Russian steam cars

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In modern culture, there is such a direction - Steampunk (steampunk, steam - "steam", and punk - "garbage") - a science fiction direction that simulates a civilization that has perfectly mastered the mechanics and technology of steam engines.

To what extent the technologies of those years were advanced, let us understand the example of the Russian plant "Dux", founded in Moscow in 1893.

The famous Dux bicycles are well known for their high quality at a relatively reasonable price. These bicycles in 1896 were awarded a bronze medal at the All-Russian art and industrial exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. Being not only a talented engineer, but also a good businessman, Yu. A. Möller was well aware that he could only win in the competition with foreign firms due to the lower price of his products, since it would not need to include payment of duties, the cost of transporting goods from abroad and a commission markup for the labor of intermediary firms.

In one of the review articles (magazine "Automobile", 1905), characterizing the state of the automotive industry, it was said:

Leitner, Bromley, Skavronsky and others have built one or two things of some freaks and, it seems, stopped at that. All that remains is Dux, which quite energetically set about building machines of a new type, completely abandoning its ferry cars.

The first products of "Dux" were not only water pipes, bicycles, but also motor vehicles (snow-scooters), ferry cars and agricultural machinery. Even then, ferry cars were very perfect and much faster than their gasoline counterparts, outwardly they did not differ from them and were completely silent. Special racing ferry cars developed a speed of up to 140 km / h in competitions. About the Dux ferry cars, Avtomobil wrote:

… and here they are gradually beginning to spread, among which the Dux-type crews occupy a prominent place. Their main distinguishing qualities are simplicity and grace. These cars do not make any noise at all, which still cannot be said about gasoline ones. Even electric cars, driven by electricity, this power of the future, make more noise (rather, hum) than the Dux ferry cars. Its entire mechanism is so simple and compact that it fits under the seat and does not require any protruding parts for its placement, like, for example, the nose of gas cars, does not have a gear change, electric batteries, magneto, easily breakable candles, in a word, all that, which is the cause of most breakdowns and hassle in gasoline cars.

The advantages of the Dux ferry car can also be attributed to its simplicity - it can be easily operated by anyone without prior training and practice.

In the note "Quadruple" Lokomobil-Dux "it is reported:

The other day, thanks to the courtesy of the head of the St. Petersburg branch of the Dux Joint-Stock Company, we managed to get to know the first four-seater steam car that arrived in St. Petersburg. This crew is distinguished by the same elegant appearance and graceful finishing as the two-seater Loko-mobiles. 7 hp engine

On Wednesday, March 13, 1902, a competition was held in the Mikhailovsky Manege (St. Petersburg), the program of which included a competition for driving skills and bonuses for using the best cars, for their elegance and constructive convenience. Six crews took part in the competition. The first prize for driving skills was awarded to the famous motorsportsman P. P. Beckel on the Gobron-Brille carriage. The second prize for excellence was awarded to Mrs. Gilgendorf, who participated in the competition in a domestic-made Dux-Lokomobil. The Panar-Levassor car, owned by Mr. Korovin, received the first prize for ease of operation. The Dux-Lokomobil was recognized as the most graceful crew.

Based on the results of this competition, it can be concluded that during these years, ferry cars were still quite successfully competing with gasoline cars. It is also interesting that women participated on an equal footing with men in motorsport competitions. Note that the Gilgendorf family was one of the great motoring enthusiasts. Its head, Alexander Ivanovich Gilgendorf, was the manager of the St. Petersburg branch of the Dux company, and later founded his own automobile trading house. But all the same, despite the widespread advertising and victories in the competitions, the ferry cars did not find much sales in Russia. The idea of producing steam cars had to be abandoned and the production of gasoline carriages began as more popular.

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By the beginning of the 20th century, tens of thousands of steam cars, mostly trucks, were already driving on the roads. They differed from their petrol counterparts in extreme durability and reliability and could work on anything that burns - coal, wood, straw. These cars had a low speed (up to 50 km / h), they took on board hundreds of liters of water and released steam into the atmosphere. In Europe, steam cars lasted until the outbreak of World War II and were mass-produced in Brazil back in the 50s.

However, wonderful cars also had serious drawbacks: after solid fuel, a lot of ash and slag remains, its smoke contains soot and sulfur, which is absolutely unacceptable for city streets. But even soot did not put an end to such cars. The fact is that the kindling of the solid fuel boiler lasted about two hours. Therefore, they tried not to extinguish them at all - at night the boiler was connected to a building that needed heat, and in the morning after 10-15 minutes the car was ready to hit the road. Railway locomotives were used in a similar way - for heating small villages.

Later steam engines were developed on gasoline, kerosene and alcohol. The first liquid-fueled steam cars started driving within 23 minutes. They released steam into the atmosphere, and they needed about 30 liters of gasoline and more than 70 liters of water per 100 kilometers.

Nevertheless, a steam engine, saturated with automation, many auxiliary units, at the beginning of the 20th century was more complicated and more expensive than an internal combustion engine, and at the same time had a lower efficiency. In addition, it took up quite a lot of space - primarily due to the need to have a separate water tank.

In 1905, the official body of the Russian Automobile Society - the magazine "Avtomobil" noted:

During the period of general enthusiasm for bicycles, the Dux bicycle factory was founded in Moscow, which went so well that it soon became a joint-stock company and started producing cars, first steam and then gasoline. Currently, the plant manufactures all kinds of cars, from light wheelchairs to heavy trucks and omnibuses. Body shapes are very diverse - tonneau, phaetons, limousines, coupes, omnibuses. The finish of the cars leaves nothing to be desired.

