The Man in Seat 61...
Follow:
Europe to China on the Trans-Mongolian Express...
First, let me note I was inspired to run this by a piece Brian Williams narrated tonight on the Trans Siberian railroad on NBC nightly news.. it was fantastic. But many of you of course did not see it and may know nothing of that line.
Let me note here that I love trains. It's a family tradition. My father was deeply into model railroading and had a huge collection of European and American toys and models..
Every Christmas we would really get busy and soon the air would be smelling of the shorting out of some of the track links for the O gauge and later HO systems we would set up...my father of course had as much fun with this as my older brother and I (let's face it, more so).
I love train travel and Amtrak and while the U.S. may not really be ready for super high speed trains such as they have in China and Europe, we have plenty of incentive to keep our rail netowork going.
Moscow to Beijing by train . . .
For practical information on times, fares & buying tickets, see the Trans-Siberian page.
This
is an account of a Moscow to Beijing journey on Trans-Siberian train
number 4, the weekly Chinese train from the Russian to the Chinese capital via
Mongolia. For an account of the Moscow to Vladivostok journey,
see here.
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Day
1, evening: Yaroslavski station, Moscow.
Trans-Siberian trains leave from this distinctive station in central
Moscow. Train 4 to Beijing leaves Moscow Tuesday nights.
Photo courtesy of Peter & Janet Jackson.
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The departure board at Yaroslavski
station shows train 4 to 'Pekin' leaving at 21:35. The
platform is not yet displayed...
Photo courtesy of Tony Willis.
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Train 4
is a Chinese train, each carriage proudly displaying a destination
board marked "Moscow-Ulan Bator-Beijing".
You'll find plenty of westerners on board, with a party atmosphere
all the way. There'll be plenty of Chinese, Russians & Poles
to meet, too. Photo
courtesy of Tony Willis.
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This is a
4-berth sleeper. By day, you sit on the lower bunks with the
upper ones raised. Your luggage is under the berths or above
the door to the corridor. Courtesy of Tony Willis.
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A samovar
at the end of every car provides free boiling water. Bring
some instant coffee, cocoa or noodles. Courtesy of Tony
Willis.
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The train
calls at Omsk... The train stops at a station every few hours,
usually for 5-20 minutes, long enough to stretch your legs, buy
something from the station traders or stalls, and take photographs.
But not long enough for a tour of the town, so stay close to the train!
Within Russia, Trans-Siberian trains are pretty punctual.
Above right, your compartment becomes a home from home...
Incidentally, 'Compartment' is the correct term on a train, 'cabin' is
what you get on a ship. Photos
courtesy of Tony Willis.
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Days 2,
3, 4 & 5 are spent crossing Siberia...
The train crosses the boundary from Europe to Asia in the Urals at
kilometre post 1,777, some 1,111 miles east of Moscow, although as train
4 passes this point around 01:00 in the small hours on day 3, you probably won't see the
famous obelisk marking
the boundary. On day 4, the train rounds Lake Baikal, the deepest
fresh water lake in the world, with excellent views of the lake. Photos courtesy of Tony Willis.
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Typical
Siberian scenery... You do like birch trees, don't you?
You'll see endless birches in Siberia, and villages of little wooden
houses with mud streets. The scenery is lush and green in summer
and it can be humid, although train 3/4 isn't fully air-conditioned.
There are occasional glimpses of onion-domed churches. It's not
all rural of course - around the cities, you'll see much of Siberia's
heavy industry. Photos courtesy of Tony Willis.
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The train
calls at Novosibirsk, one of Siberia's largest cities and another
chance for you to stretch your legs.
Photos courtesy of Tony Willis.
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A Russian
restaurant car is attached in Russia. Beer, excellent Russian
tea, schnitzels, chicken, ham & eggs. The food isn't exactly
gourmet, but it's filling and inexpensive, at around $10-$15 for a
complete meal, Roubles or US Dollars accepted. Photo courtesy
of Peter & Janet Jackson.
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Some of these
venerable Skoda CHS2s are still in service. Up front, the
locomotive is changed regularly...
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Day 5,
Sunrise over Lake Baikal...
