Trans Siberian Railway Badge

[parkender102]

My wife just found this in her Jewellery Box. She was given it by the conductor as we left the Trans Siberian Railway (Trans Manchurian Route) in 1989 (Moscow to Beijing). I always assumed it said Moscow - Beijing with SZD as the Russian State Railways. Using Google Translate says it may say Shenyang - wondering if it was because in those days the Russian Loco was changed out for a Chinese one at Shenyang? I remember Bogie changes going on at the Russia / China Border and also the Russian Dining Car being replaced by a Chinese one - but not sure about the Loco. Any information greatly appreciated. I'm currently modelling the Trans Siberian Railway Moscow to Beijing in HO so it's now taken pride of place on the Obelisk that marks the border between Europe and Asia.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

The name at the bottom of the badge is Пхеньян, the Russian name for Pyongyang in North Korea. There used to be a train between Moscow and Pyongyang twice a month, which stopped when North Korea closed its borders at the outbreak of the COVID19 pandemic.

 

[StephenHunter]

SZD was Soviet State Railways, but it's odd to see it in the Latin alphabet - it would be СЖД in Cyrillic. Russia's state operator is RZD or РЖД in Cyrillic.

 

[etr221]

While ZD/ЖД is the Russian abbreviation for 'Railway', and used in the names of the individual railways, with SZD/СЖД used for Soviet Railways (as a whole), the details of how the railways were owned, organised, and run by the relevant ministry, or what SZD/СЖД actually, officially stood for escape me - while I often think 'Soviet Railways', there are are number of other Russian words (for union, network or system) which might apply. But 'State' was included - in the Soviet system it just was, and taken for granted.

But I too am surprised to see it in Latin letters, while the two place names are both in Cyrillic.

My suspicion is that the item is just a souvenir badge, for the through service Moscow-Pyongyang: did this always go straight from Russia to North Korea, via the Hasan-Tumangan link, or was there a one time a service via China - either via Beijing, or just across Manchuria?

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

My suspicion is that the item is just a souvenir badge, for the through service Moscow-Pyongyang: did this always go straight from Russia to North Korea, via the Hasan-Tumangan link, or was there a one time a service via China - either via Beijing, or just across Manchuria?

Both.

On that day we departed from Irkutsk for Pyongyang. The trip was in the direct sleeping car Moscow – Pyongyang, which runs twice monthly (11th and 25th at 21:25 from Moscow, 4 days later from Irkutsk). It is a sleeping car of the North Korean railways, which makes it very interesting. It is attached to train no. 2 "Rossiya" (Moscow – Vladivostok), one of the most famous and prestigious trains of Russian railways (RZD). With this train it runs from Moscow to Ussuriysk, about 100 km before Vladivostok. There it is detached in the early morning of the 18th and 4th (of course one day earlier after a month with 31days..) and continues in the afternoon with a local train to the border station Khasan, where it arrives late evening. Only on the next day (19th and 5th) at lunch time the sleeping-car crosses the border to North Korea to Tumangan, from where it leaves in the evening attached to a domestic Korean train Tumangan – Pyongyang, to arrive finally at Pyongyang the next evening at 21:25 (20th and 6th of each month).

[...]

There is also a 2nd direct train connection from Moscow to Pyongyang. The weekly train no. 20 (Moscow – Beijing) conveys direct sleeping cars Moscow – Pyongyang. They go via China and are detached from the main train at Shenyang, wait there for some hours and the continue with the Beijing – Pyongyang train. Departure from Moscow is every friday at 23:55, arrival at Pyongyang is one week later at 19:30. Distance is 8625 km, travel time 158h35min.

Boarding the direct train to Pyongyang

2008-09-15 On that day we departed from Irkutsk for Pyongyang. The trip was in the direct sleeping car Moscow – Pyongyang, which runs twi...

vienna-pyongyang.blogspot.com

 

[Taunton]

The routing, and timetable, of the twice-weekly through sleeper from Moscow to Pyongyang is shown in this Cooks timetable for 1966

 

[parkender102]

Cheers - maybe just a random badge they had hanging around on the train. Amazed we still have it. I will still see it as Moscow - Beijing though! Whilst coincidentally putting the Destination Plates on the Russian Sleeper Coaches today on my Trans Siberian Railway Layout I noticed they actually say Oslo - Moscow. However the lettering is so minute that no-one will ever notice - I had to take a picture with my Camera Phone and zoom in to be able to read