In a memorandum on the expansion of the enterprise, dated 1904, Yu. A. Möller wrote:

In recent years of intensive work on the design of mechanical vehicles, brilliant results have been achieved.

The car, improved, simplified and cheapened, ceased to be the fun of rich people, quickly conquered a wide field of action, attracted the attention of government and public institutions, penetrated the field of military affairs, and, finally, the consciousness of its practical significance took root in the masses that met the appearance car with the same prejudice with which any innovation is usually treated. Our plant is undoubtedly the first in Russia to draw attention to this new branch of production. Starting with the assembly of cars from foreign parts and according to a foreign model, the plant gradually came to the independent development of a mechanical crew, including both the engine and transmission. Cars with engines 9, 12, 20 HP, produced by the plant, have fully justified themselves and earned the Dux society the same flattering reputation that it has long enjoyed in the bicycle business. Along with the indicated large crews, the plant has developed and produced a lightweight 7HP vehicle with a simple design, easy handling and extra strength. These data speak for its widespread distribution in Russia, and indeed, the past year has shown its full suitability for city driving. In addition, thanks to the speed of movement, it provides huge savings in time. With an average price of 1,800 rubles, subject to the possibility of using it, as experience has shown, throughout the year, the crew will pay off in less than 20 months.

Not a single car of the joint-stock company "Dux" has survived to this day, and this has become, perhaps, one of the reasons for the undeserved oblivion of its fruitful activities in the field of Russian motorism.

But archival sources allow us to fill this gap. Fortunately, one of the issues of the magazine "Avtomobil" was devoted almost entirely to the joint-stock company "Dux" and contained a series of illustrations that adequately represent the products it produces. In addition to the production of cars, the company "Dux" also specialized in the construction of railroad cars, among which the omnibus railcar stands out, which had a four-cylinder engine of 24 hp, water-cooled with a radiator of the latest system and a fan. The gearbox had four speeds. The transmission of motion to both rear wheels was carried out by chains. Such railroad cars worked on the St. Petersburg-Warsaw railway.

The business of the company was very successful. She had her own stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The main market for Dux cars was St. Petersburg, where the joint-stock company gained a prominent position and had a luxury store with a special car showroom. The income of the firm "Dux" in 1904 amounted to 457,350 rubles, including from the sale of bicycles - 213,190 rubles, trolleys - 14,000 rubles. and cars - 176,900 rubles. The annual profit amounted to 92 350 rubles.

The joint-stock company set up advertising activities well, which made it possible to successfully sell products.

The cover of the Avtomobil magazine, dedicated to the activities of the Dux plant. On the cover there is a Dux coupe with a 12 hp engine.

In a competitive environment, the car firm had to strive to improve the quality of the cars produced and lower their prices.

Consequently, a genuine advertisement of that time can serve for us as one of the documents reflecting the activities of the enterprise. Dux advertisements provide some interesting information. Using them, you can establish the location of the plant (Moscow, Yamskaya Slobodka), they provide a list of products, the coat of arms of the company, etc. One of the company announcements indicates that the Russian Automobile Plant "Dux" can, at the request of the customer, perform the form of a crew, its finish and color. The announcement of 1911 shows that the joint-stock company Yu. A. Meller mastered the production of motor sleds, airships and airplanes.

The advertisement reflected the achievements of the company's cars in various competitions. As a special advantage of its cars, "Dux" notes their adaptability to Russian roads. There is an advertisement for passenger cars as well as motor boats. Speaking about the joint-stock company "Dux", one cannot but dwell on the far from ordinary personality of its leader, whose activities ensured the prosperity of the company. Assessing his role, the press of that time wrote:

The firm owes its reputation in Russia and the acquisition of active agents in the provinces to its founder and director Yu. A. Meller, whom literally all sports Russia now knows. Y. Meller is also an experienced motorist who has repeatedly traveled by car across Russia. In a steam car "Dux" he traveled all over the Caucasus and the Crimea, overcoming all kinds of obstacles, among which his trip to the top of Ai-Petri in Crimea was far from the most difficult.

At the Dux plant, the organization of labor of workers and employees was distinguished by a high level, both in terms of a reasonable procedure for the use and duration of working hours, as well as its payment. When major riots broke out in Moscow in December 1905, the Dux workers did not even go on strike.

Yuliy Aleksandrovich was one of the highly qualified racers. He was obedient not only by steam, but also by gasoline engines. As an athlete, he gained fame in the car sled races, which were regularly held in Russia, and he always started only on the cars of his plant. Möller's sleigh was propeller driven and was the most modern construction of this type in Russia. The Emperor attended the tests of the Dux automobile sledges and gave them a very favorable assessment. Let us remind you that the idea of creating self-propelled sleds and sled trains belongs to the outstanding Russian engineer Vasily Petrovich Guryev. In 1911, i.e. in the year of their creation, the automobile sledges were not only put into mass production, but also went on sale in specialized stores of the joint-stock company "Dux".

In 1909, the tireless innovator Yu. A. Meller, together with the famous cyclist, motorist and aviator S. I. Utochkin launched airplanes into production.

This was the first experiment of this kind in Russia, which laid the foundation for the domestic aviation industry.

Yu. A. Meller was one of the leading public figures of Russian motoring and, being an active member of the First Moscow Automobile Club and the Russian Automobile Society, had a great influence on the development of motor transport and aircraft construction.

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During the Soviet period, MiG aircraft were produced at the Dux plant.

Rubets A. D. The history of road transport in Russia