Trams in Siberia

2008-07-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

Journey Home
The plan sounded very simple
SU 750 IKT to SVO depart 07:30 arrive 08:35 (time difference 5 hours) SU 241 SVO to LHR depart 11:05 arrive 12:10 (time difference 3 hours) and our cases would be booked through from Irkutsk to Heathrow.

This is what actually happened!
Breakfast at 05:15 was the only part of the journey that worked as planned.
On the bus at 06:00 we were told that 'bad weather' had delayed the inbound flight from Moscow and it was now expected to leave at 10:15.
Because the flight was delayed and we would miss our connection, the check in staff refused to check our bags to LHR insisting that we must collect them in Moscow. They told us that there were seats on an evening flight from Moscow but refused to re-book us on this, making all sorts of excuses. (I think we should have pushed harder for the tickets to be changed there and then but I was in a small minority - some of the group believing the stories about earlier alternatives via Prague).
Their were slightly fewer seats than people at the airport so we had two very long cups of tea to while away the time. The inbound flight arrived at 08:30. Had it been Ryanair and turned round in 25 mins we would have made the connection. Eventually the flight was called and after some confusion we found the departure gate. We then had to have our passports checked again and pass through security again.
There was the now expected delay between boarding and departure so we took off at about 10:45 and arrived Moscow shortly before 12:00.
We had been told to collect our luggage and then go to the Transfer Desk where a nice lady would offer us various alternative routes to London and complementary goodies.
Rubbish!
I collected our bags and Kath went straight to the desk before a queue built up. They gave her a pre-printed slip of paper with a counter number to go to in another building. Kath got there as quickly as she could but there were already queues at both windows. The rest of us had to carry our luggage to this building and then have it security checked yet again. All this in 30 degrees C and 100 percent humidity.
When we caught up with her, it seemed to be the right place but the queues were moving very slowly if at all. I enquired at a couple of other Aeroflot counters and despite a manager being found I was told to go away. Most of the rest of the group were sitting on their bags - there being very few seats.
Eventually Kath, by now joined by Peter Bannister, reached the front of the queue. The alternatives were the evening flight or tomorrow and because visa problems it had to be the evening flight. The pleasant woman behind the counter then had to alter each of 18 tickets by attaching a hand written slip and also enter details of the individual change into the computer system. This took a long time. Kath was then told to return the arrival building and go to a particular room where she would be expected and welcomed and where refreshments and a bus transfer to the International Terminal would be arranged.
This involved humping all our cases through security yet again.
The room was up a flight of stairs and on arrival she was told to go away. No! Come back in 5 minutes! After 7 minutes Kath now joined by Graham Feakins went back to the room and despite being told to go away they sat down and made it obvious that were not moving until something was done. All the tickets had to be collected again. The Babuska then labouriously typed a list of all our names ensuring that she only used one finger and then printed several A4 sheets on the slowest laser printer in the world. Kath and Graham were trying to keep a straight face. They were then told to take the papers and put us all on a brown Aeroflot Transit bus at 14:30. As there was a little time to spare Graham managed to establish that one document was for a meal and the other was for accomodation.
At about 14:20 a grey bus arrived and the driver nodded we Kath showed him the documents and Gostinya (or similar). The bus quickly filled up and being an airport transfer bus in Russia there was no luggage space.
It took about 15-20 minutes to reach the hotel which is situated near the International Terminal at the opposite side of the airport. I had an interesting conversation with a young man who had just been to Samara to see his parents but now lives in Italy.
At the hotel, the receptionist frowned at us and then inisited that she had to check all our passports. We were then given room keys and had a shower but it was so hot and humid that the benefit soon wore off.
There was a nice looking restaurant but this was not for us. Go outside, down a passageway and through a steel door to what looked like a staff canteen.
We had been told to check in at 18:00 so we caught the 17:30 shuttle bus. At 18:00 the check in counter number for London appeared on the board. But when we got there. guess what! Go away and come back in one hour. We were tired and pissed off and refused to do so.
Finally the plane took off and after the usual 'why I am bothering to serve you' crap service we had now come to expect from Aeroflot we arrived at Heathrow at 22:00 just 10 hours late.
Most people had missed their last buses and trains home. I had to stay awake and drive up the M1.
I think Peter Bannister summed it up with comment 'Aeroflot have shiny new planes but underneath they are awful'.
1. The airport transfer bus with the gangway bloacked by luggage.
2. The self service canteen.
3. The meal was reasonable.
4. The entrance to the canteen.
5. By paying nearly £5 for half a litre of beer we were allowed in the posh bar for a final drink of Siberian Crown.
So now we are home. Did we enjoy the trip - Yes. Would we go again - Yes (sad isn't it).

