Thanks for the compliments Guys,
I was inspired to snap these photo by your posting of interesting local electrical variants, plus Joe Tedesco’s holiday snaps that were posted recently. I made a conscious decision that on this trip I would snap as many examples of the electrical systems of Siberia that I could. The power station visit was an unexpected bonus. A new 128 KB CompactFlash Card for my digital camera with a capacity of 450 shots all at a cost of $25 really helped!
Paul, thanks for the generator calculations – I tried it myself but forgot the root 3 and hence I could not get it to balance. I think the ‘M’s on the left hand side are head of water in metres, this being a hydroelectric plant. I suspect they are maximum, minimum and optimal(?).
Thanks for the comments on the piped radio – it seemed to be everywhere, even the railway compartment we over-nighted in from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok.
2.5 sq mm could be correct for the wire gauge but there were no markings I could see what so ever on the cable and I didn’t check the fuse rating. As it was the board was so high up that I had to hold my camera above my head to get the picture. On one old mine site I came across a discarded length of 3-core flat, white ribbon cable with nothing to differentiate the wires under the outer (and only) insulation. I can only assume, with the lack of any earthing evident that the cable was intended for travelers.
It was interesting talking to my Russian counterparts. They remarked that Stalin was a great admirer of the Tennessee Valley Authority electrification schemes of the 1930’s and sought to emulate it throughout the Soviet Union. Certainly there was electric power of sorts in even the most basic of settlements.
Apart from the towns, it is a beautiful part of the world with the bright yellow and orange autumnal shades giving New England a run for its money. There are big rivers, rolling hills and snow capped mountains but I suspect the winters are brutal. Khabarovsk is a beautiful ‘European’ city with China just across the Amur river quite an anomaly and obviously receiving lots of federal money as the capital of the Russian Far East.
