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Kim Jong Un's train on BBC 10 o'clock news
- Thread starter Gordon
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Please Explain
Member
Great find Gordon!
Was this on arrival in Vietnam? That DF4d looks like a DPRK lok on the front, so I guess that took it all the way through PRC, out through Dandong?
@route101,
Dunno if it's been the exact same train over the years but his dad and grandad certainly went out through Tumangang / Khasan, along the Trans-Siberian by train several times back in the day to Moskva and beyond to party with Ceaușescu in Bucharest and Honecker in Berlin!
Was this on arrival in Vietnam? That DF4d looks like a DPRK lok on the front, so I guess that took it all the way through PRC, out through Dandong?
@route101,
Dunno if it's been the exact same train over the years but his dad and grandad certainly went out through Tumangang / Khasan, along the Trans-Siberian by train several times back in the day to Moskva and beyond to party with Ceaușescu in Bucharest and Honecker in Berlin!
With bogie and traction change I assume if it was the same stock through working.
Please Explain
Member
Yeah, they jack the cars up at Tumangang to do that.
Check this out for more info:
http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/?m=1
It's absolutely one of the best stories I have ever read on the whole entire Internet! Helmut also posts here on the forum from time-to-time as @provodnik .
As I have always been long fascinated with the Warsaw Pact / USSR / DPRK and their railways myself, Helmut and Oliver's 2008 DPRK adventure inspired me to make a similar trip myself last year and I got as far as the border at Khasan..
It was a crazy experience I'll never forget and will write up a blog post of my own as soon as I find the time hopefully before the summer.
Check this out for more info:
http://vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com/?m=1
It's absolutely one of the best stories I have ever read on the whole entire Internet! Helmut also posts here on the forum from time-to-time as @provodnik .
As I have always been long fascinated with the Warsaw Pact / USSR / DPRK and their railways myself, Helmut and Oliver's 2008 DPRK adventure inspired me to make a similar trip myself last year and I got as far as the border at Khasan..
It was a crazy experience I'll never forget and will write up a blog post of my own as soon as I find the time hopefully before the summer.
Esker-pades
Established Member
It was quoted has having a 35mph top speed with a journey time from Pyong Yang (North Korea) to Hanoi (Vietnam) of 60 hours.
I think that's average speed which makes sense for around 2200 miles, and that seems reasonable measured on Google Earth although I've no idea of the exact route followed. Looks fairly modern bogie stock, and would expect maximum permitted speed to be at least 100kph.
S.Zeitblom
New Member
By commercial service, Pyongyang - Beijing is 22 hours or so, Beijing-Hanoi 36 hours, so 60 hours looks very reasonable. I did exactly the same trip as Mr Kim 3 years ago ; the speed was noticeably low within North Korea and Vietnam (probably because of the infrastructure more than because of the rolling stock)
farci
Member
AFAIK it's standard gauge all the way via China to Vietnam. Tumangang is a connection to Russian gauge for the Trans-Siberian.
The coaches are based on a Chinese design so probably no gauging problems
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