You could be mistaken in thinking that this is somewhere in Russia but actually it's Kazakhstan. Having just left Petropavl yards VL10U-1016 heads east towards Russia with a Trans Container block train.
The Railway line here is quite interesting in itself given that it is owned and operated by RZD. While it's not unusual to see another countries loco's near the border this line runs for roughly 180km in Northern Kazakhstan as trains travel from Kurgan to Omsk. Looking on a map the line saves a detour by doing so.
Traffic here is mainly made up of 2ES6's with the occasional VL10 for freight and EP2K's on long distance passenger trains. There are also a couple of suburban trains a day that run either side of Petropavl to Russia.
Tags: train trains rail railway Петропавл Russian RU bahn vlaky electric lok broad photo photos pic
© All Rights Reserved
A VL40M being quite the small loco for a long rake of coal wagons arrives into Astana's city limits from the North. VL40Ms are modernised half sections of a VL80 and seen to do odd jobs, smaller/shorter distance freights.
© All Rights Reserved
Mojynty (Мойынты), a little village of less than a 1000 people isn't a usual place for tourists to end up and this was made clear by the locals reaction to an Englishman wandering around in -15 degrees. However after their initial curiosity I was greeted with some of the warmest hospitality I'd ever received, chatted with locals and shared stories before heading out south of the station.
Here VL80S-265 leads a rake of hoppers south on the main north south line.
Tags: train trains rail railway bahn kolej freight cargo vlaky lok Kazakhstan Temir Joly
© All Rights Reserved
Seen leaving the capital of Kazakhstan, DAR Rail VL80S-593 gets underway with a box rake (presumably used for coal). The location in Astana where this is taken at sees trains only leaving the city with the inbound tracks being out of frame to the right. Here the private operated VL is heading to the north west line towards Atbasar. Of the two directions traffic can take here this line was the busiest with all but one freight that evening taking the north west line.
Tags: train trains rail railway bahn kolej freight cargo vlaky lok Kazakhstan Temir Joly
© All Rights Reserved
Pokrovka, located in the Almaty suburbs is an easy to reach location to see traffic on the Zhetygen - Almaty 1 line. Multiple passenger trains pass daily as well as numerous freights. Here TEP33A-0039 leads Dostyk - Almaty
TEP33A-0039 was built in 2021 and is one of 83 of GE's dedicated passenger locos of the Evolution family. The main difference from the others of the 33 series is the maximum speed of 160kp/h and a different livery, similar to that on the KZ4A Primas.
Tags: GE evolution train trains rail railway bahn kolej freight cargo vlaky lok Kazakhstan Temir Joly photo photos pic sky light green blue
© All Rights Reserved