Colin Churcher 2020

  The TGV at Poitiers in which I had just ridden the cab. In 1993 I made a trip to France to discuss with the SNCF the safety aspects of the TGV. There was the possibility of a high speed train being developed for Canada and so I went to Paris with Peter Strachan, my Director of Equipment for an in depth look at the Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV). Much of the time was taken up with meetings in Paris but we also made a couple of visits outside in the cab. I rode in the cab from Paris Montparnasse to Vendome (midway between Tours, Le Mans and Orleans) This is the drivers position with the circular throttle in the middle and the timetable in the centre. The driver actually drives these trains. It was explained to us that the decision was taken to have the drivers control the trains rather than have them run automatically, In this way alertness is assured. There are no lineside signals with cab signaling. There are good warning systems that prevent overspeed and ensure that braking is co...

 My 1974 trip to the Soviet Union finished with a cab ride on the turbo train between Paris and Caen. This had me thinking about other "official" trips I have made in France.  On Monday 20 September 1971 I rode in the cab between Carcassonne and Toulouse A railcar and trailer at Carcassonne on a Quillan branch train . I travelled to Toulouse on train #5452 which left Carcassonne at 0913 and arrived at Toulouse precisely at 0958.   The driver stood up for the entire journey Passing through Castelnaudry at speed There is only one man on these locomotives.  On this trip the driver was from Nimes and the locomotive was BB9237, 5570 hp.  The acceleration is incredible. We were travelling at 140 km/hr (87.5 mph) within three minutes of the start.  140 km/hr is the maximum speed of these locomotives (or in fact 150 km/hr but the train vehicles are limited to 140 km/hr).  The speed of 140 km/hr was adhered to regardless of the gradient for the whole ...

 What a change was Paris from Moscow.  I rode an afternoon turbo train from Gare St. Lazare to Caen afternoon.  Having made arrangements beforehand with the SNCF. I was sent off by the stationmaster and accompanied by an Inspector who had an intimate knowledge of these trains The four car, 188 seat, set accelerated very smoothly. The engineer has two throttles, one for the turbine and one for the diesel engine, they could be controlled separately.   We passed the basilique at Lisieux at 130 km/hr.  Riding at 160 km/hr was very good.  At Caen I had a look at the train with Inspector Goic then it was off the the Cafe de la Gare where I had a beer with him and the engineer.  There was lots of laughing, joking, hand shaking etc., which was quite a change from the USSR. There was a last minute frantic search of a seat for me in the cab but we left Caen on time on the return.  In this direction we were at the diesel end and I could feel it changing gear...

Next morning we visited the Novosibirsk Railway Technical Institute followed by a guided tour of Novosibirsk and Akademgorodog.  We were amazed to learn that some 3,000 graduate railway engineers are produced annually, most of then being posted to positions at stations. There seems to be specialists in all aspects of railway work. We met a professor of railway snow protection who specialized in the types of plants and trees that should be used. Hump shunting has been studied sl as to become a high art. The Novosibirsk streetcar system uses single ended, bow collector cars with mainly women drivers. Akademgorodog "Academic City" is very interesting.  We visited the modern faculty buildings and passed through a small section of taiga with many birch trees.   To adjust the heat on our bus the driver had to stop it and make an adjustment outside. We then went straight to the Intourist lounge at the airport where Mr. Bevshenka, Vice President of the Eastern Siberian Railw...

W e overnighted in Moscow, then out to the airport Intourist lounge and were boarded separately on the plane for Novosibirsk with a stop at Kubishev. The meal was a cup of hot water with a tea bag, a cup of something sweet, a roll (no butter), a hard boiled egg, piece of cake and a slice of chocolate. We were met at Novosibirsk by the Vice President of one of the railways and given an excellent dinner while our bags were taken directly to our rooms. We started the next day with a discussion with railway officers then we went to the passenger car maintenance shop. This four-wheeled car took us out to the passenger car shop There is a good system for programming maintenance The Siberian We made an inspection of "The Siberian" a train which runs to Moscow.  There are even books provided for people to read. Throughout the shop there was a marked absence of people working on the cars.  In fact the floor was empty.  One of us happened to look up into one of the cars under repai...

  We spent the whole day and night in the train, our private car came from the Red Arrow service.  I traveled in the locomotive from Midvirgirgarsk to Kandabolka.  There is quite a lot of room.  A long handled throttle, radio, two brake valves on right hand side.  The only control that the second man has is a horn. The cab was very clean indeed as was the engine compartment.  There was a rear view mirror.  The sound insulation is excellent and crews can talk to each other easily. Good heating. The crew were well dressed with white shirt and black tie.  The countryside was similar to Eastern Ontario with some wooden fences etc.  There were many people working on the track, digging snow from around the posts each tenth of a kilometer.  We received train orders from a female dispatcher.  Heavy snow. In all, I traveled about 100 km (km 560 - km 459) in the cab in about 1½ hours and passed 8 trains on 11 sidings.  One...

  Our arrival at Murmansk I had a good night's sleep in the train which was about ten minutes late into Murmansk.  There is a very large railway and dock installation here. I saw two steam locomotives in steam.  First off we were taken for a sight seeing tour of the most northerly city in the world.  Some children were having a great time on a slide. After the tour we were taken to the locomotive running shed.  There were several locomotives ChS2T-364 and VL23-067 in multiple with VL23-195.  The unit numbers were in stainless steel.  One of our group got fresh paint on his hand, it hadn't even dried.   Tools specially arranged for our visit Having inspected some rolling stock we had lunch.  This was a three course meal with cold cuts, lamb soup, meat, coffee and fruit - with vodka. We then went to see a demonstration of snow clearing equipment and a CTC panel. It was then back for another meal with the table groaning under...