International Railroad Discussion > Trans Siberian Express Trip Part 5

At many stations along the route there were preserved or cosmetically restored steam locomotives on display. 

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The blue locomotive is a WWII memorial located near Novosibirsk. We also visited the excellent outdoor railway museum there. A story on to itself. We were running late due to traffic in the city. Our very Soviet style tour guide said we would only have 15 minutes at the railway museum. We felt at least an hour was needed. So we had our own revolution on the bus and insisted on longer time. Taxis were arranged to take several of us to meet up with the group at the main attraction....the Mineral Museum where a lunch with "scientists" was arranged. Turns out the guide was only interested in getting her commission for junk that would be purchased in the gift shop. She was not at all happy with those of us who skipped the museum. I noticed on the tour the older guides strictly followed the program. The younger ones didn't seem to care if some of us wandered off for tram riding or to find a decent off train meal as long as we were back to the station for departure time.   Photo No.3 here and following are all from that museum followed by a preserved portion of the original bridge over the Ob River.  We were unsuccessful in getting the guide to wait for a train to cross the adjacent currently used bridge. 

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More from the museum.

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A few more.

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Two more and the preserved portion of the original bridge.

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That is a very interesting observation about the older vs. younger tour guides.
Apparently those who grew up under the USSR were conditioned to never deviate from the plan, the younger ones have discovered what freedom means.
That's the appeal of travel, to me.  You set out with a list of things you'd like to see and learn, but it is the surprising things you discover along the way that are most memorable.

I'm enjoying this series!  Thanks for posting.  

I had plans to do St. Petersburg to Sakhalin this summer.  The east half of Siberia via the Baikal Amur Mainline.  But it's not going to happen.  Maybe in 2021.  

(I have always figured I'd take the Trans Siberian Express at least once in my life.  Only recently have I learned that there are local and slower trains most, if not all, of the way.  So that will be my preference...). 

Ted in UT
 

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> That is a very interesting observation about the
> older vs. younger tour guides.
> Apparently those who grew up under the USSR were
> conditioned to never deviate from the plan, the
> younger ones have discovered what freedom means.

As some one who's heritage is from in/around the Caucasus Mountain region, most people have no idea of how dramatically true that statement is. More specifically though, it is the older ones that would have accepted/believed/lived by the doctrine of either the Tzarist government of old Russia or of the USSR that would be absolute sticklers for "this is the way it is done." 

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> A few more.

The blue VL22M 1442 is a beatiful machine; between 1946 and 1958 they built over 1,500 of them! Up until a couple of years ago a few were still puttering around Kutaisi, Georgia, in passenger service but I believe that now there aren't any more on any railway rosters.