I’m going to kick this off with a video I have compiled of the train changing gauge from Ukrainian wide gauge to Polish standard gauge. This is also my first experiment with Vimeo, a high quality video sharing site. So let me know how the quality of the video looks on this host.
The gauge change took a couple of hours total, and we were in the train the whole time. The first couple of seconds show us going by the machines which do the lifting, and you can see that the track in the middle is actually two tracks, the outer being wide gauge, with standard gauge in the middle. So in our case, the train rolled in on the wide gauge, the bogies were unbolted from the carriage, these machines lifted the carriage straight up, new, standard gauge bogies were slid in, pushing the others out of the way, and we were set back down, ready to roll. I think they just replace the locomotives with the proper one.
So, without further ado, the video:
Oh, beware watching Vimeo videos on non-Intel macs, apparently it will always be choppy sound and video. Not sure why.
More to come on the post exam trip. Captains log is being typed up now. Travel info for Kiev and people to avoid in L’viv, as well as a review of several accommodations along the way. Stay tuned!
Posted by jrtaff 