International Railroad Discussion > Cold day in Bender Transnistria.

Miserable cold rainy but our host Tiraspol Tim was determined we have a good luck at this town divided between Transnistria and Moldova. A fascinating look at a under appreciated corner of the old Soviet Union. Transnistria though completely neo-Liberal (the way liberal is used in the rest of the world except of course silly backward US) still proudly displays the Soviet iconography, lots of hammer and sickles, old and new Lenins, pictures of President Putin, all to display the countries pride in their largely Russian heritage. Other than that Tiraspol is a very safe, inexpensive, happy and welcoming city at least to the extant that Russians and Slavs ever are. This was my third visit to Transnistria and to me it never gets old.

on to pictures

1. The Bender station building. One of two in the city I believe this one is used by local trains from Chisinau and the long distance trains to Kiev and Moscow.

2. Like many stations in this part of the world there is a stuffed and mounted steam engine. Bender is no exception. This one is part of a monument to the railway workers who gave their lives in the Great Patriotic War (WWII). This area was scene of some of the most important battles of the war. The Jassy–Kishinev Offensive that opened the route through Eastern Europe to Berlin began with a battle in the heights above Tiraspol.

3. Part of the Monument.

---

---

---

4. The platform side of the station. Clearly this railway plant was built in a much busier time. Most traffic these days is coal from Russia for the power plants around Tiraspol, that supply much of Moldova's power. When Transnistria broke away from Moldova in the early 1990's it took with it some fairly modern steal works and power plants.

5. Sort of nice view of a shunter hat seemed to be getting ready for the arrival of something. The weather was just too awful to hang around.

6. Just the group. From Beijing to Ljubljana Slovenia tour mostly by train with an emphasis in old Soviet Kitsch and frozen conflict zones, I started in Moscow back in early November, three more days to go. Ever feel the desire to do a little out of the ordinary travel, check off most the dead Socialist leaders, in clouding Romania's Ceausescu and Albainia's Hoxha, this is the tour Young Pioneer Tours always comes through.

---

---

---

"Silly backward USA?" Perhaps if you feel that way you should move to Transnistria with its crappy Soviet apartment blocks, and every thing else associated with a former Communist country. But they do have more overnight passenger trains that probably run on time so maybe that makes it ok.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Silly backward USA?" Perhaps if you feel that
> way you should move to Transnistria with its
> crappy Soviet apartment blocks, and every thing
> else associated with a former Communist country.
> But they do have more overnight passenger trains
> that probably run on time so maybe that makes it
> ok.

His comment was a joke. Probably doesn't require the resurrection of old "Love It or Leave It" bumper stickers or the immediate surrender of his US passport.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Silly backward USA?" Perhaps if you feel that
> way you should move to Transnistria with its
> crappy Soviet apartment blocks, and every thing
> else associated with a former Communist country.
> But they do have more overnight passenger trains
> that probably run on time so maybe that makes it
> ok.


Shall we discuss the real estate situation in Detroit?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/14 10:48 by masterphots.

If photo three can be taken as an indication, you travel with an intrepid group!

Good post!

Cheers,
Jack

I envy you for being part of this fascinating trip, and looking forward to more...

Steve Mitchell
http://www.yardgoatimages.com

Oh Anderson have a sense of humor. You seriously need to chill a bit. andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Silly backward USA?" Perhaps if you feel that
> way you should move to Transnistria with its
> crappy Soviet apartment blocks, and every thing
> else associated with a former Communist country.
> But they do have more overnight passenger trains
> that probably run on time so maybe that makes it
> ok.

Posted from iPhone

africansteam Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If photo three can be taken as an indication, you
> travel with an intrepid group!
>
> Good post!
>
> Cheers,
> Jack

I was amazed how much some of them have traveled, a couple have been on the road for years, everyone had been the North Korea at least once and a couple to Iran. This was my first non North Korean trip with YPT.

