ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Siberian Oddysey

FanTAStic post Hutch You are to be warmly thanked and congratulated!

It's a real blast from the past - but considering it's all 'current' ('scuse the pun ) it rather puts into perspective how life in the former USSR carries on. It's amazing how cavalier these countries seem against our own standards and set-ups, yet it works just fine...

This was one of the most enjoyable reads I have had on here for ages; if you have any more I don't suppose it would bore any of us!!

How did you come to be in Siberia?? I thought deportation to the place finished years ago!!

Thanks again!

 
Hutch, that is an interesting travelogue. It does speak to similarities and differences of electrical systems all over the planet.

Although not unique to Siberia, looking at your socket/receptacle pictures and their round pins finally clicked with some electrical components I’ve seen in catalogs for years—not imagining how they would be used. Being from an area where plug/sockets have flat blades, use of voltmeter “lantern” probes makes very good sense in most other parts of the world—for they must fit nicely into most outlets.


[Hope this doesn’t goof up page formatting too badly.]

Ahh yes Bjarney,
The 4mm "Banana" plug!.
The main-stay of all the Electrical laboratories and training establishments, I've ever been in.
BTW, anyone here have a Fluke thermocouple adapter for thier meter?.
I believe, that the 2 pin connector would just about fit into one of them sockets

Hutch,
Just to ask a question that has already been asked.
I realise that your profession as a Geologist, would take you to the far corners of the earth, but what sort of rock formations or stone types would draw you to this corner of the globe?.
TIA Ian.

What is the yellow stuff under the cables. It looks like sticky tape. What did they use to attach the cable to the walls.

To address UKSparky’s original concern, I would like to point out that current Australian immigration forms ask the visitor if they have a criminal record. The correct answer is to ask if one is still necessary!!

Seriously though, without going too far off topic on this board and to answer your question Mike, the Russian Far East is highly prospective for gold and other minerals - that's what saw me there. From discovery early in the 1900’s through to the present day the area has produced vast quantities of gold, far more than Alaska and the Yukon Territory with which it shares a common geological origin. This needs tempering by the fact that the majority of the metal was won by prison labour in Stalin’s gulags between 1935 and 1955, and that many of the mines would never have made any commercial sense in a market economy.

During the Cold War, much of the area comprised military reserves and was closed even to Russians (remember the Korean airliner shot down over the Kamchetka Peninsula?) This meant that very little to no modern mineral prospecting has been carried out. Early this month I landed on that same Peninsula at Petropavlovsk (home to the Soviet Pacific submarine fleet), en route to Magadan, and off loaded nearly 70 American fishermen and hunters (complete with large rifles) – how times have changed!!

To steer this back to topic though, Vladivostok where we ended up was a closed city until 1992 being the headquarters of the Russian Pacific surface fleet.

Full size

Here is a colourful 5 foot gauge, Vladivostok tram heading west to the station at the end of the Trans Siberian Railway. In other words, having traveled the 9288 km from Moscow on the longest electric railway in the world, there is still 9 km of electric tramway to complete your journey to the eastern suburbs of Vladivostok – a little known fact. .

From a technical side the overhead wire was of a different construction to a normal street tramway being a catenary system. The pairs of wires over each track and some dropper wires can just be made out in the photograph (you might need to go full size). Trolley bus routes also used this wiring method and it made for lots of (and unsightly) aerial cable especially at junctions.




[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 06-24-2005).]

To answer rad74ss’s question – I’m not sure. The cable appeared to be held down with aluminium strap-like clamps every metre or so – you can see these also in the photos. To be honest, I only noticed the strip when processing the pictures for posting here. Without the flash, it was somewhat gloomy and I was not aware of it. It looks like it could be double-side tape (?) but then I’d expect flies to be stuck to it! Could it be marking tape – i.e. the layout guy was not the installer or something to stop the varnish rotting the cheap plastic insulation?

I see what you mean about the catenary. There are three styles of catenaries used for tramways here in Europe. I'll put the explanations into a new thread since there are already many pictures here and I don't want to add even more.
I love the pic, as you might remember I'm a tramway freak.
For an urban tramway that type of catenary is pretty over the top and really ugly. Here it is mostly used for big railways and one line of the subway system, but never for tramways.

The power pickup is a really old-fashioned style. So-called lyra power pickups weren't used here after about 1930, the first more modern pickups appeared on the "Vienna Electrical Stadtbahn" in 1925. Lyra pickups give the cars a very distinct style.

Hutch, do you still have these pictures on-line somewhere? I was looking for this thread to show to someone and was dissapointed the pictures are gone.