The VL8 ()is an electric two-unit mainline DC freight locomotive used in the Soviet Union, still operated today by the state-owned Russian rail company RZhD and Ukrainian Railways. The initials VL are those of Vladimir Lenin (), after whom the class is named.
History The VL8 series was built as a replacement for the aging VL22м which, by 1953, no longer met Soviet rail requirements. The VL8s were manufactured at the Tbilisi Electric Locomotive Works (ТЭВЗ) between 1957–1967, as well as the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant.
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See also Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Plant Russian Railway Museum Museum of the Moscow Railway (Moscow Rizhsky station) History of rail transport in Russia
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