2008-07-23T05:23:00.000-07:00

Baikal 6
1 & 2. It was well after 7 before we reached our the end of the line.
3. Steam engine on display.
4. This boat took us across the source of a river and back to bus for Irkutsk. We arrived back at about 22:00 - a long but enjoyable day.

2008-07-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Baikal 5
1 & 2. There are very few settlements around Lake Baikal although mass tourism may change this.
3 & 4. For some reason we were invited to walk through this tunnel. Perhaps it was simply because tunnels are very rare on Russian railways.

2008-07-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Baikal 4
There were four type of accomodation on the train.
1. Backpacker.
2. Middle Class.
3. First Class.
4. Locomotive Class for which a small supplement was payable to the driver.

2008-07-23T05:08:00.000-07:00

Baikal 3

2008-07-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

Baikal 2
From time to time the train stopped and everyone got off to look at the scenery.

2008-07-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

Lake Baikal 1
For the last day we had a full day excursion to Lake Baikal by train. The electric multiple unit train left just after 08:00 and travelled eastwards through the moutains along the Trans Siberian. At about 10:30 a diesel engine was put on the back and this then dragged the train on a lakeside branch line that has been re-opened for tourist purposes.
1. The train departure board at Irkutusk. Our was train 7038 - don't forget that all Russian trains run on Moscow time although this was 5 hours earlier than local time.
3-4. Kath bought a smoked fish for about 60p. It was very very nice.

2008-07-23T04:39:00.000-07:00

Angarsk 3
1. These rear engined buses were made in Lviv in western Ukraine.
2. These petrol engined midibuses are very common.
3. Don't know anything about this one.
4. Finally my favourite type of Russian bus.

2008-07-23T04:34:00.000-07:00

Angarsk 2
1. Most trams are in colourful advertising liveries. It is hard to imagine that there was no commercial advertising in the USSR.
2. Town centre.
3. This timetable lists all departures from the outer end of routes 11 and 5.
4. This KTM 8 is going to the depot - did you see the little card at the bottom of the windscreen?

2008-07-23T04:29:00.000-07:00

Angarsk 1
The tramway opened in 1953 to link industrial and residential areas. Again the routes to the industrial areas are being cut back and the service on some of the remaining routes is very infrequent.
1. Pink KTM 5 built in 1989.
2. Route 1 no longer goes to the factory known as AGTsK.
3. Destination information simply consists of a rather small service number in the front window.
4. A KTM 8.

2008-07-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

Usolye 3
1. Kath and Graham Feakins enjoy a beer. It was very nice and cost about 40p a half litre.
2. Street vendors.
3. Ian Longworth rounding up the lost sheep.
4. Too much beer or lack of sleep?

2008-07-23T04:15:00.000-07:00

Usolye 2
1. In addition to second hand western European buses there are also others from south east Asia. This one came from Korea.
2. This is the only horse drawn vehicle we photographed. They are very rare now (Chemical factory in the background).
3. Russian bus.
4. Our coach keeping cool under the trees.

2008-07-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

Usolye Sibirskoye 1
This small town tramway was opened in February 1967 to link residential areas to the chemical factory. Nowadays the service in the residential areas is good (no minibuses) but the outer end of the factory route has closed.
1. A new KTM 19.
2. The chemical factory car park can be seen behing KTM 5 012.
3. Rear view of a KTM 19.
4. A KTM 8.

