#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The technical armament of small repair and mechanical workshops had only three lathes, one of which half protruded into the street.
July 25, 1941 – the date of foundation of the Mechanical Plant. On this day, the mechanical repair, foundry and forging and boiler shops were united.
The Norilsk Combine, which was under construction, then got the opportunity to independently provide its subdivisions with spare parts, non-standard equipment, metal structures, rolled products and other engineering products.
The reason for the organization of the Mechanical plant was the war. Only the essentials were brought from the mainland, most of the equipment and spare parts were made locally from local materials. For example, welders handed over electrode cinders, they were used to make nails, which were not enough for builders.
The head of the Central Mechanical Repair Plant (CMRP), Vladimir Lebedinsky, who was also one of the first chroniclers of Norilsk, recalled that all the orders that the plant received were for individual parts:
“Very complex, sometimes impossible. I remember that a turbine with a capacity of 25 thousand kilowatts came from Germany on reparations. It had 52 damaged blades. Harkov Turbine Building Factory and Leningrad Metal Works plant refused to manufacture the missing blades, saying that it was impossible. So the blades were ordered to be made at the CMRP. They set a deadline of six months. And we made them!”
In 1953, the Central Mechanical Repair Plant got this name. So it is called today, being part of the Norilsk supporting complex.
In the last issue of the History Spot photo project we talked about the fact that Lomonosov and Anisimov streets were once a single entity.
Follow us on Telegram, VKontakte.
Text: Svetlana Samohina, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive