A ticket to Moscow, via Ukraine, A trip from the year 2000…

[adb968008]

With recent events, I thought i’d reminisce a trip I did nearly 2 decades ago that influenced my interests in Eastern European modelling to this day.

 

Ive been lucky that in 25 years ive covered more than 60 countries, and some cities ive temporarily called home across the world, or even visited more than 60 times. Most of my travels I have been solo, self planning and guiding my own trips, much to my parents angst, in the days before I had a mobile phone, a reliable internet that allowed images, and pagers that only worked at home.

 

In early 2000, I embarked on a holiday to fulfill a desire to travel “soviet” whilst enough soviet stock still existed in central Europe. The previous year I had visited Hungary, and managed to get myself a firing turn on the Hungary mainline from Esztergom (Slovak border) all the way to Budapest, including some 80kph running… this in the days when preservation wasnt yet the “thing”, and 4 years before they joined the EU, 109.109 had been recently resurrected for a filming contract, and Fusti museum was still 2 years away from opening.

 

 

I was equally fascinated at the live shunting at Budapest Keleti station, which involved a half dozen trains arriving, and being shunted of their international portions, stabled in the sidings, sometimes for an hour+ before being re marshalled to new destinations… all whilst passengers stayed on board (or not if they needed a breather).

 

 

 

Excited by all this, I returned a year later, to venture a little further. 

So in August 2000, I decided a trip to Moscow was in order. I duly telephoned a travel agent in Budapest to arrange me a single, first class sleeper from Budapest to Moscow, with an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Budapest. At the time I lived in San Francisco, I approached the Russian embassy for a tourist visa, a 3 page pink slip type written affair, which to complicate matters later, they tippexed out nationality as being “USA” and put in “British” over the top. At this time Ukraine was only a 7 year old country, everything was the soviet way, but they at least had computer printed visas that stuck in your passport… one way… that also caused me issues later.

 

And finally to wrap it all together, I needed official permission to visit an active Russian military base. So I needed to find a registered Russian tour guide, in Russia, who speaks english, who was willing to do bespoke visits, and also willing to get official permission to visit a Russian military base, and who held a “red” domestic passport. They had to get his notarised in Russia, sent to me in the US, notarised there. Then all I had to do was present myself and 1/2” thick docket of paper work to the Russian embassy to answer why exactly, I as a British person, wanted to go on a 5 day visit to Moscow, from San Francisco, alone by train from Budapest, of which 2.5 days would be on the train and 1 day in an air base, all as a lone tourist.

 

I started planning this in January, it took until July to be arranged.

in August 2000 I arrived in Budapest and as any mid-20’s single male would do, I hit the bars, Sziget Island music festival, saw Oasis, along side Die Toten Hosen, Chumbawamba (“ I get knocked down and I get up again…”) and others.

 

I also got to briefly meet the new Prime Minister of Hungary at his inauguration ceremony which just happened to be on as I was there ( as you do, he’s one of these but I don't know which).

 

 

Then it was onto business…

 

I headed for keleti, and the Moskva sleeper. It was being assembled in the platform as a mix of JZ, RZD and UZD sleeping cars, with some MAV domestic coaches attached and a ubiquitous v43.

 

 

 

its not a fast train, indeed I don't think we got much above 60mph in the 1000 mile whole journey. I actually spent 2.5 days on a sleeper from Budapest to Moscow, via Kiev. I wanted to ride the old soviet couchettes (non-aircon and fire heated before the air con stock replaced it in 2001). The coaches featured a samovar in the centre as a focal point for hot water. The toilets were a focal point for heating in winter (being all bare metal they would strip the carriage interior of wood to burn for heating). I had first class, which meant a compartment with just 1 room mate. 2nd class was 6 bunks arranged 3 levels either side of window in an open carriage..definitely for the hardy. My room mate spoke no English, though he tried we couldn't understand, so we just shook hands.

 

 

 

The first 4-5 hours were nice an easy, watching countryside and villages pass, Szolnok, Debrecen, Nyíregyháza and then we got to the border. As we left the last station, Zahony in Hungary we crossed the Tizsa river and into Ukraine, this being dual gauge track, but our v43 and MAV interior stock was left behind and now a  ChME3 diesel was smoking our way along.