2008-07-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

Irkutsk 3
1. Russian bus.
2. These minibuses compete with tram route 5.
3 & 4. Town centre scenes.

2008-07-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

Irkutsk 2
Irkutsk tramways opened in 1947. Irkutsk was the only tramway we visited to use the old Soviet pre-payment ticket system - they also had the highest fares. Both the drivers and kiosks sold tickets. The kiosks offered no discount so the drivers sold a lot of tickets. This ticket system was abandoned in most places because of widespread fare evasion. Irkutsk counter this by very frequent ticket inspections in the central area.
I didn't take many pictures here because I was half asleep.
1. Typical tram street.
2. Some of the town centre stops are dangerous because of impatient traffic.
3. The right hand tram has a keep your distance arrow on the back but Russian drivers must squeeze through a gap 1mm wider than their cars.
4. There was a very nice new bar behind this tram.

2008-07-23T02:05:00.000-07:00

Irkutsk 1
Parts of Irkutsk airport are closed for renovation so the arrivals area is a small room with a small circular luggage conveyer in the corner. Unfortunately another flight had arrived just before us so we couldn't get near the conveyer. The baggage arrived in the opposite order. So the conveyer was full of our bags that we couldn't reach because of the solid wall of Russians in front of us. Chaos ensued with bossy old women shouting instructions and stopping and starting the conveyor.
We were met by an Intourist guide who had also been up for most of the night trying to find out when our flight would arrive. She confirmed our suspicions that the airport had been open all night. The bad weather story was completely untrue.
We arrived at the hotel at about 13:00 just 24 hours after we had left Barnaul. We were allocated room 328. Up until now all our hotel rooms had been either OK or good, many of them being two pokey old rooms converted into one spacious one. Room 328 was a traditional Soviet room. The only modernisation being new towels. It then took us another half hour to get the room changed for what we had paid for.
1. Typical old style hotel corridor.
2. Room 328.
3. Room 501.
4. The hotel is near the river bank. The railway station can be seen on the far side.

2008-07-23T01:30:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 8
The travel plan was for a Sunday afternoon coach drive to Novosibirsk with time in the city centre for a meal prior to a 22:00 flight to Irkutsk.
Now here is what actually happened.
The coach driver had been told to drive to the centre of Novosibisk arriving around 16:00 and then leave at 19:00 for the airport. He was a miserable git and obviously resented having to give up his Sunday afternoon to drive load of foreigners around. On arrival at the police check point at the outskirts of Novosibirsk he asked for directions (they never know the way). He then set off in the direction of the airport not the city centre. Ian Longworth rang Intourst but the driver took no notice of their reminder of the agreed agenda and got lost again. It was now 16:30 and I think he said there wasn't time to divert through the city. Intourist contacted the coach company and the driver then refused their instruction to divert via the city. He then got lost and drove about 12 km alongside the river but on the wrong bank. He then had to drive 10 km or so back to the nearest bridge and then simply dumped us in the airport car park and pissed off.
Fortunately there was a bar at the far side of the car park serving beer and kebabs and it was a glrious evening with bright sunshine so the wait was not as tedious as it might have been.
We checked and boarded an Airbus operated by a Russian airline known as S7.
Departure time came and went. And then an announcement that roughly translated was 'everybody out - delay of a least 2 hours - bad weather'. With no assisstance or advice from anyone we made our way to the landside departure area and sat down.
23:30 'delay for another 3 hours' and some bottled water was produced.
02:00 'meal available' - you've guessed it - the in flight meals were handed out.
05:00 06:30 departure appeared on the screens.
We then had to go through all the check in procedures all over again to get airside.
07:00 ish we boarded the plane. We then sat there for another hour or so while they told us lies about bad weather. I think we left at about 08:00 for a two hour flight plus two hours time difference giving an eta of 12:00.

