#4346
PKP class ET42
🇷🇺 Soviet Union ·built by Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant· from 1978· locomotive class
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3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. ET42-030 PKPC Jasiona - Gogolin: Petr Štefek· CC BY-SA 3.0 cz
- 2. Elektrowóz ET42-029 w lokomotywowni Kobylepole w Poznaniu 24 listopada 2019: Wolsztyn· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 3. ET42-05-A (24313591577): Hugh Llewelyn from Keynsham, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Soviet-made ET42 (also manufactured as NEWZ 112E) was PKP's (Polish National Railways) most powerful standard gauge electric freight locomotive. Due to its provenance, it is often referred to by its nickname of Rusek (Polish derogatory word for a native of Russia) or Czapajew (Chapayev) (Russian: Чапаев).
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 48 years ago, in 1978.
- 4.5 MW is about 53 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 27 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 30.9 m long: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 47 years (1978–2025).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1978–1982
- in service from
- 1978
- retired
- 2025
- status
- retired
- number built
- 50
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇷🇺 Soviet Union
- builders
- Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant
- designer
- VElNII
- operators
- Polish State Railways, PKP Cargo
- top speed
- 100 km/h
- power
- 4.5 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 3,000 V DC
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′+Bo′Bo′
- length
- 30.9 m
- weight
- 164 t
- nicknames
- Rusek, Czapajew (Chapayev)
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q929018, Wikipedia: PKP class ET42 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.