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Published: September 16th 2009
On the evening of 18th of August, we left Tolyatti by bus for the near by city of Sumara. From there we climbed aboard a train bound for Novosibirsk, capital of Siberia. It was a very hot evenning, and as we walked down the platform to find our carriage, everyone had piled-off of the train to get some air, most stripped off to the waist. I began to suspect that another 'banya'-like experience was on it's way. The train was indeed very hot, and on most Russian trains you can't open the windows- genius! But sheer fatigue made sleeping possible. During this journey we befriended some Russians: Lyena, Lyena and Yan, who were travelling in the same section of the 'Platskarte' carriage. We passed the time with many a game of cards.
Russian trains move very slowly, and come to think of it, should be fairly efficient... certainly the air-resistance losses must be low. They also stop for an hour or so, every four or five hours. Because of the slow overall pace of the journey, they are always exactly on schedule. When the trains stop you can often hear (and feel) carriages been shunted around, attached and disconnected. At
every stop, mechanics walk around and play music, bashing the wheels and breaks with metal rods; we were unable to figure out the objective of this process, despite making numerous enquiries. It appears to be some kind of safety check, and apparently a similar thing used to happen on UK trains. Perhaps if anyone knows about this they could write me a message.
The hour was already late when we reached our destination. We hadn't organised anywhere to stay, but luckily outside Russian train-stations there are usually Babushkas handing around who will offer you a room for the night, and we were able to find just such an arrangement.
The next day we went to a small place called Academigordok (not sure about the spelling), literally meaning 'academic town'. This place was devised by the soviets to be an idyllic setting for academic work and education institutions. The town is very leafy and pleasant, much quieter than the big cities. It's situated near a huge lake, where an artificial beach was constructed for the enjoyment of the large student population in the town. I had never expected to find myself sunbathing on a beach in Siberia! Academigordok is
still home to various Universities and colleges and a large student population. That afternoon we went to the local Archaeology & Ethnology museum, which housed an interesting collection, documenting the history of Siberia. We were also able to tag-along with a tour-group (who were visiting on some kind of computer science convention) to visit the famous 'church with no nails' a short drive out of town. This was quite an impressive structure which had apparently been flown-in by helicopter from somewhere else in Siberia.
That evening we wandered around Novosibirsk. We had found the Russian 'Rock City' club (Rock City being a beloved rock and metal club and venue in Nottingham), but it seemed pretty expensive and not quite what we were expecting, so we gave it a miss. Later on we meet some Russian chaps and Tom got involved in a discussion with them. At some point during proceedings, Tom was mugged. Realising this just in time, he was able to un-mug himself using Russian and a sense of indignation. Which was lucky!
The next day involved a little more wandering around the city. That evening we went back to the station to start the next leg
of our journey to the far east.
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Chris Bennett
non-member comment
Wheel tappers and shunters social club
Have you nver heard of the Wheel tappers and shunter social club? It was a cover in post-revolutionary russia for the secret service. State informants posed as railway workers to root out counter-revolutionaries and secret card schools. transgressors would later be engaged in conversation and mugged. To get their belongings back transgressors would have to ' join the wheel tappers and shunters club'. Club members were reported to have risen to the highest echelons of the soviet state system. During the Cuban revolution cane cutters shouted: Socialismo o meutre pero no calidad de miembro de wheel tappers and shunters social club.' In the castro era a similar organisation became known as the Buena Vista Social Club. Ask Tom to look in his metalergy books. Hit a cracked wheel and it makes a dull thud, hit a good one and it rings.