Pictures of a large Russian Workplant

Kees · Nov 23, 2012

VOX POPULI -

Not so many machinery on the photo's, but still fascinating.

MichaelP · Nov 23, 2012

These are remnants of a very old Soviet military plant. It was the largest in the world plant that manufactured torpedoes. Almost nothing is left there by now. They try to keep, at least, some of it afloat, but only 1/4 of the space is used now with 600 workers, mostly, old timers, remaining (instead of 10,000 that used to work there before).

BobRenz · Nov 23, 2012

Amazing photos - think of trying to track down parts for that machinery if it ever wound up on E Bay -- It would probably be easier to mine your own iron ore and cast your own than it would be to locate parts. I wonder if any machine tools from East Germany have been on E Bay?

Kees · Nov 23, 2012

BobRenz said:
Amazing photos - think of trying to track down parts for that machinery if it ever wound up on E Bay -- It would probably be easier to mine your own iron ore and cast your own than it would be to locate parts. I wonder if any machine tools from East Germany have been on E Bay?

I owned once a DDR lathe and it came with a lot of drawings. So you could make your own replacement-parts. There is a high help-yourself-mentality over there.

doug8cat · Nov 23, 2012

WOW I'd love to spend a day just poking around there, and give my left nut to have it. Probably in the Ukraine?

MichaelP · Nov 23, 2012

doug8cat said:
Probably in the Ukraine?

No. It's in Almaty (a.k.a. Alma-Ata), the former capital of Kazakhstan.

Gregman · Dec 2, 2012

Unfortunately the most of plants of soviet period are in such conditions now. How ever there are some survivors.
Some photos to continue. All in Russian.
Large thread about Russian plants from people working there.
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Some photos of tank repair plant in Kharkov, Ukraine, that still works. Someone should sell tanks to arabs

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Demidov's metallurgic plant? that founded at 19-s century.
, » Swalker.org [.] Swalker.ru - ! , , .
Abandoned plant of prototypes, Moscow area
, » Swalker.org [.] Swalker.ru - ! , , .
Minsk Tractor factory,1960. Now in Belarus republic.
1960 » Swalker.org [.] Swalker.ru - ! , , .
and much more at this site.

4GSR · Dec 20, 2012

Talking about making do with what you got. This is pretty slick!

SND · Dec 20, 2012

Although the pictures are quite interesting. That sure is one creepy background on that webstite.

Tyrone Shoelaces · Dec 24, 2012

Kees said:
I owned once a DDR lathe and it came with a lot of drawings. So you could make your own replacement-parts. There is a high help-yourself-mentality over there.

I installed a large Russian milling machine a while back. I was amazed with the amount of manuals it came with. You could have definitely built another one with the information they sent. Regards Tyrone.

hitandmiss · Dec 25, 2012

I have worked on (repaired) a couple of Russian machines that have had newer CNC controls put on them on this side of the ocean. Interesting mix of threads on fastners and fittings. One used hydraulic oil as way lube, was a real mess till the old system was replaced with several Bijur units. Tons of documentation on all of them.

Bill

Gregman · Jan 31, 2013

Here is the thing about lots of drawings in the documentation. The Soviet Plants had no competition between each other, because of all of them was property of the state ownership, and the job was given by the Government. The spare parts were few, so the manufacturers given to customers drawings of all quick wasting parts to repair on their own.

Maathai · Mar 28, 2013

I visited the link of Russian Workplant and found much old machines there. I think, here torpedoes were manufactured. All pictures were interesting and I enjoyed my visit.

Madis Reivik · Mar 29, 2013

I have exactly the same building as in picture 6, all of them where made by standardized drawings (same concrete elements etc).
Its actually quite well planned and easy to maintain, concrete elements have spare holes for fixture attachment etc.
The problem all Soviet plants had and still have - zero paint is used inside buildings and zero money is used for creating good work environment. Im trying to change this and I'm surprized, how cheap it is actually to get good results.
One day I will make some pictures "before" and "after"

Also, actually all this old plants can be modernized or at least painted and fixed by the amount of scrap metal you can salvage from old piping and fixtures. Nowadays, one uses half kilogram of metal in places where in Soviet times 100kg was used with no reason. Metal was cheap and no thinking was involved.
One of my worker makes some pocket money cleaning the old piping and ventilation junk in our factory and he actually earns about $200 a day in holidays. Not bad, if you dont mind getting a little dirty.

I try to make some pictures.

Maathai · Apr 6, 2013

Maathai said:
I visited the link of Russian Workplant and found much old machines there. I think, here torpedoes were manufactured. All pictures were interesting and I enjoyed my visit.

Do you have more collection of Pics of this plant?

Load Cells

Abeship · Apr 6, 2013

That is truly fascinating. Wow...

mikola_p · Nov 1, 2013

In time of Soviet Union big plants were like "city in city". They had there own toolmaking shop, foundry, woodworking shop, department of building. Also each big plant had a hospital for workers, kindergarden for kids, sanatorium on the sea or in mountains.

Whatley · Nov 1, 2013

I never seem to see good pictures of Russia. It's like if Detroit became a country in the north pole.

And then I look at the numbers for the causalities in wars like World War 2... a very proud and noble country... a very raw deal on a lot of things.

BobRenz · Nov 1, 2013

Years ago, I had to trouble shoot some Swiss machinery, and all the drawings and wiring diagrams were in abbreviated German. It took me a while, with the help of a German/English dictionary, to figure out if I was looking at a horn, a light, a PB station, a plug-in module, whatever. Plus, the Swiss had different drawing conventions than the US did.

I can only sympathize with anyone trying to repair the controls on a Soviet machine tool without a Russian-speaker to help understand the drawings.

hjl4 · Nov 1, 2013

This is very interesting.
But sad to say, you don't have to go so far to see pictures of old abandoned plants like these. Hamilton,ON many abandoned steel plants. Sault Ste Marie, ON steel plant still in operation but no money to upgrade anything. Detroit, MI many manufacturing plants sitting idle. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Wisconsin and many other places. North Carolina lost the GE plant, I forget which town, but it looked similar when we moved the old machinery out of there.
We brought a Russian CNC gantry mill that was retrofitted with new electronics and refurbished from Hamilton,ON to Wisconsin. It took 5 semi loads to get it down there and the customs invoice was 5 million dollars. After they were done unloading, I asked the guys at the shop what they would use it for, they told me they were going to make the new Lincoln dashboard molds as its first job.
This mill came with 12 large binders with detailed drawings of every single part. You definitely could of made a new one with the detailed drawings.

Pictures of a large Russian Workplant

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