Dec/25

The World’s Only Lenin on Wheels

No comments · Posted by Sergei Rzhevsky in Art, Entertainment, Funny

The monument to Vladimir Lenin on the grounds of the October Railway depot, known simply as “Lenin on Wheels,” is located near Leningradsky Station in Moscow (Komsomol’skaya Square, 3/36).

Mounted on a railway bogie, it is one of the first monuments to Lenin in Moscow and the only monument to Lenin on wheels in the world. Lenin on Wheels on Google Maps. Photos by: babs71.

In preparation for the 8th anniversary of the October Revolution, railway workers proposed erecting a monument to Vladimir Lenin at the depot. This idea received strong support.

During off-hours, railroad workers were busy crafting a pedestal from railway components. The design was created by Yakovlev, head of the Fifth Traction Section. According to the plan, the monument was not only to be able to move along the railway but also to rotate around its own axis, for which a special lever was provided.

Workers raised money for the sculpture by collecting scrap metal and working overtime repairing railway cars. However, once the funds were collected, it became clear that the anniversary was too close.

It was then decided to install the sculpture taken from the Leningradsky Station lobby made by the sculptor I. A. Mendelevich (1887-1952). Later, a more monumental sculpture was erected at the station.

The monument is made of plaster and tinted to look like bronze. Lenin stands full-length on a high pedestal. His left hand is clenched into a fist and rests on a column, while his right hand is in his trouser pocket.

The pedestal is made from welded locomotive connecting rods, gear shifters, reversers, and worm gears, and rests on four railway wheels from a decommissioned tender.

Attached to the pedestal is a metal plaque with the inscription: “To Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Erected by workers of the locomotive and carriage repair shop of the 5th traction section of the October Railway on November 5, 1925.”