European Railroad Discussion > Moscow South to Grozny Chechnya

In July and August I spent about 30 days traveling through Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, and Russia. The last 10 days were spent in Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Degestan in the North Caucasus.  The Moscow to Grozny, Chechnya is a 41 hour ride though Russia's breadbasket, two days of rolling farm land with topsoil 20-30 feet deep in places. There are several new sections of rail built after the coup in Kiev as the original line south to Rostov-on-Don passed through Ukraine. 

The video is of a train between Tomsk and Anapa, a Russian resort city on the Black Sea.

The second is a Sukhumi, Abkhazia to Moscow service to the right and the southbound Moscow  to Grozny train. 

Endless farmland that's made Russia the largest exporter of grain in the world. 

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Russia may be the largest exporter of grain now. But I remember when the Soviet Union was the largest importer of grain in the world.

PHall Wrote:
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> Russia may be the largest exporter of grain now.
> But I remember when the Soviet Union was the
> largest importer of grain in the world.

Excellent photos & video, thanks.

The growth of the economy and standard of living since Communism was swept away is astounding. And today's Russian wheat is 100% GMO-free.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/27/18 10:09 by Duna.

The train shown arriving in the video is awesome-looks like 20+ cars in length. Interesting the the train has a very European look to it.

Great photos-thanks for the glimpse of modern life in this part of the world!

Great story.  I've always been very fascinated with this area of the world.  I'm actually going to be in Ukraine in a few months and will post a few train pictures for myself.  How well do you speak Russian?  I imagine that would be a tough part of the world to visit without any understanding of the language.

HogheadMike Wrote:
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> Great story.  I've always been very fascinated
> with this area of the world.  I'm actually going
> to be in Ukraine in a few months and will post a
> few train pictures for myself.  How well do you
> speak Russian?  I imagine that would be a tough
> part of the world to visit without any
> understanding of the language.

I don't speak Russian (beyond a few key words and the ability to read the cyrillic alphabet) and I have gotten by just fine despite numerous trips to all parts of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Baltics etc. Things always work out one way or another!

HogheadMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great story.  I've always been very fascinated
> with this area of the world.  I'm actually going
> to be in Ukraine in a few months and will post a
> few train pictures for myself.  How well do you
> speak Russian?  I imagine that would be a tough
> part of the world to visit without any
> understanding of the language.

I can speak enough to handle ordering a meal and understand enough words to get a good idea of what's being said. One thing you can do that Really helps is learn the alphabet. It's a huge help in figuring out where you are and using public transportation. Eastern Europe is a fascinating and safe part of the world. Most Soviet kitsch is gone from Ukraine these days and Kiev inparticular is a fairly tense place with all sorts of police, military, militia, and mercinary/contractor types everywhere.  The night we went to Palata No6 the place was full of them.  You going to Ukraine on your own or with a tour? I'd highly recomend signing up for a tour of Chernobyl and the Duga while you're there. Also Odessa is really nice, much more relaxed than Kiev.