 

on arrival in Csop our train entered a protective cage, covering it from all sides. I glanced out of the window and saw gates close behind us, and ahead of us, with dozens of armed guards with Alsatians barking. Everyone was resigned to it, at least I assume so as I didnt speak Russian.

The guards proceeded through the train carriage by carriage. At each new carriage we were ordered into our rooms. They proceeded to check the ceiling panels, screws for disturbance. Apparently one train had over $100k of cigarettes concealed in the roof space of a single carriage at some point in the past. When they came to my door, my roommate handed his two Russian passports with a “spaciba”. Then mine, which the guard simply put into his pocket, left a soldier with me and continued on his way.

 

At the end of the train, which was at least an hour at this point, he returned, beckoned me to follow, and on disembarking released the gates for everyone exiting at Csop to leave. He then took me to a cell and promptly locked me in it!! About 30 minutes passed and the door was opened, but I was prompted to stay.

Then my room mate suddenly appeared, introduced himself as Dimitry, a weatherman from Russia, working in Italy and suddenly his english was very good. He sat next to me, and said the guards have a problem, in that my visa is one way through Ukraine, the conductor says my ticket is to Russia, how was I planning to get back? I mean this guy suddenly appeared like the snail from Planet Shush and zapped me with questions. He exited the room, talked to the guards, returned and asked to see my Russian visa and plane ticket, returned later asked why my trip was so short, and once again to repeat. I decided that discussing my local travel plans wasn’t a good idea and settled on a tourism story. He returned on more time and said, “just leave the room, put $20 in your passport, walk upto him, say “shrat” “. Dimitry then kind of disappeared, I don't know where he went. Anyways thinking after c2hr30 that at this point i’m on tomorrows train, I had no alternative (it was a cell afterall.. no other way out). So I walked out, and no one was there. Into the hall way, no one. Continued nervously to the station hall.. no one there, and I could see my train, it had moved up the platform. I looked around and found a guard, handed my passport. He slipped the $20 in his pocket, stamped my visa and walked me back to the train.

 

So I was in…. rescued by a Russian weatherman and put back on the train, after handing over my passport with $20 in it.  I found My carriage was in the air, no wheels, but with passengers still in it whilst they regauged it.

The whole process is a drawn out affair of regauging to Russian gauge tracks one coach at a time.
 

At 3hr30 we finally left.. oddly as we left, the west bound Moscow-Budapest sleeper was arriving, and I couldnt help but think, wouldnt it just be easier to change trains, than change the wheels ?

 

fyi, given the above, I elected not to risk pictures at Csop.
 

 

Then as we trundled through Ukraines endless country side, a bloke offers to sell be various dodgy magazines from a tweed 1960’s suitcase, and when he learns i’m English proceeds to drop the secret panel and reveals a small arms cache, and asks if i’m interested by souvenir knives, hand gun or even a grenade (from Chechnya he said).

 

 

The train to Kiev took all night, we arrived midday next day.

 

 

passing Lviv.

 

By now everyone in the carriage knew I was English. The conductor wanted to trade coins, several passengers wanted my Bolton Wanderers Shirt. Some were singing out the rolling stones.
 

 

At Kiev, we were running late, but still had a pause, I exited to take this picture, and turned around to see my train starting rolling out of the station. I rushed back, opened the door and climbed in… my passport etc was still in my compartment, that could have been a bad moment.

 

 

Crossing the Dniepr in Kiev…

 

At stations, locals were selling food and drinks to passengers. Although communication was poor, they were at pains to direct me to trying pierogi, borscht and strange liquid served in a recycled coke bottle.

 

As the train travelled, the passengers simply lobbed the bottles out of the window, which my new friend Dimitry pointed out, passengers will collect them to reuse at the next station..