After an early-morning call at Irkutsk, the train rounds the bottom end of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest
freshwater lake. At times, the train runs right by the lake shore. Courtesy of Peter & Janet Jackson.
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Station
traders sell biscuits, sausages, chocolate and other foodstuff on
platforms along the way. You won't go hungry! Photos
courtesy of Peter & Janet Jackson.
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Day 5, afternoon: Ulan Ude. Here,
train 4 swings south off the main Trans-Siberian line onto the
Trans-Mongolian route, completed in the 1950s.
Photos courtesy of Tony Willis.
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In the warm
afternoon sun, the train follows the Selenge River south to the
Mongolian Border... Photo Mark Smith
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Day 5,
evening: Naushki is the Russian border point, reached in the evening.
The train spends 2-3 hours here.
Photo courtesy of Tony Willis.
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Day 5, sunset.
You enter Mongolia at Suche Bator late at night on day 5, where the
train spends an hour or two. Passport formalities are carried out
on board the train. Photo courtesy of
Tony Willis.
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Day 6: Welcome to Mongolia!
The scenery has changed totally. You wake to grassy
steppe covered in early morning dew, approaching Ulan Bator.
Courtesy of Tony Willis.
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Day 6,
morning: Ulan Bator. The train spends half an hour here,
so take a stroll on the platform in the morning sun. Photo Marc
van Dyck
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Heading south from Ulan Bator. More grassy steppe and wild
flowers as the train heads for the Gobi desert...
Photo courtesy
of Photo Marc
van Dyck.
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Day 6: The Gobi
Desert: The train now crosses the wide open spaces of the Gobi
desert.
Watch out for 'yurts' (the Mongolian nomads' circular tents) and camels.
Photos courtesy of Marc van
Dyck & Tony
Willis.
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A
Mongolian restaurant car is attached for day 6. Expect mutton
& rice to feature on the menu, with Mongolian beer. Courtesy of Tristan
Wilson.
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More Gobi
Desert. The train toils across the vast open spaces.
Keep those eyes peeled for camels and yurts!
Photo courtesy of Tony
Willis.
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Yurt alert!
You'll often spot yurts, the tents used by the nomads on the Mongolian
Gobi. Courtesy Tom Woods.
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Still on the Gobi...
Courtesy Tony Willis.
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Day 6:
Choir. Watch out for the stainless steel statue of Mongolia's
only cosmonaut in front of the station building, a local boy made good...
Photo courtesy
of Tony Willis.
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Day 6,
evening: The Chinese border at Erlan. The train first
spends an hour and a half at the Mongolian border point Dzamin Uud, then
crosses to the Chinese border point, Erlan (also spelt Erlyan or
Erlian). Welcome to China! After a brief halt in Erlan
platform accompanied by triumphant martial music played at full volume over the station's
loudspeakers, the train is soon shunted off to the gauge-changing shed.
Here, each carriage is separated and jacked up to have its bogies
(wheelsets) changed from Russian 5' gauge to the standard 4' 8½" gauge used in China. You
can remain on board while this is done, or get off at the station before
the train is taken away. However, if you choose to get off it will
be some time before you can rejoin the train. The train spends
almost 4 hours at Erlan, including the gauge-changing procedure, and it
doesn't finally leave until almost 1am.
See a
video of the bogie-changing process. Right photo courtesy of Tony
Willis, left photo courtesy of
Sascha
& Manuela Dubach. The photo above left in fact
shows train 23 at Erlan, with MTZ (Mongolian Railways) sleepers.
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A Chinese
locomotive is attached at Erlan for the journey to Beijing. Courtesy of Marc van Dyck
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Scenery
next morning in China...
Photo courtesy of Tony Willis
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Day 7,
China: Once again, the scenery has changed completely.
You're now crossing the mountains of northern China. Watch out for
glimpses of the Great Wall of China in the distance. A Chinese
restaurant car has been attached at Erlan, serving excellent Chinese
food. Photos courtesy of Tony
Willis.
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Day 7, afternoon:
Arrival in Beijing. Journey's end, at Beijing's main station,
6 nights and 4,735 miles from Moscow. Your arrival may be on time,
but can sometimes be an hour or two late if the train has lost time at
the border. Photos courtesy of Tony Willis
& Peter Jackson.
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