In February 1974 I spent a couple of weeks with a delegation of Canadian railway specialists on a visit to look at Soviet railway operation in winter. The delegation was lead by Ross Walker CNR Chief of Transportation and there were two other representatives from Canadian National and two from Canadian Pacific. All in all operations, equipment and engineering were well represented . I was the Canadian government representative.
Before departure I had gone through a stern lecture from the RCMP to be followed by a grilling at the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa. I had to fight get their grudging permission for our group to take pictures of the Soviet railways. I had with me a new camera. Unfortunately, I subsequently found out that the light meter was not working correctly and most of my slides were under exposed. It is a pity that digital photography was not available then.
We flew to Moscow via Paris and spent the first day getting our bearings.
Moscow Streetcars were very much in evidence. I noticed several different types of pantograph, diamond, bow, and the more modern hinged type.
There was a not very friendly den mother stationed on each floor of the hotels at which we stayed. We had been told to expect that our rooms would be bugged.
After meeting with the head of the Soviet delegation we went out to the Railway Central Scientific Research Institute at Cherbinka, some 20 miles from central Moscow.
The Institute had a large test loop together with several laboratories. In one preparation shed was the Brush Kestrel, the HS4000, which was purchased from the UK some time ago. I remember seeing it on test during my time on British Railways. The electronics were good but not satisfactory for Soviet conditions and there isn't much room in the cab.
We visited the diesel test shop, the electric shop (squirrel cage motor), traction motor lab., car shop, metals shop and brake laboratory, then rode around the loop. Every night they run a train of sand to achieve 1,000 km per night - very heavy density - to assess wear on track. All rails in the track were tested before and after use for content, flaws etc. Everybody exhibited a lot of pride in the job and everything was spotless.
That evening Mr. Pashinin, the leader of the Soviet delegation, took us to the theatre in the Kremlin after giving us a brief walking tour of the area. The Kremlin theatre is used as a convention centre which will seat 6,000. We saw the Bolshoi Company dance Don Quixote by Minkus. During the first interval we went upstairs to a banquet room which covered the entire theatre.
After the performance there was quite a lesson in crowd control at the cloakroom. While the first group were gathering their coats the rest were held back by a chain barrier. When the barrier was dropped the resulting rush was something like the storming of the Bastille.
We then moved to the Leningrad station (Moscow) and boarded our private car on the rear of the Leningrad overnight train which left on time at 2340.
Comments
Post a Comment