Cherepanov brothers. Cherepanovs (Efim Alekseevich and Miron Efimovich)

Nizhny Tagil 1833. This is the birthplace of the Russian steam locomotive, invented. But at that time there was no such word "steam locomotive" in the Russian language. And the car was named "land steamer".

Monument Cherepanov Efim Alekseevich and Miron Efimovich in Nizhny Tagil. Installed in 1956

The inventors are often referred to as the "Cherepanov brothers" - this is a well-established mythology. That is a concept that is firmly rooted in the minds of most people.

Two Cherepanov brothers lived in the Vyisky plant: Efim and Alexei, both by patronymic Alekseevich - serfs of the uncrowned kings of the Urals Demidovs.

Both were very gifted. It was the younger Alexei who made the first sketches of the "land stagecoach" and "infected" his older brother with this idea. This was in 1803. In 1817, Alexei died, but he left behind his son Ammos, who was also involved in the project and helped his uncle and cousin Miron a lot. Thus, to say "the Cherepanov brothers created the first Russian steam locomotive" is quite correct and probably even fair.

Father and son Cherepanovs.

The main designers of the "land stagecoach" are Efim Alekseevich and his son Miron Efimovich Cherepanov. It was to them that a monument was erected on Theater Square in Nizhny Tagil. Father and son are strikingly similar in appearance, like twins. And even Tagil residents sometimes call the monument "the Cherepanov brothers." The fact that this is father and son is not written. They are still very similar to Marx and Engels there. Apparently, Soviet sculptors are accustomed to sculpting the founders of communism, well, they made a blueprint.

The talented self-taught mechanic Efim Cherepanov created many different devices to facilitate the work of workers. For his engineering talents, Nikita Demidov appointed Cherepanov as the mine's chief mechanic. “I did this so that others, seeing you as an example of how I reward, could then try to reach my favors themselves,” Demidov wrote to the master. Efim Cherepanov from 1822 until his death was the chief mechanic of all factories in Nizhny Tagil. And Miron was a deputy and a student, and after the death of his father, he took his place.

Yefim and Miron Cherepanov.

Efim Cherepanov knew that steam engines were operating at factories abroad and dreamed of building the same in Russia in the Urals from domestic materials. Cherepanov wrote about this to Demidov in St. Petersburg. But he did not believe that a simple man, a self-taught mechanic, was able to design a complex steam engine.

There would be no happiness, but misfortune helped. There was a fire at the factory where the Cherepanovs worked. The fire destroyed the water wheels that set the factory mechanisms in motion. Then the inventors received permission to build their own steam engine. It took two years to create it. The Cherepanovs put their first steam mechanism with a capacity of 4 horsepower into operation in 1824. Then, inspired by this success, the Cherepanovs built two more steam engines. The head of the mining factories of the Urals came to look at the wonders of technology. His admiration knew no bounds. Talented inventors Yefim and Miron Cherepanov should be awarded a gold medal! Petersburg, this caused a commotion. Award a gold medal to a serf? This have not happened before. It is forbidden! Uncomfortable! It was decided to replace the gold medal with a silver one, but on the Annensky ribbon.

idea land steamer The Cherepanovs peeped in England. Nikita Demidov, concerned about the fall in demand for Ural iron, sent artisans abroad to find out the secrets of production. However, British industrialists immediately recognized Russian mechanics as spies and to factories, and even more so, they were not allowed to see the drawings. But the Cherepanovs needed only to see the miracle of modern technology - the famous "rocket" of the English inventor Stephenson, in order to understand that it was precisely the mechanization of labor that Russian production lacked.

Stephenson's rocket was not the world's first steam locomotive. The first steam locomotive was designed by another English engineer Richard Trevithick in 1803. He also built a ring railway, along which his steam locomotive rolled a cart with passengers. The first real railroad was built by George Stephenson in 1830. The line, about 40 kilometers long, connected the two major English cities of Liverpool and Manchester. Stephenson's locomotives carried the first cargo and the first passengers along it. There were no steam locomotives or railways anywhere in the world at that time.

