International Railroad Discussion > Armenia, Part 8. Riding train 684

Pics from the train, Yerevan to Gyumri.

Photos taken November, 2017.

Armenia is buying new passenger equipment, so this vintage train is probably at the end of its life. It seemed to have no operational issues, except for a lack of water in the restroom.

News from March 3, 2018 -- Armenian PM rides brand new express train to Gyumri
https://news.am/eng/news/439283.html

News from Oct, 2017, new train tested
http://www.armradio.am/en/2017/10/18/new-electric-train-tested-in-armenia/

Photos 1, 2 and 3) -- the lighting was crisp, and station agents all had good posture. Where did they all learn to have such good posture? On the Childrens' Railway?

---

---

---

I passed two train chopping areas. I suspect this train will be joining them sometime soon... Maybe they'll preserve one set at the museum in Yerevan...

4) I'm not sure what kind of a train cars these were, they seemed to have lots of doorways.

5) full zoom, same photo.

6) A different scrapyard location

---

---

---

7) Scrapyard 3

8) Zoom in, showing Mt. Aragats (I think), tallest mountain in Armenia, and what appears to be a nuclear reactor. The air was dead calm, and the steam rising from the cooling towers was in vortices.

9) More of the steam vortices, from a few kilometers further down the line.

---

---

---

Station stop. I'll see if I can figure out what town this was.

10) This woman was loading about 40 boxes of produce here to bring to Gyumri

11) I had a fellow passenger take a photo of me at the tail of the train.

12) In the hills now.

---

---

---

13, 14 and 15) Views of Mt. Ararat were plentiful during the entire journey.

---

---

---

Don't see many photos from Armenia.
Thanks for posting.
ALLEN

As per TO member 86235, this is a Riga Carriage Works ER1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER1_electric_trainset
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER2_electric_trainset
Built between 1957 and 1962. So the trainset is a cool 55 to 60 years old. Doing pretty well, I had to say.

A few more:
16 & 17) I'm impressed with the similarities between the Riga Locomotive Works ER1 and the UP M-1000.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-10000

Similar plow. Similar turret cab. Similar cyclops headlight. The UP streamliner was a little more elegant looking, but not much. Put that ER1 on the head of a 12 car trainset, take a photo of it on a high embankment along a river, and it would look pretty grand. Maybe wipe it down with an oily rag to freshen up that paint. Or put it through the wash rack.

And, best yet, not only were they not scrapped 45 years ago, but they're still in revenue service.

18) Catenary maintenance sled, at a station.

Questions, comments?

Ted in OR

---

---

---

On those older scrapped cars - could those have been outward opening doors?

Incredible shots.

Great photos and coverage of the trip. Interesting pose of the two dogs in the first photo.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Photos #4 and #5 seem to show old 'Yegorovtsy' coaches. They were among the most common types of coaches seen before WWII, and not many of them are still surviving. Shame to see some in such bad shape. I wonder if the preservationists in Russia are aware of these. They're been known to repatriate stuff like this. Maybe these ones are too far gone.
You can find some more info about these coaches at the link below.
http://www.scaletrainsclub.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=5857