Posted from iPhone

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Silly backward USA?" Perhaps if you feel that
> way you should move to Transnistria with its
> crappy Soviet apartment blocks, and every thing
> else associated with a former Communist country.
> But they do have more overnight passenger trains
> that probably run on time so maybe that makes it
> ok.

He was making a joke, but most importantly he meant that the word "liberal" as used in the rest of the world means almost the opposite of what it means in the USA: more individual freedom and less government. That the word has been hijacked and twisted here in the US is more than silly, it's tragic. In my travels I've found that a greater percentage of people in eastern Europe & the former Soviet areas are anti-communist than in the USA- they've been there, done that, and didn't like it. They are classic "liberals".

An example is this monument in Prague (RR content- just down the street from the funicular and on a couple busy tram lines): https://db.tt/xDZfCZIt

Great stuff, GettingShort. Keep 'em coming.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/14 09:18 by Geodyssey.

Sorry. My bad. But the U.S. isn't the only country to use the term Liberal in the way that we do (more government, more taxes, etc.) The U.K. and Canada equivalent to our Democrat party are about the same. In fact, the Conservatives in Canada are probably closer to our Democrats than Republicans! Regardless, these photos prove that socialism or Communism doesn't work. These former Soviet countries are crap holes. Only those who have integrated into the EU for some time are now showing signs of coming out of it. It's beyond me why anyone (i.e. eastern Ukraine) would want to return to that system.....but the trains do tend to run on time (at least from my experience with several overnights in Russia and Ukraine).

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...It's beyond me
> why anyone (i.e. eastern Ukraine) would want to
> return to that system...

You missed my point. The vast majority of people in eastern Europe/former USSR do NOT want to return to communism/Soviet-style government. And Ukraine is more despotic, corrupt, and run-down than Russia. But you'd never know from listening to the US media, and that includes most outlets from left to right.

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...It's beyond me
> > why anyone (i.e. eastern Ukraine) would want to
> > return to that system...
>
> You missed my point. The vast majority of people
> in eastern Europe/former USSR do NOT want to
> return to communism/Soviet-style government. And
> Ukraine is more despotic, corrupt, and run-down
> than Russia. But you'd never know from listening
> to the US media, and that includes most outlets

> from left to right.

Good reply. But people in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Eastern Europe and the Balkans also have an aversion to the neo-liberal, Ayn Rand libertarian fantasy world being offered them by various NGO, religious groups and the US/Uk in general. They have seen how that world plays out. Lost jobs, lost pensions, social services gone, national pride in tatters and perpetual chaos. I don't travel in the NGO, bible thumper, business, or "academic" crowd so I've encountered a different sort of people.
You certainly right about Ukraine, in the last three years it's gone from a sort of functioning place to a complete basket case. Amazing what $30billion by latest count of western money buys.

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> andersonb109 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ...It's beyond me
> > why anyone (i.e. eastern Ukraine) would want to
> > return to that system...
>
> You missed my point. The vast majority of people
> in eastern Europe/former USSR do NOT want to
> return to communism/Soviet-style government. And
> Ukraine is more despotic, corrupt, and run-down
> than Russia. But you'd never know from listening
> to the US media, and that includes most outlets
> from left to right.


Ukraine is NOT more despotic than Russia....it is and has been much more democratic (relatively speaking) and probably less overall corrupt too.....

Run-down? Sure.....but the country doesn't have the oil/gas wealth to (mis)manage.....

Also, nobody in Kiev wants it to turn into a copy of Moscow in terms of quality of life (Kiev is much better).

GettingShort Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You certainly right about Ukraine, in the last
> three years it's gone from a sort of functioning
> place to a complete basket case. Amazing what
> $30billion by latest count of western money buys.

Yanukovych was on Putin's hook, not Western.

