International Railroad Discussion > Kazakhstan, part 9. Train car details

I like seeing people post photos from the US and Canada of train car details from ages past, before everything was plastic, disposable, digital and vandalproof.

In Central Asia and Eastern Europe there is still plenty of equipment that dates from the 1970s or earlier still in revenue service. So one of the many things I tried to do while traveling was to get detail shots of various parts and signs along the way.

Inspiration came partly from Marty Bernards' postings of Roger Puta's photos from the 1960s and 70s, like these:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4337705
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4350155
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4383654
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4043768
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,4043699

I didn't have the time, equipment or eye for detail that Roger had, but I tried to pick things up along the way.

1) KZ Rail tea mug. Pewter holder, with a removable glass drinking vessel. Available for use while on the train. I was tempted to steal it...

2) KZ Rail bedsheet (admittedly not the best photo). I wanted this for home use also. Fortunately for KZ Rail, I was traveling by bicycle...

3) KZ Rail logo on a passenger car. Hand painted sign.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/18 02:18 by gobbl3gook.

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4) Plumbing diagram. You can see that there's a lavatory at each end of the car.

5) Samovar (teakettle) diagram. This has been through many generations of photocopiers.

6) Gauges. Brake line pressure?

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7) Each train car had a sign in one window with the train origin, destination, and car number (but, oddly, not the train number). This is Train 41, from Almaty to Atyrau, car 9

8) Train 377, Almaty to Mangyshlak (Aqtau), car 7

9) Medallion and car number, bolted onto the middle of each car. Compare to the hammer and sickle that pennengineer found on KZ Rail in 2008.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,1707920,1707928#1707928

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10) Samovar (teakettle). Access panel to the coal fire underneath.

Compare this to the water dispenser on a Superliner --room temperature water, into a flimsy paper cup, with the thumb-operated valve directly above the spout, and the valve leaking water so it rinses gunk from your thumb and previous users' thumbs into your drinking cup. Bleck. I very much prefer a kettle of hot tea, with a non-contaminated tap, into a pewter/glass mug.

11) Decor in the restaurant car

See also:
Timetable, Train 41
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4470456,4470463#4470463

Timetable, Train 377
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4472772,4472772#4472772



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/18 02:17 by gobbl3gook.

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The samovar some noodles and a few packs of Jacobs три и один all you need.

Thanks for the pix.
On first reading I misread the Subject line as "...Train car DERAILS..." but then realized that Amtrak doesn't serve Kazakhstan.

Shame on you,AMERICAN! Stealing?
NO,just borrowing for long time use.
VBG

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

Keep posting.

gettingshort -- I didn't have any ramen or miso, would have been good to stock in my bag.

UncleJoe -- I was tempted to steal them, but didn't. (need to travel light on a bicycle. Not to mention that it's bad form to swipe stuff).

Looking at the medallion and other things in these photos, I see that everything is just held on with phillips head screws. Demonstrating the lack of petty crime in KZ. If this was the US, I imagine those nice double-centaur medallions would go missing once in a while. As it is, there's 1000s of passenger cars in the KZ fleet, and probably all of them still have their medallions. Same with the pewter teacups...

A couple other comments based on reviewing the photos -

1) above the samovar is a red metallic sign. I didn't pay any attention to it while traveling. But it seems to specify certain times of day -- 8-10 am, 8-10 pm, and noon - 5. That could be the hours of serving tea. I think I served myself from the kettle at other hours, it always seemed quite hot, so I don't think I was getting unboiled water between the serving hours. Anyone want to take a guess as to what this means?

2) I'm liking the hand painted logo in pic 3. I should have taken about 20 photos of logos on 20 different cars. Also the hand-lettered car number in pic 7. It definitely adds a touch of class not seen on modern trains, with everything digitally printed.

3) Note the lack of any sewer system in the plumbing diagram.