I found the article quite interesting. I didn’t know the whole line was electrified. Here in North America we’ve been debating the merits of electrification over such long hauls for a long time, and here we have Russia where it has been done for years. Do the Russians know something we don’t? Or do they have vast hydroelectric power generation perhaps?
The answer is “yes” to hydroelectric. But also, look at the remoteness of the line…transporting and storing fuel would be a logistic nightmare and expensive. Cheaper to put it in the wire. And also coal and diesel fuel are not as abundant as they are eleswhere. It was mostly steam at one time, yes, but it was an easy decision for electricity.
One thing to remember about Russian main-line electrification is the Russian railroads are state run, and have the benefit of (almost) unlimited government support. Main-line electrification in this country would have to be paid for by the 'roads themselves, and it’s a pretty expensive proposition.
There are a lot of photos and vidieos on the Russian Railway Ring.
http://parovoz.com/rrr/index.php?CAT=PICT&LANG=EN&ORDERBY=3
One thing Ihave noticed, while the lines are clearly electrified (overhead) , they run a lot of diesel locomotives too. It appears that most switching is performed by diesels. There are also a lot of diesel freight and passenger trains running under the wire.
Diesel locomotive plant in Astana, Kazakhstan making GE “evolution” series locomotives.
http://englishrussia.com/2011/04/25/evolutional-production-of-locomotives/#more-48175
Kazahkstan has placed a big order for electrics also;
Map showing Kazahk railways including which lines are electrified, also shows three small neighboring countries to the south;
Astana the capitol is shown under its old name Akmola.
For those who would like a sort of vicarious travel experience on the Trans Siberian RR there are a number of numerically sequenced videos of the 1 week plus trip.
Linked video #! starts here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3NIWiaW1n8
Each video is somewhere around 10 minutes each. So go get your popcorn and soda and enjoy! [:-^]
Note that the Russian Electric locomotives use a steering wheel, apparently for a throttle? [:#]
Thanks for that youtube link…a little dated but otherwise quite entertaining to watch.
Wheel throttles are very common, all over Europe.