LM-57
Encyclopedia
The LM-57 has streamlined forms, which were common for vehicles in many countries in the end of 1950s. First LM-57 also had a big number of chromized parts and a big front emblem but, the mass production LM-57 had fewer decorations
tram forever. The LM-57 had a nickname Stilyaga (Russian Стиляга), meaning The Dandy
Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
for its external appearance.
LM-57 tramcars worked in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Tashkent
Tashkent
Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and of the Tashkent Province. The officially registered population of the city in 2008 was about 2.2 million. Unofficial sources estimate the actual population may be as much as 4.45 million.-Early Islamic History:...
, Gorky
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, Magnitogorsk
Magnitogorsk
Magnitogorsk is a mining and industrial city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the eastern side of the extreme southern extent of the Ural Mountains by the Ural River. Population: 418,545 ;...
, Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
, Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
and Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil
Nizhny Tagil is a city in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, situated east of the virtual border between Europe and Asia. Population: -History:...
. The last LM-57s were withdrawn from city service in 1983-85. Unlike LM-49
LM-49
The LM-49 is the Soviet motor four-axle tramcar. The first prototype of this vehicle was built in 1949 at the Leningrad Wagon Repair Plant . "LM" means Leningrad Motor tramcar...
withdrawal, many LM-57s were on the edge of complete exhaustion at this time. This was a consequence of metal economy policy, started in the beginning of 1960s. Main goal of such policy was maximum increase of tramcar mass production. As a result, the frame of LM-57 was not strong and durable in comparison with less complicated pre-war and first post-war tramcars.
Technical Details
The LM-57 is a broad gauge (1524 mm or 60 inch) high-floor, four-axle, one-sided tramcar. Its full-metal aluminium hull is mounted on a steel carriage with two double-axle bridge-type boggies with single suspension stage. The hull has three doors (one narrow in front end and two wide in the middle and rear end). The doors have pneumatic gears for opening and closing. The main brake system is also pneumatic. The LM-57 is equipped with four 45 kW electric motors and is able to reach a top speed of 65 km/h. It utilizes a direct, mechanical control of electric current to the motors. The main control device is the hand-operated multipositional controller for resistor groups commutation in motors power cirquit. Initially LM-57s did not have a low-voltage subsystem, but this wasadded later for external brakes and turn light signals. The vehicle has 37 seats and is able to transport 207 passengers at full capacity (8 passengers per square meter). The three main dimensions of LM-49 are 15000 mm length, 2550 mm width and 3080 mm height; overall weight without passengers is 18.5 metric tons.
The LM-57 is a dedicated single tramcar. It had neither unmotored trailer modification nor ability for work in a train from some motor tramcars (due to direct current regulation system). But in Gorky
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
local inventors managed to build a train from two LM-57s. They constructed a pneumatic gear for transmission controller handle movements from the first wagon to the second one. This train successfully worked until its old age withdrawal. The photo of this train is available here. However this work had not any continuation, the train from two LM-57s remained in single number.
Survivors
Two LM-57 survived to this day. One LM-57 is an operational piece of the St. Petersburg tram collection. This LM-57 tramcar can be hired by foreign tourists for city excursions. The Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
tram & trolley museum has another non-operable LM-57 as memorial tramcar.
External links
- LM-57 on Nizhny Novgorod TramSite (in Russian)