From 1 – 3 June 2018, the first joint exhibition of Czech and Russian rail modellers took place at the VIP lounge of the Rizhskiy railway station in Moscow.
The opening ceremony of the exhibition was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the Czech Railways (ČD) Mr Ludvík Urban, on the behalf of Russian Railways (RZD) welcomed the participants of the exhibition: the Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Chief Engineer Mr Sergei Kobzev, accompanied by the Director of the Social Department Sergei Chernogaev. Both leading statutory representatives of the national railway companies highly appreciated the fact that the first such exhibition had been successfully prepared. The exhibition confirms very good relations between ČD/SŽDC and RZD and it promises future cooperation in the field of culture and leisure of railway workers.
During the exhibition, Czech modellers introduced to their Russian colleagues the activities of the international FISAIC organisation with more than a decade of history of the interoperable “Junior” module, which is the basis for the joint work of rail modellers, whether they are annual exhibitions in various European countries (always in connection with the Museum of Transport railways) as well as annual seminars organised for young modellers.
Czech railwaymen, regardless the record distance from home, exhibited in Moscow 15 “Junior” modules. The Russian modelers presented 37 modules to the scale of 1:87 (H0) to the general public, plus 17 modules to the scale of 1: 120 (TT). Overall, the exhibition of modellers offered to the satisfied visitors the largest number of 69 modules produced and operated by the railway youth.
As part of the accompanying programme, the Czech delegation visited the RZD Information and Education Centre at the Rizhskiy railway station, where they saw the history of Russian rail transport and the current rolling stock, train driver simulators, remote traffic control, intermodal transport systems and the model railway of 1:87 scale.
An interesting point of the programme was a visit of the Museum of the Moscow Railways, which is located directly at Rizhskiy railway station. The large exposition of historic railway vehicles, of which the six-axle armoured salon carriage of the Vladikavkaz type from 1907 is worth mentioning, which after the revolution belonged to the marshal Tukhachevskiy. The carriage weighs 84 tonnes. Among the more modern exhibits there is the prototype electric bi-current high-speed unit named “Sokol 250” developed for the Moscow-Saint Petersburg line. The “ER – 200” electric unit has an honourable place in the exhibition, which provided long - distance transport on the Moskva - Leningrad line from the 70´s until today ’s Sapsan.
The second museum, which the Czech delegation had the opportunity to visit, was the depot of steam locomotives “Podmoskevnaya” near Krasnyj Baltik station. In addition to the exposition and repair workshop of steam locomotives, the museum offers to visitors an introduction into the history of railway architecture and the beginnings of passenger checking and ticketing in Russia.
(Source: ČD)
