JSC "Torzhok Carriage Works": history, description, products

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

JSC "Torzhok Carriage Works" is an enterprise of the machine-building sector, specializing in the production of railway rolling stock. The main products are electric and combined trains, as well as special-purpose cars. In 2016, bankruptcy proceedings were initiated against the company.

Creation

The history of the Torzhok Carriage Works (TVSZ) begins in 1916, when the 1st Root Park of the Railway Troops was formed in the vicinity of the city of Torzhok, Tver province. The purpose of the enterprise was to supply the troops fighting in the First World War with the necessary goods, repair of rolling stock, and manufacture of inventory.

Power of the Soviets

After the revolution, the communist government did not close the enterprise. On the contrary, using the example of the Torzhok Carriage Works, companies of railway troops were created in neighboring regions. In the 1930s, productioncapacities were reconstructed and expanded due to new workshops. The team has mastered the assembly of rolling stock for narrow gauge railways:

• motor trucks;
• light stations;
• rail layers;
• workshops;
• passenger cars;
• platforms, railcars.

In the Great Patriotic War, Torzhok was wiped off the face of the earth. Factory workers who returned from evacuation after the war had to rebuild the Torzhok Carriage Works. However, already in 1946, TVSZ reached the pre-war production level.

In 1958, the specialization of the enterprise changed. In its workshops, they began to master the assembly of special cars for government services, the USSR Ministry of Defense, the space and nuclear industries. In 1963, the team manufactured a transport and installation unit for the Proton launch vehicle. A feature of the plant was small-scale and single-piece production of unique equipment, which subsequently had a detrimental effect on the financial condition.

Market Laws

With the collapse of the USSR, the Torzhok Carriage Works actually lost orders from its main employer - the state. The young Russian Federation still had to re-form state structures, and private companies were not interested in TVSZ products due to their specifics.

The administration urgently began to look for a way out. It was decided to convert part of the capacities for the production of general civilian products. The choice fell on the assembly of electric trains of the ET-2 series, previously supplied by the Riga plant. By the mid-1990s, the plant was producingone 10-car train. The products were in demand. Engineers of the Torzhok Carriage Works have significantly improved the design, increased the comfort and performance of electric trains. In total, three modifications were produced:

• Suburban ET-2M.
• Extra comfort ET-2ML.
• Energy saving ET-2EM.

In 1993-2007, 100 electric trains of the ET-2 series were delivered to customers. A real engineering breakthrough was the creation of electric trains of the ET-4A modification, equipped with asynchronous traction drives.

Special cars

In 2003, after a long break, the factory workers received orders for the production of special-purpose cars from a number of government departments. The largest percentage of products was intended for the Ministry of Atomic Energy, the Ministry of Defense, the Russian Post, Russian Railways, and the Bank of Russia. Among them:

• Escort cars of modification 15Т91.
• Heat-protected special wagons 60M2B, which allow transporting important goods accompanied by a service team. A special feature is the high self-sufficiency of personnel accommodation, the ability to operate in the widest temperature range (from -40…+50 ᵒC) and a 15-meter retractable ramp for loading/unloading even on unprepared platforms.
• SM541 laboratory cars that allow monitoring the state of the railway track and soil. Autonomy - 15 days.

Some products were supplied in armored version.

Torzhok Carriage Works: Bankruptcy

In 2003-2012, the enterprise carried out large-scale work on the reconstruction and expansion of capacities. Universal expensive AMADA laser cutting systems, high-performance guillotines, a Vipros coordinate turret press, CNC metalworking machines, auto-welding equipment were purchased.

Consistently modernized and introduced new workshops:

• CHROME
• Frame body.
• Assembly-frame.
• Mechanical.
• Powder coating.
• Painting.

In 2012, about 13,000 m2 of hardware production site was put into operation2, with a capacity of 768 trolleys annually.

The above activities required large investments. The plant got into debt, which the administration was unable to pay. Sberbank, to which the company owed about 950 million rubles, demanded that TVSZ be declared bankrupt. Currently, the company has suspended production activities, introduced external management.