 

 

 

We rolled on into the evening, and thinking that was it I went to bed. However now I definitely had a bond girl moment at Chernihiv (been in the news a lot recently for the wrong reasons), where at 2 am a 20 year old Russian blonde female in dark green military suit and skirt asks me for my passport in the midst of my sleeping, at which point I jump down in my t-shirt and boxers and she gives my legs a look and smiles. Her two henchmen with her were less impressed and proceeded to empty my bag across the compartment (very glad I didnt buy that grenade). after 5 mins they left, I repacked and jumped back into bed. The difference between the Ukraine and Russian borders was stark. In someways Ukraine felt very much my soviet perception, Russia felt more western.
 

Next morning and the journey came to an end. We arrived at kievsky station, my tour guide looked like his passport photo, right down to his clothes, but then again so did Dimitry.

 

(They are both in this picture but i’ll not call them out).

Despite several months planning, ultimately the success of this trip came down to two people, neither of which I knew, and one who was just luck he was on the train.

 

 

 

My guide, Andrei, spoke good English. He explained his business is by phone to avoid “knocks at the door” for money. This was 2000 in Moscow, the Rouble was a mess, the exchange rate varied morning until noon.. I purposely chose to stay at the Intourist. Infamous during communism for westerners..

 

 

 

Service definitely comes with a smile and a wink here. The reception kept sending various “maids” who spoke perfect english (I’m told the best Russian spies are professionally trained and so do not have Russian accents), asking me if I needed turn down, extra pillows etc etc, 3 or 4 times a day. Each time followed by “friendly” questions.. so “why are you here”, “where do you work”, which, later became a bit more educated “So How many data centres have you been to” was an interesting one.

Come to think of it, the TV screen in the room was a bit small.. yet it covered the whole wall with speakers…and I had another 2nd regular TV, though that one actually worked..

 

Now whats interesting about a dim picture of my room  ?
As side of the mess on the floor, is the wavy hair of the photographer… I travelled alone and dont have wavy hair (short/straight). (This hotel doesn't have safes in the room, reception will “look after” your valuables for you), I left it in the room and perhaps a maid took care of it for me ?

 

 

I did manage to nick an Intourist towel (and yes they noticed, counted every piece of linen, but I got away with it and still have it, and a comb).

 

(Its the big ugly tower block).

Two years later it was gone…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1862917.stm

 

We went to Pushkin sq, only an hour or so in to our lunch there, the Chechens blew it up, whilst I was there.

 

My parents were naturally a bit concerned, and apparently phoned the British Embassy, who confirmed I was safely 150 miles away, whilst actually I was sending over details of the chaos to the BBC from the street above, having had to make my way through the smoke, and err well I wont go into details on the rest as it was gruesome, BBC article still here..

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/871376.stm

 

view from Intourist here, of the traffic, still hours later backed up due to Pushkin sql

 

To round off an interesting solo trip, no good visit to Russia is complete without a visit to a Military base, so off I went to Monino, which at the time was still closed to the foreign public, and required a notarized letter from the Base commander, and a Russian approved tour guide… all arranged from San Francisco, by typewriter in days when aol struggled to display images on a 28.8kps modem and before Russia new what an Intel X386 was.. which took me to my interest in the trip…Tupolev 144, concordkski..

 

i also got to hold Gary Powers’s U2 Jacket and some of its remains.

 

 

 

Having completed the strangest trip, I decided to do some tourism, including Red Square, the world's largest cannon (but the balls were too heavy to load so was never used), the worlds largest bell, which broke in its casting pit, and the street lined with Napoleons abandoned guns.

I also popped into “GUM”, the shopping centre in an ex- KGB building, though many stores had gaps on shelves, and passed by the British embassy, right facing the Kremlin across the river, with microwave dishes openly pointing towards it.

 

I did get to see a Rainbow in Red Square, as well as a Space Shuttle in Gorky Park, before I took a Tupolev 154 back to Budapest.

 

Rainbow, bottom right.

 

 

Looking at it now, this was a trip that is now just history, Ukraine very much like the USSR, Russia emerging from turmoil. Ukraine a country with a very much country life, Moscow with huge historical technical achievements around it. In the last 20 years, Ive been back to Ukraine twice, I got married right on its Polish border and my wifes family has lots of family from there. I have ‘imported” cognac from Ukraine regularly in my supply.

