trolleybus bodies simply were stored in plant warehouses. In order to get out of this situation, Anton Ivanovich Livinenko, chief engineer of the Moscow Tram Council, suggested to use these bodies in tram production. These bodies were converted into the trams very with help from the Transportation Overhaul Plant in Sokolniki. This re-engineering found to be very successful. In comparison with MTB-82 Trolleybus, the capacity was increased to 120, 55 of which were seated. In early 1947 similarly with MTB-82 trolleybus, this model of tram became the MTV-82 tram. MTV-82 in Non-Revenue Service The legendary endurance and reliability of MTV-82 trams makes them ideal for use in non-revenue service. After being retired or removed from passenger service, many MTV-82 trams were converted into service trams. They could be used for towing other trams, as hoppers, freight trams, etc. In the cities of Odessa, and Zaparozh'je a couple of MTV-82 trams were rebuilt into unique double ended (2 cab) version. In Odessa, such 2-cab trams were in use on the picturesque single track route #19. In Zaparozh'e they were used on route #5. Survivors Three MTV-82s survive. Moscow and Ekaterinburg have two operable MTV-82 in their tramway systems. Nizhny Novgorod tram & trolley museum has a third operable MTV-82 in its tramcar collection. These MTV-82s do not serve as usual tramcars, but can be hired for city excursions (but this is quite a long, formal and bureaucratic procedure in today's Russia). A group of tramway enthusiasts from many cities of Russia with guests from Estonia and United States hired Nizhny Novgorod Museum MTV-82 for their meeting in 2004. Odessa Transport Authority found unique solutions to existing MTV tramcars in their possession. One of them is car #914, which was converted into an open "retro-style" excursion tram. Its design was modified to commemorate Pullmans of the early 20th century, along with historical dark-red livery. Car #914 can be seen running both along the "excursion routes" and Route 5, the most picturesque tram route in Odessa. See also Tram Soviet Tramcar LM-49 References External links MTV-82 on Nizhny Novgorod TramSite Soviet tram vehicles