2008-07-23T01:27:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 7
1. Trolleybus route map.
2. Tram route map.
3. Our hotel room looked out at rather impreesive regional goverment offices.
4. Trolleybuses passed the hotel.

2008-07-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 6
1. Lunch
2. The Intourist coach then took us to the outer end of the longest tram route. The guide was very worried that we would all get lost.
3. City limit sign on the right.
4. The side destination boards are a hinged and can be turned in a similar way to the 'tin bibles' used by West Yorkshire and Eastern Counties many years ago.

2008-07-23T01:16:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 5
4 views of the railway museum.

2008-07-23T01:09:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 4
1. Next the far more interesting railway museum which as I understood it was a purely local initiative. It is housed in the admin building of the local railway workshop.
2. These guys will keep you safe.
3. Later we were served tea and bisuits.
4. Ian Longworth siging the visitors book.

2008-07-23T01:02:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 3
1. Sadly this preserved car/party tram was being repaired and in typical Russian manner they refused the promised depot visit.
2. We were taken to the Museum of Road Construction instead.
3. Interesting architecture.

2008-07-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 2

1. We had a city tour on this childrens/training tram.

2. The lady on the right described the city and the history of the tramway. The Intourist interpreter is on the left.

3. Here we sit.

4. Group photograph.
There had been several plans to build at tramway before The Great Patriotic War. Construction was started in 1946 and the first tram route opened in 1947 using second hand 4 wheel cars from Leningrad. In 1952 the first Russian standard 4 wheel metal bodied KTM 1 cars and trailers were delivered. In 1968 the first Tatra T3s arrived. The undertaking now has 2,600 employees and operates 10 services.

2008-07-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

Barnaul 1
Barnaul is a city of 604,000 inhabitants with quite a large tramway operating some 300 Tatra cars. There are no Russian built trams with the newest trams being delivered in 1990. Tatras have better acceleration and braking than KTMs and hills are descended at normal speeds. The service level is very good with 5 minute frequencies on Sunday mornings on route 1. Both the trams and the track are maintained to reasonable standards. The T3s seemed less jerky at low speed than in many places leaving me to wonder if they have a local modification.
1 & 2. There are two types of Tatra; round ones and square ones. 1075 is a T3 of 1975 and 3152 is a T3-M of 1988. (I suspect that 1075 may be newer and second hand from Moscow)

2008-07-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

Biysk 4
1. Two trams and a dog.
2. There are a handfull of KTM 8s in Biysk.
3. The main town centre junction at Tsentralnyi Rynok (Central Square).
4. Trip hazards.

2008-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

Biysk 3
Biysk is described as an isolated outpost on the overland route to China. It has an effective but complicated small town tramway with very little mini bus competition.
1. Coupled KTM 5s are in regular service in the central area. Note the digital service number.
2. Timetables are displayed at most stops - this is most unusual for Russia.
3. The conductress is showing Kath her mobile phone. It had an MP3 player, radio, camera and finally a phone. She took both of our photographs.
4. The opposite end of the town. An area with lots of dilapidated wooden houses without plumbing (electrically powered standpipes at street corners). Bob Cross had joined us and the crew were warning him that this is 'a bad area' where people from 'the camps' now live. I was surprised how frank they were but Bob says this is usually the case now.

2008-07-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

Biysk 2
1. The journey continues with all the usual rural hazards.
2. There was a short stretch of Australian style unsealed road.
3. Road repairs.

2008-07-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

Biysk 1
The longest coach journey was on Fri 11th July from Novokuzneck to Barnaul via Biysk, some 400 km. It was a comfortable Chinese built Sun Long about one year old with two friendly and co-operative drivers. My understanding is that the coach is based in Kemerovo and had left at 04:00 and driven 200 km to pick us up.