Let's not also forget who's forces is it that invaded Ukraine in the course of the past year......definitely were not western either....

chs7-321 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> GettingShort Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > You certainly right about Ukraine, in the last
> > three years it's gone from a sort of
> functioning
> > place to a complete basket case. Amazing what
> > $30billion by latest count of western money
> buys.
>
> Yanukovych was on Putin's hook, not Western.
>
> Let's not also forget who's forces is it that
> invaded Ukraine in the course of the past
> year......definitely were not western either....

Ukraine is a complete, corrupt mess, in spite of western gov't & media cheerleading and meddling. Russia did not invade Ukraine, the majority ethnic Russian people of Crimea voted to re-join Russia. Crimeas has always been Russian, while Ukraine as a nation was invented at the end of WWI. I've noticed a lot of US citizens support Ukraine because so many Ukranians fought against Russia (aka the godless communists, etc) in WWII.

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Yanukovych was on Putin's hook, not Western.
> >
> > Let's not also forget who's forces is it that
> > invaded Ukraine in the course of the past
> > year......definitely were not western
> either....
>
> Ukraine is a complete, corrupt mess, in spite of
> western gov't & media cheerleading and meddling.
> Russia did not invade Ukraine, the majority ethnic
> Russian people of Crimea voted to re-join Russia.
> Crimeas has always been Russian, while Ukraine as
> a nation was invented at the end of WWI. I've
> noticed a lot of US citizens support Ukraine
> because so many Ukranians fought against Russia
> (aka the godless communists, etc) in WWII.


Considering you are talking to a Russian-speaking person originally from Ukraine who has been following the events, almost hour by hour, since the evening of November 20, 2013 (when the first protests started), I have to giggle and shake my head at your statement....

- polls have consistently put support for joining Russia in Crimea at 35-40%....def high, but certainly not the 95% that the bogus referendum produced.
- the party of Sergei Aksyonov, the current "leader", which advocated for break from Ukraine and joining Russia, got 10% in most recent elections.
- the Crimean Rada (Parliament) was taken over on the night of Feb 27/28 by unidentified armed men, who took down the Ukrainian flag and rose the Russian tricolor. Then they only allowed pro-Russian deputies in, and it was only those deputies who decided on the referendum (there was no quorum).
- at the same time, Russian transports were landing in Simferopol airport carrying unmarked troops, which were met and escorted out by infantry units of the Russian Black Sea Fleet (whose personnel was familiar to the local Ukrainian forces). Unmarked Russian troops also illegally entered Ukraine via the Kerch ferry. The troops then proceeded to blockade army bases and squeeze out Ukrainian army personnel. THIS IS AN INVASION RIGHT THERE!! Unmarked Russian troops illegally present on Ukrainian soil.
-with the implementation of Russian law and policing tactics, human right situation on the peninsula has plummeted. The prices on most basic necessities have increased. Plus the peninsula is wholly reliant on mainland Ukraine for water, electricity, and other supplies.

I am not even going to get into the subsequent bloodbath in Donbass, a region that while being economically depressed in recent decades, had near zero separatism. Until April....when it was artificially inflamed by Russian propaganda lies and mercenaries. And the rebellious local drunkards and other underclass was first covertly and then openly assisted by the Russian army.....including constant shelling of Ukrainian army positions from Russian territory.

Until late August, when the Russians invaded openly...

How about you just admit that you are under Russian propaganda spell? It'll be easier....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/14 10:54 by chs7-321.

chs7-321 Wrote:
-
> How about you just admit that you are under
> Russian propaganda spell? It'll be easier....

What a load. Then you fall back on the usual excuse. I'm no fan of Russia or Ukraine, just the facts.

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> chs7-321 Wrote:
> -
> > How about you just admit that you are under
> > Russian propaganda spell? It'll be easier....
>
> What a load. Then you fall back on the usual
> excuse. I'm no fan of Russia or Ukraine, just the
> facts.

I presented to you the facts in their chronological order.

Oh yeah, as for Ukraine being a "made up" country.....all countries were made up in their day. Russia, especially. Same for US and Canada.....

Is that narrow gauge in the middle of the yard??