Traveling around Russia was not an easy task in those days. People moved from place to place in horse-drawn carts or even on foot. Then eight-seater carriages began to go between large cities - stagecoaches, which the people called "nilizhances" because it was impossible to lie down there. For several hours or even days, passengers had to shake in such a stage, closely clinging to each other.

In the wildest dreams of the Cherepanovs, the railway network could cover the whole of Russia, and it would be possible to carry not only goods, but also passengers along it. At first, the inventors failed - the steam locomotive's boiler did not heat up well and did not produce the required amount of steam. In addition, the locomotive did not want to back up. But Russian ingenuity overcame technical difficulties. The Cherepanovs increased the number of fire tubes in the boiler to 80, and it began to heat up properly. Reverse movement was achieved using a mechanism consisting of an eccentric wheel. which set in motion steam spools, which regulated the direction of steam supply to the steam cylinder, which made the wheels of the locomotive rotate in the right direction.

In 1833, the first steam locomotive built in Russia by Russian engineers from domestic materials was ready. In August 1834, he went along the cast-iron wheels - as the rails were then called, laid along the Vyisky field from the factory to the copper mine. The length of the path was just over 800 meters.

The locomotive weighed almost 2.5 tons. It could transport about 200 pounds of ore, which is more than 3 tons at a speed of 12-15 miles per hour. The locomotive driver was Miron Cherepanov - one of its creators, the first passengers of 40 daredevils from the crowd of onlookers. During the tests of the first steam locomotive, a second one was already in development, which was supposed to become larger and much more powerful than the first.

He differed in design. The wheels of the running pair, on which there was no drive, were reduced in size by the Cherepanovs. Six months later, the second locomotive of the Cherepanovs was put on the rails. He pulled a load of already a thousand pounds at a speed of almost 16 km / h.

But the steam locomotives of the Ural inventors did not find a worthy application for themselves. Horse-drawn contractors did not want to lose their income. And soon, along the rails laid by the Cherepanovs for land steamers, wagons with ore began to be dragged by horses.

The news of the construction of the first railway in Russia near St. Petersburg was hard for the Cherepanovs. Foreign engineers were invited to lay rails, steam locomotives were bought in England and Belgium. To draw attention to the domestic steam locomotive, the Cherepanovs built its model for an industrial exhibition in St. Petersburg. But no one could be interested in their invention there. This model is still preserved in the Museum of Railway Transport in St. Petersburg. According to it and according to the partially preserved drawings of the first steam locomotives, an exact copy of the first Russian steam locomotive was made in 1949, which now stands in front of the railwaymen's recreation center opposite the railway station in Yekaterinburg.

On the evening of July 31, 1821, the merchant Edward Spence went to the English port of Hull to meet the barque Cottingham. On it, as he was informed, an envoy from the Ural mining plant Demidov would arrive with an important assignment, which would now be called industrial intelligence. In the boat that brought the passengers to shore, sat a bearded man in long black clothes, a kosovorotka and a cap.

"The bearer of this, Efim Cherepanov, a foreman of the ironworks of His Excellency, is recommended to your kind attention ... His Excellency wishes Cherepanov to inspect in particular the ironworks and mines of your country, and therefore be kind enough to render him every assistance in inspecting these enterprises. English he doesn't know the language," the red-haired bearded man was accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the St. Petersburg office of the Demidovs.

A week later, Spence sent a confused letter back there:

"Dear sirs! Your kind message was delivered to me by Cherepanov, whose long beard had unfortunate consequences and attracted attention, as you can see from the attached newspaper. He was mistaken for a spy, and I am afraid that suspicious appearance and this publication, which will be read in all industrial districts, may prevent him from gaining access to many remarkable and important factories..."

Beards have not been worn in England for three hundred years - since the time of the Tudors. And Yefim Cherepanov was an Old Believer. His ancestors fled for the Ural Mountains from the Vologda Territory from religious repression. Descendants to this day preserve the iconographic makeup of the faces of immigrants from the Russian North.

The British refused to show the drawings to the bearded "scout". Outlandish steam locomotive he estimated "at a glance". And he didn't like it at all.