1. A road side pee and cigarette break. (I had been dozing with my glasses pushed back over my head when the coach stopped. I got off, peed, got on and we had set off before I realised I hadn't got my glasses.)
2. Siberia is sparsely populated and the main roads often bypass the villages but we stopped for a more formal break in this village.
3. We parked alongside two local buses which were also having a mid-morning break.
4. Group members including me without glasses in the foreground.
5. Locals returning to their bus which also came from Novosibirsk. It is going to Zdrinsk which isn't on my map.

2008-07-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

Novokuzneck 2
1. We saw very few of the Hungarian built Ikarus buses such as this one.
2. Interior of a KTM 8. Whilst the Soviet tram designs were very standardised some operators made small changes to meet their circumstances. In Novokuzneck they had placed a wire mesh grill behind the front door and operated the trams with this door open on warm days. The wire mesh grill was fixed in place so the door could not be used by passengers. (Enlarge the picture to see the details.)
3. A closer view of the wire mesh behind the curtain.
4. A trolleybus being towed back to the depot following a power failure.

2008-07-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Novokuzneck 1
Novokuzneck is the capital on the Kuzbass industrial region and was founded in 1932 with the first tramway opening in June 1934. Most of the trams serve the giant KMK steel works where it looks as though a new turning circle is about to be constructed . There is a very long route to Tashtagolskaya with a running time of just over an hour from the centre and there is also an isolated route 10.
1. We thought that this number 71 bus would have taken us from the hotel to the isolated route 10 but it went beyond to a new housing development instead. The conductress thought were all crazy but se ensured that we got off at the right stop on the way back.
2. A typical scene on route 10.
3. The town centre terminus of the long routes 6 and 8. The yellow boxes contain point motors.
4. Kath poses with a tram crew.

2008-07-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Prokopyevsk 4
1. KTM 8 number 253 of 1993 (ex Osinikki 52).
2. The plaque states that this is a KTM 1 but I think that having 5 side windows it is a KTM 2 built between 1961 and 1963.
3. Industrial landscape.
4. 264 of 1985.

2008-07-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

Prokopyevsk 3
One of the two steep hills that I saw. The trams descend very slowly and there is a colour light signalling system to ensure that there is only one tram on the hill at a time.

2008-07-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

Prokopyevsk 2
1. Works trams such as this rail carrier are a common sight.
2. Elektromashina terminus for routes 1, 3 and 6 with departures every few minutes.
3. BT1 terminus. It takes about an hour to get here using two trams at a cost of less than 40p..
4. There are a lot of quite modern centre poles on this tramway.

2008-07-20T08:37:00.000-07:00

Prokopyevsk 1
Prokopyevsk is described as a sprawling industrial region with a vast tract of undulating landscape dotted with coal mines and heavy industrial plants, many of which are now closed. The first tram route was opened in 1936 and the present network is similar to Katowice in Poland but with much more frequent and reliable services.
1. KTM 5 number 264 of 1985 at Gorkogo.
2. The same terminus showing the traction pole leaning at a crazy angle.
3. The interior of a KTM5. Note the missing seat.
4. The rear door mechanism.

2008-07-20T07:31:00.000-07:00

Osinniki 5
1. This very simple spring mechanism was used on all the points that I saw.
2. There are very few RVZ 6s left in service so this 1984 example might be my last.

2008-07-20T00:51:00.000-07:00

Osinikki 3
There is quite a steep hill in Osinikki which the trams descend very slowly (there have been several serious runaways in the former Soviet Union). At the top of the hill there are traffic lights to ensure that uphill trams don't have to restart.
1. An RVZ 6 slowly descending.
2. 58 is an LM 93 of 1984. Control equipment occupies the first window bay.
3. An RVZ 6 coming up.
4. 40 at the top of the hill.

2008-07-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

Osinniki 4
1. Members of the group.
2. 40 joining the main line from the station branch.
3 & 4. 37 leaving the main for the station branch.

