Background of creation, further development, and establishment of Kharkiv Locomotive Plant

Abstract

The late XIX century was marked by the rise of industry in the Russian Empire. This period was characterized by shifting the core of industrial development from the Ural region to the south of the country, associated with the development of abundant coal deposits in Ukraine, and accompanied by extensive railroad construction in the central and southern parts of the Russian Empire. This aspect spurred the expansion of machine-building industries under the protectionist economic policy of the Russian Empire's government toward Russian enterprises. It was aimed at shielding them from the influence of foreign competitors. In the early 1870s, Kharkiv started growing rapidly as a major industrial hub in the south of the Russian Empire. The railroad offered an opportunity for the delivery of the most advanced equipment and technology, something that foreign companies never failed to take advantage of. In the 1890s, transport machinery gained significant development. Since 1891, the monopoly on steam locomotive construction in the Russian Empire, which had been concentrated in the 1880s at the Kolomna Locomotive Plant alone, was disrupted. In the mid-1890s, steam locomotive construction was deployed at eight major machine-building enterprises of the Russian Empire. This article is intended to provide a thorough analysis of the background of the creation, further development, and establishment of the Kharkiv Locomotive Plant. It offers an overview of different stages throughout the history of the Kharkiv Locomotive Plant. This article discusses the conditions and prerequisites for choosing the location of the plant; considers the stage of the establishment (foundation) of the plant; examines the stage of plant construction and equipping it with technological facilities in detail; analyzes the development and establishment of the plant between 1897 and 1914. A brief analysis of locomotive designs produced by the Kharkiv Locomotive Plant from 1897 to 1914 has been made. The article shows the significance of Consultative Congresses of Traction Engineers for the development of railway machinery both at Kharkiv Locomotive Plant and for the entire railway industry.