kalapala comments on Finnish Dv12 locomotives for Ukraine

Finnish Dv12 locomotives for Ukraine (cdn.nord.pub)

submitted 1 week ago by Lehmuusa@nord.pub to c/trains@sopuli.xyz

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Ukraine has requested Finland to donate old locomotives to UZ. Finland is sending a small amount, 10 units, of Dv12 locomotives, made in Finland a bit over half a century ago.

[–] kalapala@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 week ago (7 children)

I'm surprised there's even 10 left: https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dv12

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[–] Lehmuusa@nord.pub [S] 4 points 1 week ago (5 children)

They built almost 200 of those. Most of them are still in everyday use, I think.

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[–] kalapala@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Many are actually rebuilt and modernized so if you count those as the same locomotive or as old then yes.

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[–] Lehmuusa@nord.pub [S] 3 points 1 week ago (3 children)

They still have the original engines and original transmission. Spare parts have been changed again and again, but for example the engine blocks have not.

I'd say they are the same locomotives. And I hope that when the remaining 30 new Dr19 locomotives arrive, about 30 or 40 more Dv12 locos will be transferred to UZ. Yeah, they are are old amd need a LOT of maintenance all the time, but in Ukraine maintenance costs peanuts. You can see it there in everything: they have their bags and shoes repaired much more than we here in Finland. And they have local shops in the villages. And they play non-electric pianos because tuning them every now and then costs so much less than buying an electric piano. Those locomotives will have several more decades of life in them if they get to live it in Ukraine.

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[–] kalapala@sopuli.xyz 1 point 1 week ago (2 children)

Those are in use. If there's no replacement then there's not that many to give. The broken ones would also require parts that are not manifactured anymore so those would mainly suffice as spare parts.

As far as I know there might be more available as transports are going to be done with trucks instead of trains but even then those locomotives break in a speed that there might not be any available.

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[–] Lehmuusa@nord.pub [S] 1 point 1 week ago (1 child)

Those are in use.

They are, but once the remaining Dr19 locomotives have been delivered, many will no longer be in use. A Dr19 easily replaces a double traction of Dv12 locomotives, probably a triple traction as well. So, the upcoming 30 new Dr19 locomotives will free something like 50 or 60 Dv12 locomotives. That's a sizeable number! In Ukraine they also have much better facilities for building spare parts and repairing pre-existing parts than we have in Finland. Even if some locomotives have to be used as spare part donors for the rest of the fleet, there will be many Dv12 locomotives that will be completely fit for the service in Ukraine.

But, of course nothing to this effect has been uttered for now. It would be logical for VR to donate more to UZ, especially since that way the locomotives will not end up in the competitors' fleets, but only time will tell what really happens.

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[–] kalapala@sopuli.xyz 1 point 1 week ago

I'm almost sure the reason there's no spare parts is the licenses and not the manifacturing capabilities. Also it doesn't make much business sense to recreate manufacturing for such old tec. I'm quite sure it doesn't make sense in ukraine either but more likely they just use the spares to keep the current fleet going as the life expectancy of the locomotives doesn't necessarily need to be that long and they can't worry about pollution right now either. Mac gyvering some old parts to life for a year or so probably makes more sense there than in Finland.