I watched Merey's steam engine, which transports coal at a time of 2 thousand pounds over a distance of four miles three times a day, wrote Yefim Cherepanov in a business trip report. “This car is very outlandish, but for us it is worthless for the reason that the English masters are quick to do what they want, but their cars do not last long, and then they are often under repair.”

Yes, but the craftsman got stuck ...

"These machines are not needed for iron and copper factories, although steam engines, if it pleases Their Excellency, can be started and attached to any action."

And they did. And they attached. But this did not happen soon.

1774. Nizhny Tagil

Efim Cherepanov was born into the family of a serf-laborer. There are nine children in the family, everyone has a clear and short future in the "Demidov empire" - from "give-bring" firewood at the age of eight to death at forty, coughing up lungs clogged with coal dust.

However, the father miraculously managed to arrange a boy in a workshop for dressing blower furs. He turned out to be inquisitive and handy. And he steadily began to rise up, as they would say today, on the social elevator. At the age of 20 - a master. In 33 - the main dam, first one, and then all nine Demidov Nizhny Tagil plants. Then, on his own initiative, he organized a "mechanical institution" - a design and testing bureau. Here, for the first time, he built a small, two human power, steam engine, from which machine tools worked ...

In fact, Efim Cherepanov stood at the origins of Russian engineering.

My son Miron grew up just in time, the same red-haired and just as indefatigable in work. When Efim was appointed chief mechanic of the Tagil factories, his son became an assistant. Together they built and "attached to action" 25 steam engines - for pumping water from mines, washing gold, rolling iron ...

But the main business of their life was the "steam cart" for transporting ore from the mine to the plant.

1833 England

Twelve years after Father Miron, they are also sent to England. He is wearing a caftan, a cap with a lacquered visor - the usual costume of a master. He has a beard, of course. And he also hands over a letter of recommendation to Spence, already known to us: they say, we are sending for experience:

Cherepanov - the son, as you can recognize by the color of his hair, the Cherepanov that you had in 1821 ... Cherepanov did not want to follow our advice and let his beard be shaved. Try to convince him to do it."

Needless to say, Spence's second attempt also failed?

But Miron, like his father, did not manage to look at the drawings: the British kept their eyes on the secrets of their steam engines, until 1841 the state forbade taking them abroad. Miron complained about "difficulties both due to ignorance of the language, and, if possible, to see the internal arrangement of machines that are in action."

But neither he nor his father could be stopped.

1834. Nizhny Tagil

They built a steam locomotive for almost half a year, in their free time - as a hobby. Despite the order of the authorities "to give the Cherepanovs a way to arrange steam carts for transporting heavy loads," the Tagil clerks did not release the craftsmen from their many duties. Along the way, rails were laid along Podsaraynaya Street, which was soon renamed Steamboat Street (as it is called today). A barn for the "land stagecoach" was built - the first Russian depot ...

And in the first days of September 1834, the main business was completed.

"Open!" shouted someone in the crowd. The heavy gates slowly opened..., - we read a report in the May issue of the St. Petersburg Mining Journal for 1835: - Another minute of waiting, and a land steamer appeared in the gate frame - an unprecedented machine, unlike anything, with a high smoking chimney, gleaming with polished bronze parts. Miron Cherepanov stood on the platform at the handles. The steamer rolled past the silent crowd ... ".

No "rejoice and rejoice all the people." He, discouraged, remains silent.

For the device of steam engines, which "bring honor both to their builder, a simple practitioner of the factory servant Cherepanov, and to Demidov, who gave him the opportunity to improve himself", Yefim was awarded the silver medal "For Useful". The Sovereign Emperor deigned to approve the highest award. Together with the medal, Yefim and his wife received freedom. Three years later, Miron was released from serfdom. Glory and freedom came to the Cherepanovs.

And their beloved offspring fell into disfavor...

