Parade Tracks

Army parades are a pretty big deal. You have to make sure everything happens absolutely perfectly, and that takes a lot of preparation. Even something as mundane as a track link has to be looked over.

"For four high-speed BT-7 tanks participating in the May 1st parade, issue 8 small-link assembled tracks, tested at the factory. Send the tracks to military warehouse #404, making sure they arrive no later than April 1st, 1940."

"Act #010 on April 6th, 1940
Composed by representatives:

• From the customer:
• Military Engineer 3rd grade comrade G.A. Alekseev
• From plant #540 QA:
• comrade Povkhovtsev
• From plant #540:
• Senior Engineer V.N. Vasiliev
• Senior Engineer I.F. Nastek

to signify that plant #540 produced and tested special 4 track sets. The conditions of testing were as follows:

1. Driving on a stone road for 20 km at the average speed of 50-55 kph.
2. After 20 km, 3 braking procedures were performed from ful speed at 3rd gear (1800 RPM) until full stop. The braking path was 15-18 meters long.
3. Each track in total travelled on a road for 40 km, including 20 km in city driving conditions.

Afterwards, the tracks were disassembled, and after cleaning and washing, each track link was inspected with a 3x magnifying glass. Track links without cracks or other defects affecting robustness were deemed acceptable and marked with green or red paint. From those track links, 4 sets of tracks were assembled, including 8 flat tracks and 8 tracks with horns. The track pins were splinted anew. The tracks were accepted by QA and sealed. Each track has a mark /0/ on the end."