European Railroad Discussion > May 2013 European Trip - Part 2a - Kiev

My time in Kiev was mostly spent visiting with family members, and wandering around the city. However, I had a chance to do two railfaning outings to the Main Station (Kiev-Passazhirskiy)....with the first one being on May 26th....

Due to the amount of pictures, I decided to split the Ukrainian part of the travelogue into two parts. Part 2b will include pictures from the second Kiev photo outing, as well as from a trip to visit my cousin in Donetsk.

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1) UZ electric locomotive DS3-007 about to depart with a daytime (I think) domestic train. The DS3 series is joint venture between Siemens and the Dnepropetrovsk Electric Locomotive Factory (DEVZ).

2) Diesel road switcher ChME3-571 is passing through the main station with a Maintenance-of-Way train. The ChME3 was built by the CKD of the former Czechoslovakia, with the bulk of the series (6-7000 locomotives) supplied to the SZD over the course of several decades.

3) ChS8-005 on its way towards the locomotive servicing yard. The ChS8 is an AC version of the ChS7 heavy passenger electric, and the 82 double-unit locomotives were supplied to the SZD by Skoda in the mid- and late-1980's. The series is currently split about 60/40 between UZ and RZD respectively.

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4) Looking from the end of the platforms towards the locomotive servicing facility (that includes a partial roundhouse and a turntable), and DS3-010, with two modernized ChS-4's (another Skoda product) behind it.

5) Walking back towards the center of the station, I came upon HRCS2-009 “high-speed” EMU. UZ purchased 10 of these units from Hyundai-Rotem in 2011-12 for the new Intercity Plus daytime service between Kiev and Donetsk, Kharkov, and Lvov in preparation for the Euro 2012 soccer (football) championship. In February 2014, these trains were temporarily (I hope) withdrawn from service due to structural deficiencies in the underframes that were discovered on one of the trainsets during routine maintenance.

6) ChS4-080 about to depart with the weekly Train# 108, Kiev-Astana (Kazakhstan). The train consisted almost entirely of Kazakhstan Railways stock, with an RZD sleeper right behind the locomotive (bound for one of the cities enroute).

Approximately 200 ChS4's (not to be confused with ChS4T) were supplied to the SZD from the early 1970s through the 1980s. Since the year 2000, all of UZ's locomotives received a substantial rebuilt, including revised ChS7/8-like body ends. Meanwhile, I believe that all of RZD's ChS4 fleet has been withdrawn within the last several years.

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7) The logo of Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ....Kazakstan Temir Zholy) on one of the sleepers of the Astana train. KTZ uses a light blue tone for its standard livery........same tone was sometimes used by Ukrainian divisions of the SZD in the 80s, and then by the UZ in early 90s).

8) Two DS3's (with #005 leading) double-head a domestic overnight train.

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Between the taking of Photos #8 and #9, I had a chance to visit a historical rolling stock display located next to the new “southern” concourse of Kiev-Passazhirskiy. It's an open-air display with a slightly peculiar entrance fee structure.......regular entrance costs something like the equivalent of $4-5. However, if one wants to take pictures, it's 5 or so hryvnias more (at the time of the trip, FX was 1 USD = 8 UAH......but now, due to current events, it's about 1:11).

9) Steam locomotive Er-773-69
10) Steam locomotive L-3191
11) First generation passenger diesel TE3-2068

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12) Czech-built diesel shunter ChME2-333 (I believe this one was sitting on UZ's active inventory books until 5-10 years ago).

13) Skoda-built ChS4-072 passenger electric in its original, unrebuilt body shell. While an attractive design, this body style incorporated a lot of fiberglass elements, and did NOT age well. Hence, the cab-end change decision by the UZ for the locomotives chosen to be overhauled. The last unrebuilt Ukrainian ChS4 was retired/overhauled two or so years ago.

14) Inside the cab of the ChS4......very typical 1970s look. Most of the locomotives on display have their cab doors unlocked, and thus it's possible to go inside. The thing is...there are no ramps.....you have to climb the steps just like an engineer at a yard would....

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Good collection. I thought the Kiev station was most impressive, amazing main entry hall. Thanks again and more if you have them!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/14 13:07 by GettingShort.

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Thank you very much for posting these images from a place we rarely see. Gerry

Wonderful photos!

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

very interesting pics. thanks for taking the time to post these........

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Some more pics from this outing that got left out from my "Post to TO" folder:

15) RZD EP10-010 at a storage siding in the locomotive service area to the "north" (geographic south) of the station.
16) ChS4-109 at the head of a train.
17) ChS8-005 on its way to the loco service area.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/14 16:35 by chs7-321.

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