them as they must have made up a huge compensation for the lack of Finnish air power. If phallic symbols and armoured trains are your forte then this is the place to visit in Moscow:
This replica (1995) track wrecking machine is also here, the originals were constructed by Krupp in 1942/3.
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