They began to carry ore from the mine to the plant along the cast-iron 400-sazhen (854 meters) road and ride distinguished guests. But the Grand Duke Alexander Nikolayevich, the future Emperor Alexander II, could not be urged on the trip: he did not even get out of the carriage, looked at the puffing engine, asked: "Who arranged it?" - and departed. Yes, and the Tagil authorities were, to put it mildly, distrustful of the innovation: firstly, the locomotive took away bread from tax farmers who were well fed on transportation, and secondly, it required qualified personnel. When repairs were needed, it was decided that it was "too koshtototo" (expensive), and the locomotive was replaced with horses. So the horses dragged the trolleys with ore along the Cherepanov rails ...

And the first-born Cherepanovs, on which they even decorated the pipe with a figured lattice, were not sent to the St. Petersburg Industrial Exhibition at the last moment. Who knows, if their steam locomotive (which cost 1500 rubles) got to the bride in the capital, and you wouldn’t have to buy foreign ones at exorbitant prices (47.5 thousand rubles each) ...

So the Cherepanovsky "Dilizhan" has sunk into obscurity. Three steam locomotives, built by father and son, ingloriously rusted off the rails, on which they launched a horse-drawn carriage. The St. Petersburg - Moscow railway is considered the first in Russia, along which "all the people rejoice and rejoice." And the locomotives for which they bought in England.

Four years after the St. Petersburg exhibition, at the height of the railway "fever" in Russia, the Ural mining plant Anatoly Demidov was presented with a project to create a rail rolling production. Resolution of the Owner: this is impossible, because "there are no specialists in the construction of steam locomotives in the Nizhny Tagil plants ..."

What was it like to hear this for Miron Cherepanov, who briefly survived his father ...

1842 Nizhny Tagil

Efim Cherepanov burned down at work at the age of 68. He asked for his resignation many times "because of his declining years." The petition was considered for three years, the decision was never made. Efim Alekseevich "died of apoplexy, leaving on the eve of his death on business," the report of the plant management said. And six years later, "after an illness, the mechanic Miron Cherepanov died, who served for about 34 years at factories, who dealt with many mechanical devices, and also provided important services for the reconstruction of factory dams, which were carried out under his supervision and guidance." He was 46.

Where the graves of the father and son are unknown.

LOOKING THROUGH THE YEARS

Steam Locomotive Cemetery

Steam locomotive cemetery.
Rusty hulls.
Pipes are full of oblivion
twisted voices.

Like the collapse of consciousness -
stripes and circles.
Terrible furnaces of death.
Dead levers.

The thermometers are broken:
figures and glass -
the dead don't need
measure,
do they have heat.

The dead don't need
vision -
gouged out eyes.
Time has given you
permanent brakes.

in your wagons
long
doors won't knock
woman won't laugh
the soldier will not sing.

Whirlwind of night sand
will not bring the booth.
Young man with a soft cloth
pistons will not wipe.

No more hot
your grates.
Five-Year Mammoths
knocked off their fangs.

These palaces of metal
built a union of labor:
locksmiths and miners,
villages and cities.

Take off your hat, friend.
Here they are, the days of the war.
Rust on iron
your cheeks are pale.

No need to pronounce
none of the words.
Hate silently grows
silent love blossoms.

It's just iron.
Let it teach everyone.
Slow and calm
the first snow falls.

Yaroslav Smelyakov

D Two years ago, on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the locomotive, the whole of Nizhny Tagil in memory of the Cherepanovs glued colored paper locomotives: museum workers wanted to arrange a colorful installation. A train of 240 locomotives was planned - according to the number of years from the birth of Efim Alekseevich. The townspeople brought 1827 ... They were lined up along the street on which the Cherepanovs' house stands and where their favorite little "steamboat" once puffed along the rails.

Efim Alekseevich Cherepanov (1774-1842)

Miron Efimovich Cherepanov (1803-1849)

Monument to E. A. and M. E. Cherepanov on Theater Square in Nizhny Tagil

Efim Alekseevich and Miron Efimovich Cherepanov(father Yefim(-) and son Myron(-)) - Russian industrial engineers-inventors. Known for having built the first Russian steam locomotive. They were from the serf workers of the Demidovs - the famous dynasty of owners of the Ural factories.

