International Railroad Discussion > Armenia, Part 7. Boarding train 684 to Gyumri

I left Yerevan on Train 684, a morning departure to Gyumri. Just over 3 hours running time, 07:55 - 10:06 am.

As the crow flies, Gyumri is 70 kilometers NW of Yerevan, and at least twice that distance by rail.

The trip was uneventful. Weather was lovely, train ran on time (as they all did).

Photos:

1) Map of Armenia, my route in yellow (train) and orange (bicycle).
2) Boarding at the station, head end of the train.
3) Tail end of the train, with Mt. Ararat.

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Yes trains in a country like Armenia can run on time but in the U. S. they often don't. I've also never been late on a train in Russia or Ukraine. Sad.

4) Ararat through the train window while waiting for departure.

5) Not many people on the train, plenty of space to park a bike. One nice thing about the wide-gauge ex-Soviet railways is that the carbodies themselves are also wider. Making the cars considerably more roomy inside then western European or North American passenger cars.

6) A junction in suburban Yerevan.

Photos taken early November, 2017.

Questions, comments?

Ted in OR

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Bonus photos -- abandoned amusement park rides

One advantage of travelling by bicycle, on back roads and side streets, is that you see a lot of decrepit stuff. Instead of sitting around at my computer clicking on things like "10 amazing abandoned amusement parks you can't unforget" I saw things like this in real life. Much better...

7) Ferris wheel (I think), Vagharshapat

8) One of those spinny things that goes up on end, Yerevan.

9) Mothballed of stored displays, stored in what appeared to be a disused school building near Vagharshapat (I stuck my phone through a hole in a boarded up window to get this photo)

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andersonb109 Wrote:
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> Yes trains in a country like Armenia can run on
> time but in the U. S. they often don't. I've also
> never been late on a train in Russia or Ukraine.
> Sad.

Yup would rather live in the US or Canada than Armenia though!

Very interesting photos and commentary.
Thanks vey much for posting.
ALLEN