The Ludmilla has always struck me as somehow similar to the Brush Class 47. A posting in the DSO today has indicated that there is a connnection. Kestrel (HS4000), a prototype based on the class 47 design, was ultimately sold to Russia. The Russians made modifications to Kestrel, which ended up looking similar to the Ludmilla design.
Another possible influence on Ludmilla might have been the locomotives manufactured for Cuba by Brush based closely on the class 47 design. It is remarkable that such an order was authorised, only a year after the Cuban missile crisis.
http://www.derbysulzers.com/HS4000.html
http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_feature_423.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR_Class_132
Another possible influence on Ludmilla might have been the locomotives manufactured for Cuba by Brush based closely on the class 47 design. It is remarkable that such an order was authorised, only a year after the Cuban missile crisis.
http://www.derbysulzers.com/HS4000.html
http://www.class47.co.uk/c47_feature_423.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR_Class_132