More recently the family helped dozens of Ukrainian families find a safe place, before moving on.

 

Since this trip I adopted Eastern Europe into my hobby. In 2000 there was practically nothing rtr in HO available. ive since tracked down the following:

Fuggerth produced an M41 and some MAV commuter stock.

Deak custom made M44, V43, V46 and V63 in brass, for £100 each.

Sachsenmodelle produced the y type sleepers in an Eastern Europe set for Ukraine (blue, and green sleepers, plus a Russian one)

Roco made OBB and MAV long distance airconn stock

Concor made JZ passenger stock.

Sachsenmodelle made CD, ZSK Y type stock also.

Piko make the Chem2 Ukrainian diesel, and also S499 electric seen in Ukraine.

Roco, Heljan make the famous M61 Nohab

Piko, Gutzold, Roco all make the M62 diesel.

Piko are planning to release the V43 electric.

Roco made 109.109

 

 

Its odd to see that Ukraine ( and Kiev specifically) have adopted so much western europe culture since 2000,  but in 2000 Moscow felt to me like it was almost already there. Yet now in 2022, it seems like they've gone back 70 years. I doubt the two countries will ever be the same again, and I suspect it will be years before I could ever set about repeating this trip again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008

[roundhouse]

Sounds a fantastic trip. We first visited Eastern Europe in 2004 and have been back many times. In 2008 my other half was made redundant with quite sizeable payoff. Her last day of work was the day before we flew to the USA west coast. My work was quiet so the MD let me extent my leave to over two months unpaid and we made plans to stay in the USA / Canada for a month then to fly home before travelling across Europe and take the Trans Siberian express to Vladivostok and the ferry to Japan.

However we couldn't change the flights home till we got to Honolulu so couldn't arrange the European and Russian sections till after the flights were changed, meaning that we couldn't send our passport off to get a Russian visa. The Russian part of the trip came to nothing but we still had a great time across North America and a good part of mainland Europe. I doubt that we will be heading to Russia any time soon.

[EddieB]

Highly interesting, not least for the time of transition that Ukraine and Russia were "enjoying" - state surveillance didn't go to sleep after the presumed end of the Cold War.

 

Might be me, but some of the pictures (Western Ukraine) aren't displaying.

[adb968008]

On 30/04/2022 at 09:16, EddieB said:

Highly interesting, not least for the time of transition that Ukraine and Russia were "enjoying" - state surveillance didn't go to sleep after the presumed end of the Cold War.

 

Might be me, but some of the pictures (Western Ukraine) aren't displaying.

Ive edited it, should show better now.

 

When it comes to train trips, Ive done similar in other locations, including from Singapore before it closed, Taipei to Hualien, Df11’s to Beijing, The mountain villages from Curitiba and around the coast in South Africa, as well any number of European trips and dozens of UK trips.

My longest though was 6 weeks around the US on Amtrak, which was fantastic.

 

More recent, with Covid is more tame,  ive been taking my daughter on a half term week long trip around the UK each year (we got to john o’ groats last October ), and just completed a Cannes to Sutton trip last month using a railcard both ways… even the wife was up for that one.

Later this year we may do a London to Poland again (a regular hobby run ive done a few times, taking different routes each time).

 

This is Lvov station more recently..

 

 

 

 

 

And the road to it…

 

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008

[Nick_Burman]

9 hours ago, adb968008 said:

Fuggerth produced an M41 and some MAV commuter stock.

Deak custom made M44, V43, V46 and V63 in brass, for £100 each.

Sachsenmodelle produced the y type sleepers in an Eastern Europe set for Ukraine (blue, and green sleepers, plus a Russian one)

Roco made OBB and MAV long distance airconn stock

Concor made JZ passenger stock.

Sachsenmodelle made CD, ZSK Y type stock also.

Piko make the Chem2 Ukrainian diesel, and also S499 electric seen in Ukraine.

Roco, Heljan make the famous M61 Nohab

Piko, Gutzold, Roco all make the M62 diesel.

