Useless Russian 12x12 Locomotive Truck

Actually, it is very much known what this vehicle was made for. It was a test bed for diesel-electric drive. They also experimented with all-wheel steering. The purpose was to evaluate the possibilities of using these technologies in heavy machinery, namely ICBM launchers. The locomotive was used because of the lack of funding in the early 2000s. The Soviets had a nuke-carrying train which used M62 locomotives and it was being retired at the time of this project, so they took one of the locomotives to save costs. Even the locomotive's paint scheme matches that of the nuke train. It was roughly the right size and heavy enough to simulate the weight of an ICBM. It was also suitable because the trains themselves used diesel-electric drive. This way they didn't have to fabricate a new cab/body and other components. It looks unconventional, but they just used what they had available.

Just wanted to say , As much as I’m a sport car/sports bike fan...I do enjoy these features on crazy military engines & vehicles, especially the Eastern European ones, thanks.

Oddball Soviet equipment is a constant reminder of having played C&C Red Alert many years ago, lol.

I love that Russia tinkers with ideas most countries would not entertain. It's from this that progress is made.

Wow i need a 2000hp, 150,000 cc V12 diesel engine with a redline of 750rpm on my motorcycle!

I cant even imagine what kind of torque this engine had. WIth really wide tyres or tracks, i think this "tractor" could have towed pretty much anything through any terrain

Apparently, the idea was to make powerful self-propelled field generators.

Honestly, a lot of these Russian projects were based on the phrase "just because you can, doesn't mean you should," but, unfortunately, the second part of the phrase was lost in translation.

Looks like it would make a good camper conversion.

Завод по производству этих двигателей находится в моём городе 😄

Steam traction engines were also known as road locomotives - the names mean basically the same thing

I bet it pulls like a freight train

Mud runner AMAZING, or Snow runner !!

This thing was real??? I played it in Spuntyres thinking it was some joke vehicle?

These were sometimes built to be portable generators

Yeah, that Kolomna V12 really sounds like an unrebuilt EMD 645 engine, and unreliable to boot. No wonder Estonia's railway replaced their M62s being used for freight... by ex-Union Pacific (actually ex-Missouri Pacific) GEs.

For anyone interested, Tomley RC is building a big rc truck loosely based off of this. It's called the XX10 T-Rex from Cross RC and its glorious.

Their was vodka involved in the decision of this build lol

Stupid idea but im glad they did it very cool love those locos 👍

It make more sense than modern electric truk