MTV-82
Soviet-era Moscow Tram Vehicle (MTV) in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Wikipedia photo (November 8, 2005).
Yury Maller
September 21, 2012
Our September presentation will be an extraordinary digital slideshow by Yury Maller covering the vast territory formerly known as the USSR, and now divided into 15 independent states.
Yury will begin his whirlwind tour in Eastern Prussia, formerly of Germany until the end of World War II, travel through the Baltic States, then visit Belarus, the last dictatorship in Europe. He will continue through central Russia, then onto Ukraine including former Austria-Hungarian territories, and travel through the Caucasus with a stopover in the Middle East. Finally he will cut through Siberia and finish in the Pacific Far East. On the way Yuri will visit the following world record-holding sites:
- The largest and the smallest tram and trolleybus systems anywhere;
- The northernmost tram and trolleybus systems in the world;
- The systems operated under the harshest weather conditions in the world; and
- The longest trolleybus interurban line in the world.
In addition, Yuri will treat us to a ride on the transcontinental tram. We’ll also see the unique trolleybus EMU trains and visit a tram system that is being run by railfans. We will also ride Brooklyn Peter Witt cars in St. Petersburg, ride the Russian version of American GM buses converted into trams and trolleybuses, and ride three times as many PCCs than the U.S. ever had. Did we mention that a great deal of the Russian electric traction technology can be attributed to the American know-how?