Piko are planning to release the V43 electric.

Roco made 109.109

 

Fuggerth sadly went under several years ago, however I believe that the forthcoming Piko V43 is made using former Fuggerth tooling.

 

Cheers Nicholas

[Morello Cherry]

Good stuff. I think the guy you saw in 2000 was the Hungarian President Ferenc Mádl not the Prime Minister. I think in 2000 the Prime Minister was Viktor Orban.

 

Was the stuff you didn't recognise in bottles Kvas? It is very popular in Moldova, Ukraine etc.

 

Keleti is a proper old school terminal and always interesting to watch all the shunting operations. I do remember seeing the Zagreb-Moscow train and thinking that it was a bit of trek.

[adb968008]

On 30/04/2022 at 12:04, Nick_Burman said:

 

Fuggerth sadly went under several years ago, however I believe that the forthcoming Piko V43 is made using former Fuggerth tooling.

 

Cheers Nicholas

No Deak and Fuggerth (and Vasut Modelle in Germany) are very closely related but separate, though the faces may look familiar.

 

The v43, v46 and v63 by Deak were brass kits, using hairdryer electric motors inside and were assembled by rudimentary gears from a hardware store… I kid you not.

The M44 came later and is a resin body on a Roco SNCF shunter chassis.

These were around £100 each at the time.

 

The paint finish is fantastic and the kit was very detailed and well assembled, but they were a kit, with a lot of under the hood creativity.

 

Fuggerth made the M41 BO-BO diesel, its quality was definitely Hornby 1980’s.. so-so paint finish, chunky wheels. They produced it in around 4 versions, Red, Gysev, 1970’s Red and Greek Railways. They also made several tourist stock, including Brake, Baggage car, DBSO, Fo, So, and centre door.
 

Each came in a basic cardboard box, wrapped in newspaper with a sprue for details. The stock came in Blue, Red (Balaton), Green (MAV old and new style decals) and Gysev.

At release all very very cheap, the locos I believe were around £20, the coaches around £5, though with plastic wheels, they did have Sprung self centering NEM couplings.

 

At the time I bought armfuls of all these, I went nearly every year from 1999, until 2010 when that year I spent a whole summer there on a Data Centre construction project.

(the guy opened his shop specifically one year I came and I got a private viewing, with drinks served, my own chair etc….). I spent about £1000 that day, but post 2003 the prices rose to western levels).

 

 

 

 

i’m currently upgrading my to new profile metal wheels and bearings, after 20 years the previous metal ones we wearing out the bogie inners !

 

Taking the body off the M41 isnt for the faint hearted, its plastic is brittle and less than 0.5mm thick at the frame.. plus its a tight fit, anything can split it.

 

The bogies on the coaches may as well be made from rubber, they are so soft.

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008

[ikks]

What a wonderful story.

Rgds.......Mike

[burgundy]

I am very struck by the photo of the main station at Lwiw, so I googled it.

It was originally built by the Galician Carl Ludwig Railway (CLB) which connected Krakau through the province of Austrian Galicia, with the Russian border at Podwołoczyska, where the change of gauge originally occurred. 

Carl Ludwig was a younger brother of the Emperor and was therefore a useful patron for the company. The line reached Lemberg (as Lwiw was then known) in 1861 and extended to the Russian border 10 years later. 

In 1892, the CLB became part of the Austrian State Railway (kkStB), which rebuilt the station into its current form, opening in 1904.

An interesting and impressive place. 

Best wishes 

Eric  

[adb968008]

Lviv as a city is a beautiful place, a kind of mini-Vienna / Krakow / Jaroslaw, similar architecture…

 

The station fits its surroundings, this is the marble lined station interior

 

 

 

and a few pictures around the town, taken on a different trip…

 

 

 

 

 

I have several customers in Ukraine, its odd to talk to them in the past few months, about Cloud Migration, when in a zoom meeting the are wearing army fatigues and have guns in their IT facility… but their day job as IT specialists goes on, and they are adamant it does, just as much they are adamant about being ready for combat too… and thats males and females.

Edited July 30, 2023 by adb968008