2008-07-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

Osinniki 1
Ossiniki is a declining coal mining town with one main route and a single track branch to the station. The tramway opened as recently as November 1960.
1. 66 is an LM 99 car built in St Petersburg in 2000.
2. 40 is an RVZ 6 built in Riga (now in Latvia) in 1987.
3. The railway station terminus - the station is down a footpath to the left.
4. Leaving the station.

2008-07-20T00:13:00.000-07:00

Kemerovo 4
1. A coupled set of KTM 8Ms dating from 1995. The drivers here always walked round their trams at each terminus. Here she is adjusting the track brakes.
2 & 3. LM99s built in St Petersburg. These cars have a low back platform for wheelchair access. Presumably to prevent 'pushchair wars' that sometime break out on UK low floor buses, handrails have been installed between the back platform and the rest of the tram. The back platform is thus evectively reserved for disabled access.
4. KTM 1 cars were built between 1947 and 1960.

2008-07-19T23:57:00.000-07:00

Kemerovo 3
1. This picture shows the attractive uniform worn by the drivers.
2, 3, 4. Typical suburban roads.

2008-07-19T23:51:00.000-07:00

Kemerovo 2
1. The outer end of the long route 3 is quite rural.
2. Overhead inspection.
3. A point motor with the top cover removed.
4. Roadside tramway.

2008-07-19T23:39:00.000-07:00

Kemerovo 1
Kemevero is an industrial town where the first tram route opened in May 1940. More recently an impressive new bridge has been built over the river Tomsk including an express tramway. It was the only tramway we visited to provide uniforms for the drivers but not for the conductors.
On Sunday afternoon we travelled by coach to Kemerovo with the driver getting lost several times before he found our accomodation in country hotel some 12 km away. It looks very nice but the service was poor and the prices very expensive by local standards. It seemed to be used by the local 'Mr bigs' to show off their wealth and shiny cars.
1. The hotel.

2. It took about an hour for the group to be checked in and allocated rooms.

3. On Monday morning we caught this bus into town. The fare was 20p for 12 km.
4. Kemerovo station.

2008-07-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

Tomsk 3
1. Gas bus.
2. 290 of 1987. Note the insulators to protect the trolleybus wiring.
3. 307 again giving a better view of the points and home made crossings.
4. This KTM has been fitted with a digital service number display.

2008-07-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

Tomsk 2
1. 307 being pushed towards a town centre siding.
2. KTM-8M of 1998 at the town centre terminus.
3. New KTM 19 323. The grey box on the left of the rear of the tram is the point motor.
4. KTM 5 270 of 1986 in the same location. Note the centre door sliding mechanism is exposed.

2008-07-19T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tomsk 1
On Saturday morning, 5th July we travelled by coach to Tomsk, a journey of some 300 km allowing for the times that the driver got lost.
Tomsk is a much older town than Novosibirsk but despite this the the first tram route opened on 25th April 1949. Only three tram routes were running in July 2008 because of bridge repairs that are nearly complete with some well laid new track. A third route was only running in one direction because of short term sewer repairs.
1. This hotel is one of the many old buildings that have been restored. The new tram track is in the foreground.
2. Bob Hall found this shop which sold draught beer in new plastic bottles. I am holding up my choice which had a more attractive pump label than taste.
3. There are quite a lot of traditional wooden buildings - some of which are being demolished to makeway for new developments.
4. KTM 5 number 305 of 1988 on a typical Russian 'tram street'.

2008-07-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 9
Russian road traffic law requires that any vehicles involved in an accident must not be moved until the police have arrived and inspected the scene and taken various measurements. This results in horrendous congestion.
1. Note the the current collector has not been removed from the live overhead wire.
2. It looked as though the tram driver had misjudged the speed and outswing of the lorry.
3. When the police had completed their assessment the tram behind was coupled to the damaged car. The young lady with her back to the camera was the driver of the second tramcar.
4. She then had to push the tram through the scrum of traffic on a circuitous route back to the depot.
One thing that has not changed since Soviet times is that the vast majority of tram drivers are women and all the conductors I saw were also female. On the other hand bus driving continues to be man's work and anyone can have a go at driving trolleybuses.
Also as in Soviet times trams and trolleybuses have common management, buses and metros have completely separate managements.

