Nikolai Shchukin

Born Apr. 13 (25), 1848; died June 2, 1924. Russian scientist in railroad transport.

After graduating from the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology in 1873, Shchukin taught at the institute, becoming a professor in 1889. From 1883 to 1907, he taught at the Military Engineering Academy. In 1906, he became a teacher in the Advanced Courses for Women in St. Petersburg.

A number of steam locomotives were built according to Shchukin’s designs, including the 1–3–0 series N locomotives and 0–4–0 tank locomotives. Shchukin also designed, for example, passenger cars for the Nikolaevskaia Railroad (now called the Oktiabr’ Railroad), a freight car with a load capacity of 1,200 poody (about 20 tons), and the class 4 passenger car. Between 1897 and 1907, the world’s first kerosine pipeline, which extended from Baku to Batumi, was built according to Shchukin’s design and under his direction; it was converted to a petroleum pipeline in 1931. In 1922, Shchukin was put in charge of a technical council for the building of the first Soviet diesel locomotive, which was designed by Ia. M. Gakkel’.