February 5, 2013. TMV-2, a multi-purpose vehicle made at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, has been successfully tested for reliable performance. The traction unit’s potential was looked into in the operating depot (Carriage Repair Company 3) in Kurgan. At the end of the tests, the company representatives spoke very highly of this universal unit, the corporation’s press service reports.

TMV-2, attached to a shunter, moved gondola cars, platforms, and tanks around the railways using both automatic coupling devices at the front and the back of the unit. It is reported that during the tests, TMV-2 broke its own record: the designers claimed it could mover 15 empty freight carriages, but in Kurgan, the unit managed as many as 22 empty carriages. TMV-2 proved capable of moving around both flat and sloping surfaces. What is more, the device was used as a tow car for the heavy-duty vans that got stuck in the snow.

‘When I visited Nizhniy Tagil to see the presentation of the unit, I was somewhat skeptical about it. An agreement was signed with Uralvagonzavod to do some performance tests. The unit arrived in Kurgan in January and worked in the depot for nearly two weeks, so my attitude changed a lot. TMV-2 has proved useful a number of times. On the days when the only shunter was off to a station or under repairs, the unit did all the work at the depot, and managed well,’ says Carriage Repair Company 3 Chief Engineer in Kurgan Sergey Lukinykh.