Story

The Cherepanovs came from serfs assigned to the Demidovs' Vyisky plant. As a young man, Yefim was hired as a "fur master" (a specialist in air intake devices that played an important role in early metallurgy). In 1801 Yefim married, two years later his son Miron was born. In 1807, Yefim became a "dam master" (a specialist in hydraulic structures and water engines). In 1813, Miron, at the age of 12, "due to high literacy" was hired in the office of the Vyisky plant.

From 1822 until his death in 1842, Yefim was the chief mechanic of all factories in Nizhny Tagil. His son Miron was his student and was appointed his deputy in 1819 and eventually replaced his father after his death. The son survived his father by only 7 years and died in 1849.

The Cherepanovs significantly improved the mechanisms used in metallurgy, gold, iron and copper mining, as well as sawmills and flour mills. However, the most interesting aspect of the Cherepanovs' work is the steam engines, which they stubbornly tried to introduce into industrial production.

Starting from 1820, the Cherepanovs built about 20 steam engines with power from 2 to 60 hp. In 1825, Efim Cherepanov was sent to Sweden to "view cars", and in 1833 Miron went to England, where he studied the construction of railways. Upon their return, in 1833, they created the first steam locomotive in Russia, and then in 1835, a second, more powerful one. They also built iron railroads from one of their factories to a copper mine. For the construction of a railway with a length of 854 m, Miron Cherepanov received his freedom in 1836 (Efim received it a little earlier, also for the construction of steam engines).

Despite the successful completion of the technical part of the project, the Cherepanovs' locomotives did not find support outside the factory, and were subsequently replaced by horse-drawn ones. This decision was predetermined by objective factors, and not by the inertia of the administration of the factories. Deforestation for factory needs has crossed all boundaries and the delivery of timber was quite expensive. It was difficult to use wood-fired steam engines in such conditions, and there were no sources of coal nearby. It took time for a whole structure to take shape at the same time: coal mines, railways to them, coal steam engines (steam locomotives) for transporting coal to coal steam engines - the engines of factories. In addition, the maintenance of steam locomotives (as in England) was more expensive than the maintenance of horses, and steam locomotives were profitable only when using their full power - for large trains. But the plant did not need to transport large volumes of goods.

Memory

Uralvagonzavod specialists will recreate the first Russian steam locomotive, designed in 1834 in Nizhny Tagil by Yefim and Miron Cherepanov. Its appearance will be reproduced according to the only surviving drawing. One full-size copy of the original steam engine will be installed on the embankment of the Tagil Pond, the second will become part of the factory's open-air exhibition.

Historians told the "Russian Planet" how and why a "land steamer" was created two centuries ago and why it was not widely used.

First industrial spy

The future chief designer of the first Russian steam locomotive, Efim Cherepanov, was born on July 27, 1774, in the family of a serf Alexei Cherepanov, who worked as a coal burner at the Vyisky plant in Nizhny Tagil, owned by the merchants Demidov. The family had nine children - six daughters and three sons: Efim, Gavrila and Alexei. All three early began to show interest in plumbing and blast furnace business, so the clerks assigned them to study at the artisans' school.

According to legend, Yefim Cherepanov's career began with the fact that he was able to repair the castle, which one of the experienced craftsmen threw out as non-working, historian Vladimir Mironenko tells the RP correspondent. - Attention was drawn to the smart undergrowth, and after only two years of study he was appointed "master of plumbing at the dam superintendent", having shown remarkable talent in the new place. The only shortcoming of Efim Cherepanov, which was noted by everyone who knew him, was a dislike for reading. The clerks reported to the owner of the Vyisky plant and all the serfs working under him, Nikolai Nikitich Demidov: “This Efimko achieves everything only with his ingenuity, but neglects his diploma. He knows the score, but he can read badly, only leading with his finger. Uralsky Kulibin and in the future always preferred to find solutions to technical problems on his own, without using someone else's experience. This significantly complicated his life, but at the same time contributed to interesting finds.

