The 1960 timetable (shown as a branch of mainline no. 462).
The Šilda narrow gauge railway is situated south-east of the Ural Mountains near the Kazakhstan border. It opened in 1956, following Khrushchev's Virgin Land project. The starting point of the line is the Šilda broad gauge railway. The line headed southeast, to the village of Adamovka and ended at Sovchoz-Ozernij. The line was 124 km long and was used both for public passenger and freight traffic.
The 1960 timetable (shown as a branch of mainline no. 462).
Allegedly the line used to run 52 km further to Buruktal. It does not appear in the 1960 MPS-timetable. However it is shown on the detailed topographical map of mapinfo.com, so it must have existed. Maybe it was a freight-only line? It is speculated that the Ozernij - Buruktal line has been closed after a few years already, because a broad gauge line has been build from Orsk to Svetlij (near Buruktal) in the 1960s, making the narrow gauge line redundant.
Map of the Šilda system, including the narrow gauge Ozernij-Burukal line and the broad gauge line from Svetly/Buruktal to Orsk).
The Šilda system was operated by the MPS; region Orenburg (since ±1960 Kujbišev). Originally class 157 steam locos have worked on the system. But soon a large TU2 fleet was allocated to Šilda MPD. It is believed the following 26 TU2s have been supplied to this railway: TU2-008, 009, 014, 016, 017, 046, 048, 050, 058 - 063, 065, 079 - 086, 188, 189, 191 and 192. From these engines only 11 are confirmed to have been working on the Šilda line (TU2-017, 059, 060, 061, 065, 079, 082, 085, 191 and 192). But even 9 diesel engines seem to be a bit to many for only one daily mixed train pair in 1960 and maybe some additional freight traffic.
TU2-065 was photographed in Šilda in the late 1950s or early 1960s, when it was on its way to one of the main repair workshops.
Collection: P. Klaus.
Many locos might have been here only temporarily (maybe for trial runs?). Until approximately 1960 at least 10 engines have turned up on other lines:
| number | reallocated to |
| TU2-008 | Alapaevsk (forestry) |
| TU2-009 | Tallinn |
| TU2-016 | Nižnij Tagil (industrial) |
| TU2-046 | Margutsek |
| TU2-050 | Margutsek |
| TU2-080 | Tjumen pioneer railway |
| TU2-083 | Orenburg pioneer railway |
| TU2-084 | Cheljabinsk pioneer railway |
| TU2-086 | Orenburg pioneer railway |
| TU2-189 | Cheljabinsk pioneer railway |
One of Šilda's TU2s has become a move star. TU2-016 appears in the movie "Ivan Brovkin on the Virgin Soil" from 1958. In the film it arrives in the station of Ozernij with a passenger train, composed of a closed freight wagon for luggage and Pafawag coaches.
Around 1980 Šilda MPD received new class TU7 diesel locomotives. (Known numbers are TU7-1588, 1641, 1652, 1955, 1957, 1974, 2027, 2028, 2086 and 2090). Baring in mind that TU7s were not capable of (completely) replacing TU2s on other MPS-lines, it is unlikely that they did so in Šilda. Still, a least TU2-191 was taken out of service and subsequently diverted to the St.Petersburg pioneer railway in 1982. The other TU2s probabaly remained in Šilda.
Traffic on the Šilda - Ozernij line ended in 1988. In the early 1990s the last tracks have been lifted. In May 1991 at least two TU2s (amongst which TU2-059) and at least two TU7s were spotted in Šilda. Later, in 1996, ex-Šilda's TU2-060 has been spotted at the Gajvoron main repair workshop. TU2-058 turned up in Atbasar. The faith of the other TU2s is unknown.
In May 1991 TU2-059 and TU7-2027 were found dumped beneith the shed of Šilda MPD. Though the line had closed some time ago, the TU2 still seemed to be in a relatively good condition.
Photo: A. Kolesov.
