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International Railroad Discussion > Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International StationDate: 07/03/18 01:04 Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook In fall, 2017 I travelled from Kazakhstan to Bulgaria by train, bicycle and ferry. I've posted about Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and some of Georgia.
In this post, we return to Georgia, by bicycle, on a 7 day bicycle ride from Gyumri, Armenia to Batumi, Georgia. I re-entered Georgia at the Ninotsminda border crossing, and spent the night in a hotel there. The town of Ninotsminda is on what was an old branch line, running SW from Tbilisi into the mountains, and terminating 10 kilometers further west in village named Akhalkalaki. But, now the branch has been upgraded into a mainline, and new track has been built through the mountains to the south and into Turkey, to Kars. This re-connects the former USSR to Turkey. The Soviet-era link which went from Gyumri, Armenia to Kars, Turkey was closed in about 1993 after relations between the two countries deteriorated and the border was closed. In October, 2017 when I passed through, the new station was complete on the outside, and the large yard was largely complete. This is where all trains will have their wheels changed out, from European Standard Gauge to Russian Wide Gauge. And all passengers will need to go through customs. When the line is open, overnight trains will run from Ankara Turkey (a few 100 kms east of Istanbul) to Baku, Azerbaizan, on the Caspian Sea. Via Erzerum, Kars, Ahalkalaki and Tbilisi. Photos: 1, 2, 3: Newly rebuilt electrified mainline outside the town of Ninotsminda. Photo location https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3080171,43.5357614,656m/ Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/18 01:17 by gobbl3gook. Date: 07/03/18 01:06 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Ninotsminda International Station Author: gobbl3gook Pic 4, the new freight yard, for swapping trucks on freight trains and passing through freight customs.
Pic 5, new passenger tracks and the new international station Pic 6,. station platform. That's my ride in the foreground. Date: 07/03/18 01:15 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook Date: 07/03/18 01:19 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook Station details:
10: Name 11, 12: Interior waiting rooms As you can see, the entire station area was deserted. Date: 07/03/18 01:26 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook 13: this collonade was at the west end of the yard. Any guesses as to what it will be when it's done?
location https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3383632,43.4888712,799m/ 14: map showing the route of the new international mainline from Turkey to Georgia. Blue line is upgraded branch line, yellow line is newly constructed mainline. 15. Bonus pic, pretty sunporch on a house in Ninotsminda Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/18 01:28 by gobbl3gook. Date: 07/03/18 01:31 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook A few kilometers west of Akhalkalaki I was rolling down the Paravani River and came across this railcar repurposed as a covered bridge.
Location https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4312667,43.4688856,319m/ 16, from a distance 17, up close, looks ready for boarding. 18, inside, the floor is rotted out, and completely removed in one section. Questions, comments? Photos taken October, 2017. Ted in OR Date: 07/03/18 05:38 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: DaveL Ted,
Thanks for the Map! That really helps a lot. Dave Date: 07/03/18 07:14 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: zorz gobbl3gook Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > A few kilometers west of Akhalkalaki I was rolling > down the Paravani River and came across this > railcar repurposed as a covered bridge. > Location > https://www.google.com/maps/@41.4312667,43.4688856 > ,319m/ > > 16, from a distance > 17, up close, looks ready for boarding. > 18, inside, the floor is rotted out, and > completely removed in one section. > > Questions, comments? > > Photos taken October, 2017. > > Ted in OR This is absolutely fascinating. What a find! Posted from iPhone Date: 07/03/18 13:00 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: retcsxcfm > Questions, comments?
YES,keep them comimg! I enjoyed the pictures you posted before. What I notice is the overall,what I call barreness and starkness of the country and houses like the one with the sun porch. Uncle Joe Seffner,Fl. Date: 07/05/18 18:02 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook Hi All,
I'm glad you like the photos. I'll have another post tonight. zorz -- I also thought that railcar bridge was pretty clever. I wonder why more people haven't done this? There must still be steel framed railcars available for scrap in carious parts of the world, including the US. Seems like every state has at least one collection of passenger equipment that was assembled by someone decades ago, who has now gotten old and useless for restoration, and the collection goes to scrap when they die. Instead, get those battered coaches onto trucks, give them a fresh paint job, and install them as pedestrian bridges in parks. Attached are 3 maps showing my route through the Caucusian nations. Legend: Orange lines -- travel by bicycle Yellow lines -- travel by train Blue lines -- travel by ferry And here's a list of all of the posts so far. Kazakhstan, part 1, Almaty 2 Train Station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4467027 Kazakhstan, part 2. Trainwatching near the Almaty 1 station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4467835 Kazakhstan, part 3, Almaty 1 train station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4468789 Kazakhstan, part 4. Boarding train 41 https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4469593 Kazakhstan, part 5. Train 41 to Turkistan https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4470456 Kazakhstan, part 6. Turkistan City https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4471336 Kazakhstan, part 7. Silk Road Express on the steppes https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4472113 Kazakhstan, part 8. Train 378 to Aktau https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4472772 Kazakhstan, part 9. Train car details https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4473623 Kazakhstan, part 10. Stations and etc. https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4474370 Kazakhstan, part 11. Aktau City https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4475213 Kazakhstan, Part 12. Caspian Sea Ferry: new Asia-Europe routing https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4476138 Azerbaijan, part 1. Baku station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4477020 Azerbaijan, part 2. Train 664 to Balakan https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4477815 Azerbaijan, part 3. Balakan https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4478587 Georgia, part 1. Mtskheta https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4495266 Georgia, part 2. Tbilisi https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4496046 Georgia, part 3. Train 371 to Armenia https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4496838 Armenia, part 1.Yerevan Railway Station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4497661 Armenia, part 2. Regional Trains https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4498496 Armenia, part 3. Yerevan yards https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4499320 Armenia, part 4. Yerevan Childrens Railway https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4500760 Armenia, part 5. Childrens Railway Station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4501699 Armenia, part 6. Railway museum https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4502704 Armenia, Part 7. Boarding train 684 to Gyumri https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4515515 Armenia, Part 8. Riding train 684 https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4525133 Armenia, part 9. Gyumri Station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4525945 Armenia, part 10. Streamliner meet https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4526582 Armenia, Part 11. Gyumri roundhouse https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4527413 Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?6,4586814 Date: 07/05/18 18:54 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: gobbl3gook Also, reposting from Kazahkstan Part 12, the "Trans-Eurasia by Rail" option that will be available after the Kars-Akhalkalhi rail line opens up. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by rail, without going through Russia.
And a single map showing my route through the Caucasian nations. Again, blue is ferry, yellow = train, and orange = bicycle. Note that these countries are quite small. For instance, the Republic of Georgia is about half the size of the US State of Georgia. (see also the scale of miles in each map in the previous set of maps) Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/18 18:58 by gobbl3gook. Date: 07/12/18 19:09 Re: Georgia, Part 4, Akhalkalaki International Station Author: Lurch_in_ABQ Many thanks for your travelogue, pix, descriptions, geopolitical observations and especially your index/TOC which makes for easy re-reading.
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