In 1802, Efim Cherepanov married, a year later his son Miron was born. And by 1820, he created the first two steam engines that set in motion a mill and a lathe. After their successful tests, Nikolai Demidov decided to send a serf master to England to study the features of the production and use of steam engines in the most technically advanced country of that time.

The decision was doubtful, since Yefim Cherepanov did not understand a word of English and, accordingly, without explanations from specialists, he could not understand the intricacies of the high-tech metallurgical production that was not familiar to him, - continues Vladimir Mironenko. - However, he still would not have received any explanations: the British suspected a spy in Efim Cherepanov. The outward appearance of a simple Ural peasant seemed to them unnatural, deliberate. They believed that he was trying to hide his true identity with a long beard and exotic costume. There was an uproar in the newspapers. When one of the notes was sent to Nikolai Demidov, he wrote over it: "Newsmen are freaks!" There was a lot of unnecessary noise and speculation around Cherepanov's trip, which prevented the implementation of all the plans. And, nevertheless, the breeder's idea "fired": after examining the steam engines operating at the factories in Gull and Lidda, the Ural master did not understand their structure, but set himself new goals.

In Lydda, Cherepanov first saw a steam engine moving along rails. In his report to the factory office on the results of the trip, he described it as follows: “I watched the Murray steam engine, which carries coal at a time of 2 thousand poods over a distance of four miles three times a day. This car is very outlandish, but for us it is worthless for the reason that English craftsmen like it and are quick to the point, but their cars do not last long, and therefore they are often under repair.

Upon the return of the master in 1823, Nikolai Demidov appointed Efim Cherepanov as the chief mechanic of all the Tagil factories that belonged to him. Soon the inventor creates another steam engine for grinding grain at the mill. And in 1825, the breeder again sent his protégé abroad, now to Sweden. This time, Cherepanov is going to get acquainted with foreign experience together with his son Miron, who inherited his father's talents.

Yefim and Miron Cherepanov (left to right). Photo: patriota.ru

Demidov set the task of setting up his own production of steam engines, since the prices for imported equipment were unbearable, - says Vladimir Mironenko. - Therefore, he did not spare money for foreign business trips for serf masters. They had to study the Western standards of mining and metallurgical production, "look after the machines" and then develop, as we would now say, "import-substituting technologies."

The first "bureau" of the Southern Urals

In 1826, by decree of Nikolai Demidov, a "Mechanical Establishment" was created at the Vyisky plant - an analogue of a modern design bureau. All the best Tagil mechanics were gathered under one roof, and Efim Cherepanov was put in charge of them. Myron's son began to work under his father along with other craftsmen. The merchant's calculation turned out to be correct: in just two years, design engineers developed and put into commercial operation a 40-horsepower steam engine designed to pump water in a copper mine.

In 1828, after the death of Nikolai Nikitich Demidov, the management of the enterprises passed to his sons Pavel and Anatoly. The older one was more interested in social life, but the younger one was seriously engaged in the modernization of production. He understood that without this, the Ural plants would not be able to compete with foreign manufacturers in the foreign market, - Vladimir Mironenko continues the story. - Anatoly set the task for the design bureau to develop and implement as many steam engines as possible, which was done. In just a year, the "Mechanical Establishment" prepared a dozen and a half different original projects, one of which was the steam locomotive project - "Land steamer for the carriage of ores, coal and other necessary cargoes."

Some of the projects were accepted and put into production, some were returned for revision. The project of the “overland steamer” was not accepted due to the fact that the power of the machine was insufficient and, in addition, to launch it, it was necessary to build an “overpass” - a railroad. It was decided to "peep" how they solve this problem in England. Efim Cherepanov could not go on a business trip - he was indispensable in production, since he controlled the introduction of all other steam engines. Therefore, his son Miron went abroad.

The cover letter, addressed to Edward Spence, the Demidov commissioner in Hull, said: “Cherepanov is as stubborn as his father: he did not allow his beard to be shaved off. Try to persuade him to agree to this and kindly buy him a good silver watch. Anatoly Demidov was afraid that otherwise Miron would be mistaken for a Russian spy - just like his father had been before. The precautions taken helped: Miron Cherepanov, without any interference, carefully studied the device of the most advanced railway for that time, laid from Liverpool to Manchester. For the first time in the world, mushroom-shaped rails were used on this section, and the locomotive was equipped with a fundamentally new tubular boiler.