This unidentified TU2 was also spotted in Šilda in May 1991, together with some dumped Pafawag coaches and freight wagons. It had already been stripped from all useful and valuable parts by then.
Collection: P. Klaus.
The Zabaikal narrow gauge system is a line of superlatives. It is one of the longest narrow gauge lines, the most eastern 750mm gauge public railway using class TU2s and this line had one of the largest TU2-fleets in the former USSR. The line is referred to as the Zabaikal narrow gauge system because it is situated in the Zabaikal Region in Eastern Siberia, between Lake Baikal and the Chinese border.
The system was opened just before World War II, probably around 1937. The railway feedered the Chinese Eastern Railway from Chita (Russia) to Harbin (China) in the station of Kharanor. From Kharanor the line ran to the north-east. Via Margutsek (km 106), where the depot was situated, the railway ran to Uruljunguj and the terminus of Dosatuj. In 1963 the line was extended to Priorgunska (km 207).
When opened the line was steam operated. But in the late 1950s class TU2s were allocated to Margutsek MPD. Until 1958 a total of 29 class TU2s came to the Zabaikal system, effectively dieselising the line. Why the depot needed such an enormous TU2-fleet is unclear. According to the 1960-timetable (number 513) there was only one mixed train in each direction, for which two train compositions were required. The only explanation can be that the line had very intensive freight traffic.
The 1960 timetable.
Twelve TU2s seem to have been supplied directly by Kaluga (TU2-062, 066 - 074, 180, 208). The others appear to be second hand respectively superfluous locos from other railway regions, especially from Kazakhstan's Virgin Lands Railways. Around 1958 the Južno-Ural railway region handed over 5 locos with numbers TU2-015, 018, 020, 025 and 026. At the same time 7 locos came from the Karaganda railway region (Atbasar MPD?). These were TU2-030, 032, 034 - 036, 039 and 040. The Astana region (Kokchetav MPD?) handed over TU2-110 and 119. Finally TU2-046 and 050 were reallocated from the Orenburg region (Šilda MPD?) to Margutsek.
In the following years there were some minor changes to the TU2-fleet. As soon as in 1961 the Zabaikal railway had to give TU2-046 to the Nižnij Tagil line, which was recently regauged and urgently needed rolling stock for 750 mm gauge. TU2-074 went to the Svobodnij pioneer railway in 1965.
As late as in 1969 TU2-096 was added to the Zabaikal TU2-fleet. It came from Estonia.
The Zabaikal narrow gauge railway was the main means of transportation in the region. Hence it was decided to convert the whole line to broad gauge. The narrow gauge operations seems to have (partly) ended around 1970 already. But the broad gauge line from Kharanor to Priorgunska was opened in 1972. The new broad gauge line sometimes follows a somewhat different route than the former narrow gauge line. Also a new broad gauge branch line was built to Krasnokamensk.
After the opening of the broad gauge line, the remianing narrow gauge line was dismantled. The 28 class TU2s, which were allocated to Margutsek MPD at that time, were not needed anymore here. These engines were only 15 years old and could replace steam traction on other lines. Therefore most of Zabaikal's class TU2s were transferred to (mainly public) narrow gauge lines in the Ukraine (19 engines). Five engines went to pioneer railways in Russia:
Beregovo: TU2-018, 020, 026, 034, 066 (5 engines) Gajvoron: TU2-030, 032, 035, 068, 071, 110, 119 (7 engines) Antonovka: TU2-039, 050, 062, 070 (4 engines) Vapnjarka: TU2-180 (1 engine) Novopoltavka: TU2-025 (1 engine) Mikhailovka (sugar): TU2-015 (1 engine) Svobodnij pioneer: TU2-072 (1 engine) Erevan pioneer: TU2-096 (1 engine) Chita pioneer: TU2-069, 208 (2 engines) Wolgograd pioneer: TU2-040 (1 engine)
The faith of the other 3 locos (TU2-036, 067, 073) is unknown.
