Yearly Archives: 2018

Exploring the bizarre world of VDNKh

On the outskirts of Moscow is VDNKh – originally built by an exhibition centre to show off the achievements of the Soviet Union, by the time I visited in 2013 it was a bizarre mix of fairground meets flea market, set amongst a collection of Soviet architecture.

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A familiar looking face on the Ploiești Tramway

The tramways of Romania usually don’t get much attention from transport enthusiasts of the English-speaking world, but this Tatra KT4D tram in Ploiești, Romania did. Photo by Smiley.toerist via Wikimedia Commons Thanks to the colour scheme – a copy of […]

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Why was this barbecue on the tram tracks?

A few months ago I came across a photo on Twitter showing a barbecue along tram tracks, with a hotplate full of sausages sizzling away on top. So where was the photo taken, and what was the story behind it? […]

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Rubbing the dog’s nose for good luck

The stations of the Moscow Metro are known for their ornate architecture, but Площадь Революции (Ploshchad Revolyutsii) station on the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line has another form of artwork to offer. A series of bronze sculptures. For some reason the dog sculpture […]

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Barbed wire and guard towers protecting the bridges and tunnels of the Russian Railways

On my journey across Russia by train I passed through many tunnels and over many bridges, and noticed something strange at each one.

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Construction fail at the railway station

Recently I came across a viral photo on Facebook that showed a railway track dropping over the edge of a cliff, then continuing on below. So where was the photo taken, and why is the track layout so ridiculous? I […]

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Freight trams of Europe

Trams are usually used to carry passengers, but across Europe there are a handful of tramway networks that also carry freight. Pure freight The best known in the English speaking world is the ‘CarGoTram‘ of Dresden, Germany. Photo by kaffeeeinstein, […]

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Transporting spent nuclear fuel on the Russian Railways

With a large fleet of nuclear power stations used for electricity generation across Russia, there is also an increasing quantity of отработанного ядерного топлива (spent nuclear fuel) needing to be safely transported to reprocessing or storage facilities, where the useful […]

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Circular station vestibules in Russia

Russian metro stations are best known for the ornate design at platform level, but the entrance vestibules back at ground level can also be quite amazing. This is the original entrance to Park Kultury station, opened along with the first […]

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Kiev’s metro tunnel that is actually a bridge

On the Kiev Metro there is a curious section of tunnel that doesn’t run underground – instead the concrete tube is carried over a deep railway cutting by a bridge, only to head straight back underground. Image by AMY, via […]

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