In 1833, when Miron Cherepanov returned from England to Nizhny Tagil, his father had already started building his own steam locomotive model. The son offered to improve the project taking into account foreign innovations, but the stubborn father did not listen to him. In March 1834, while testing a steam locomotive, the steam boiler exploded, nearly killing the inventor. I had to refine the design, design a new tubular boiler.

By September 1834, an improved version of the "self-propelled steamer", called the "steamer stagecoach", was ready. By the same date, under the leadership of Miron Cherepanov, the first railway in Russia was built - a “cast-iron wheel pipeline” from “bars” - rails laid on wooden sleepers. Its length was 854 meters.

In Soviet near-historical literature, stories were very popular about how serf nuggets worked without any support from breeders, how the owners put up all sorts of obstacles for the masters and almost flogged them for every invention, historian Sergei Spitsyn tells the RP correspondent. - Of course, it was not so. Anatoly Demidov invested 10 thousand silver rubles in the creation of the original Russian steam locomotive - huge funds for those times. Moreover, if the project was successful, he promised to give free rein to Efim Cherepanov and his entire family.

"Land steamer"

In September 1834, a steam locomotive with a capacity of 30 horsepower, created under the leadership of Efim Cherepanov, set off for the first time along the first Russian railway at a speed of 15 km/h. He pulled a train with a load of 3.3 tons. It was assumed that the freight train would be supplemented with a passenger trailer car - "a wagon for all luggage and passengers, including forty souls." However, there were no people who wanted to test the novelty, so copper ore took the place of passengers. The locomotive was operated by Miron Cherepanov.

After successful tests, Anatoly Demidov literally showered favors on everyone who was involved in the project, - says Sergey Spitsyn. - Not only Efim and Miron Cherepanov with their families received freedom, but also the families of four more engineers and mechanics who took part in the development of the Russian steam locomotive. In addition, they all acquired a solid monetary reward and a new social status. From now on, the employees of Cherepanov's "design bureau" were forever freed from daily work, they were assigned a good salary. The children of the masters "until the last knee" were exempted from recruitment duty and received the right to non-competitive admission to the factory school.

And all this despite the fact that the project presented by the Cherepanov "bureau" needed a very serious revision - both the creators themselves and Anatoly Demidov understood this, - emphasizes Vladimir Mironenko. - For example, it did not have a reverse gear and could only move in a straight line due to the fact that the wheel flanges (a protruding edge that prevents the wheel from derailing - RP) were located on the outside. However, the Ural development also had its advantages over imported counterparts: the “land steamer” was much more stable due to the greater width of the wheel sets and weighed half as much as English steam locomotives.

The "mechanical institution" was given the task of improving the project, retaining the advantages of the first steam locomotive and eliminating its shortcomings.

Drawing of the second locomotive of the Cherepanovs. Photo: historyntagil.ru

Soviet historians claimed that the creators dismantled the first steam locomotive into parts in order to use them in the construction of the second model. Allegedly, the Cherepanovs had to do this, since Anatoly Demidov refused to finance further work on the project, says Sergey Spitsyn. - This is an obvious falsification. After the “correct” flanges were installed on the first steam locomotive so that it could turn, it was transported to Italy, to Florence, where the Demidovs had a luxurious country estate. For many years, the owners of Villa Demidoff used it to ride guests, showing them their possessions.

"Cherepanov Brothers"

In 1835, Yefim and Miron Cherepanov developed a new, improved version of their steam locomotive. It was distinguished by greater reliability and power - 43 horsepower made it possible to transport up to 17 tons of various cargoes. A new railway was also built, linking the Vyisky plant and the Mednorudyansky mine. Its length was 3.5 km. In the spring of 1837, Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II, examined her, and was more than pleased with what he saw.

