The Frontier at Luzhayka

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Saturday evening was our train to Leningrad. A very adventurous way to enter the Soviet Union thought I! The train departed from Helsinki Station, designed by Eliel Saarinen, with its destination Finland Station in Leningrad. The Soviet Railways (SZD) train backed down to the platform, and very mysterious looking it was. The sleeping car had compartments for four passengers, each with two bunkbeds and a table at the window. A corridor ran down one side of the car. Along the corridor were round jump seats at the windows. The conductor sat at one end of the car and kept an eye on the corridor. After we had departed, he collected our passports and customs and currency declarations and took them back to his post. I thought about the stories I'd heard of the Russian floor wardens on each floor of the hotels. On the other hand, it was not so different from the sight of an American conductor working on his ticket lifts from the preceding day.

At around four o'clock in the morning the train came to a halt. Peering out of the window, I could see the train was bathed in bright floodlights. Border guards in greatcoats and carrying automatic weapons milled about the platform. The border control point had arrived. We were entering the Soviet Union! A guard banged on each compartment door and demanded passports. I think this was was a show meant to intimidate. However, I could hear the passengers in the compartment next door announced they were a religious group. I did not see how the border guard reacted to that declaration.

Now, this really was a scene straight out of Graham Greene's novel Stamboul Train!

Morning found the train running though a thick forest of pine and birch. I took up my seat at the window once again. The train began to make stops at local stations. I had expected that an international express like this would run nonstop from the border. But it didn't. In fact, it took on the character of a commuter train. I can't say whether or not we had picked up local coaches at some point. The local platforms were crowded with Sunday morning travelers bound for Leningrad.

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Photos

Birch Forest
Birch forest and village en route to Leningrad. EE1975022a

Finland Station
Postcard of Finland Staton, Leningrad, with its statue of Lenin. EE1975900