2008-07-19T03:20:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 8 - street scenes.
1. This KTM 5 had a Russian Eagle headboard.
2. We waited nearly an hour for the infrequent route 8 which was being operated by one tram.
3. Refurbished KTM 5.
4. New KTM 19.

2008-07-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 7
1. One of three new KTM 19 cars 'having a rest' in the depot yard along an RVZ 6.
2. A refurbished KTM 5.
3. Paintshop.

2008-07-19T03:11:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 6
In the Soviet Union each tramway received a few new trams each year according to the various 5-year plans etc. In 1992 all of this came to an end and only now are regular delivieries being resumed. The local tramway workshops have therefore had to maintain and rebuild the trams as best they could. The Novosibirsk workshops were the tidiest I have ever seen in the former Soviet Union.

2008-07-19T03:00:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 5
Many tramways and trolleybus systems in the former Soviet Union were built in the 1930s and 1950s in very difficult conditions and they often have small museums in the admin offices to commemorate this. Novosibirsk is no exception - the first tram route opened in November 1934.
1. A typical display.
2. Maps.
3. Self service ticket machines and ticket cancellers of the Soviet era. Novosibirsk in common with most other Russian tramways now has conductors issuing simple paper tickets.
4. A representation of a tram driver during The Great Patriotic War (WW II). The house brick was to keep her feet warm. There were braziers at each terminus and warms bricks were placed on the unheated trams.

2008-07-19T02:25:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 4
Novsibirsk was the only city we visited to have a metro. This has resulted in the tramway being split into two unconnected sections on either side of the river Ob. On the right bank two tram routes have been closed in the last year and I suspect the others will follow. The trams often run down the centre of wide straight roads that are now teeming with second-hand right-hand drive cars from Japan. The widely spaced stops are situated next to pedestrian crossings and drivers only open the tram doors when lights are at red for the traffic. On the left bank the tramway acts as a metro feeder.
Following the coach tour we had a very nice lunch and had some time to explore the right bank. Next moring we had a morning tour of the left bank on the party tram followed by a depot visit and lunch in the depot canteen.
1. A typical Russian tram. This is a KTM 5 built as recently as 1990.
2. The interior of the party tram.
3. Bob Cross (who I last saw at Crich in 1966) acted as interpreter.
4. Inside the depot yard.

2008-07-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 3
The more prosperous towns and cities all had large beer tents.
1. This guy was proud of having been to Dublin. He was also rather drunk and upset a former KGB type by talking to us about the former USSR in a loud voice.
2. This lady was proud of her pet rat.

2008-07-19T01:46:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 2
1 & 2. The passenger vehicles at the railway museum were locked but they also had display panels showing pictures of their interiors. I think this is a good idea.
3. As in other parts of the former USSR, restored (and new) churches are very much part of the scene.
4. Typical Soviet architecture - in this case a theatre.

2008-07-19T01:35:00.000-07:00

Novosibirsk 1
The group left Heathrow on Wed 2nd July at 13:30 and travelled to Novosibirsk, the regional capital, via Moscow arriving at 09:00 next morning.
1. The flight from Moscow to Novosibirsk was on a Soviet era IL86.
2. On arrival most of us slept for most of a city tour before being taken to the railway museum.
3. Tractors based on American designs played a key role in opening up Siberia in the 1930s.
4. This rocket launcher is exactly the same age as me.

2008-07-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

A train ride to see Lake Baikal.
1. Me standing at the back of the train.
2. Kath carrying out an informal risk assessment before getting off the train.
3. A small supplementary fare was paid directly to the driver to ride here.
4. The light at the end of the tunnel.
Internet connections in Siberia were both slow and expensive so it was not possible to send pictures home on a daily basis.
We finally arrived back at LHR at 22:00 last night just 10 hours late. I will prepare some more pictures over the weekend - watch this space!