After the “land steamer” was created, Russia became the only European state that developed its own model of a steam locomotive, and did not import technology from England. Therefore, for the father and son of the Cherepanovs, the news that English-made steam locomotives would be purchased for the railway under construction between Moscow and St. Petersburg was a very heavy blow. They hoped that their development would be further applied and developed.

It should be recognized that, compared with the Stephenson steam locomotive, the Cherepanov version had one fundamental drawback, says Vladimir Mironenko. - The English locomotive worked on coal, and the Russian - on wood, which played a fatal role in its future fate. During the years of operation of the “overland steamer” on the railway leading from the Vyisky plant to the Mednorudyansky mine, all the forest along its entire length was cut down - it was necessary to provide the steam locomotive with fuel. As a result, firewood had to be brought from afar, on horse-drawn carts, which made the operation of the steam engine unprofitable. Wagons with ore along the first Russian railway were later transported using horse traction.

Nevertheless, the creators of the first Russian steam locomotive, Efim and Miron Cherepanov, took pride of place in Russian history, though for some reason as the "Cherepanov brothers."

It is not known where the common idea that Yefim and Miron were brothers came from, continues Vladimir Mironenko. - However, this mythology is so firmly rooted in the public consciousness that when in Nizhny Tagil city guests are brought to the monument to the creators of the “overland steamer”, they are certainly told: “Here they are, the Cherepanov brothers. Father, Efim Cherepanov, and his son Miron.

Although, if you look at it, the story with the Cherepanov brothers is also not so simple. Recall that the serf charcoal burner Alexei Cherepanov had three sons - Efim, Gavrila and Alexei. Gavrila died early from an unknown illness, but the younger brother Alexei could compete in terms of talent with Yefim. It was he who made the first sketches of the "steam stagecoach" back in 1803 and infected his older brother with interest in steam engines. Only an early death prevented Alexei Cherepanov from becoming the inventor of the first Russian steam locomotive - he died in 1817 from pneumonia. So at least one Cherepanov brother was involved in the creation of the "land steamer".

But, as it turns out, there was another Cherepanov - the son of Alexei, who died early, Ammos. He was born a year before his father's death, was raised by his uncle Yefim and was also distinguished by rare talents. In 1834, when the most active work was underway on the creation of the Ural steam locomotive, he was appointed deputy to his uncle Efim Cherepanov and took an active part in the implementation of the project. Moreover: the appearance of the first "steam stagecoach" at Uralvagonzavod will be restored according to a sketch made by his hand. So, those who believe that the Cherepanov brothers were the inventors of the first Russian steam locomotive are not so wrong.

Creators of the first railway in Russia, the first Russian steam locomotive, turning, screw-cutting, planing, drilling, nailing and other machines

The Ural metallurgical plants not only allowed Russia to make a powerful economic breakthrough - the dawn of the domestic industry was born here. The enterprises founded by the Demidovs embodied the creativity of many Russian craftsmen, original craftsmen, whose work became the beginning of Russian engineering.

In 1833, Prince Demidov-San Donato sent his serf mechanic Miron Cherepanov to England for a short-term internship. The reason for investing in the education of a thirty-year-old serf was not only the desire for a European approach to production management, but also solid benefits, which, in the end, literally made the Demidovs rich. The candidate was also not chosen by chance.

Miron Cherepanov's father, Efim Alexandrovich, began his career as a "fur" master, a specialist in air-inflating devices. Then he became a dam master - a position of particular responsibility, to which not everyone could be appointed. Yefim Alexandrovich's natural talent, conscientiousness, skill in many crafts, ensured him the fame of one of the most prominent Tagil masters. Of course, he brought up all these qualities in his son. Together they provided the Demidovs with a number of unique inventions. Turning, screw-cutting, planing, drilling, nailing machines have turned mining plants into real production. In 1824, Efim Cherepanov designed a four-horsepower steam engine, and four years later, the Cherepanovs built an original gold-washing machine that washed 800-1000 pounds of gold-bearing sand per day. One Cherepanov unit replaced 24 miners and eight horses. This development turned out to be so profitable that the owners ordered Efim Alexandrovich and Miron Efimovich to build two more similar machines.