English Russia » USSR

Real Christmas Toys

spanic — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:01:43 +0000

During this period of the year a lot of shops start selling Christmas toys but most of them are mass produced in enormous factories and cannot be considered “real”. This article is about the real Christmas toys and where they are produced.

Klavdievskaya factory is one of the few factories that produced Christmas ornaments during the Soviet Union era. In total there were 3 factories in Ukraine and 1 in Moscow region. This factory was established in 1949 in Klavdiev near Kiev and was originally engaged in production of different lab glassware. It is only in the 50s that the factory was reorganized to produce Christmas ornaments.

In the old days the factory used to employ 600 people, now there are only 10. About 96% of what they make is exported to other countries (Germany, USA, Canada, France, Belgium… ), only 4% stay in Ukraine.

The most interesting thing about this factory is that all the Christmas ornaments are and always were produced manually. From outside and from the inside this place creates an impression of abandonment. It’s been like that since the corruption of the USSR. But recently it was sold to a new owner and things should go better from now on.

Let’s take a look at the production process:

Detention Center for Minors

spanic — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:33:48 +0000

A look inside one of Russia’s detention centers for young adults.

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Inside a Russian Coal Mine

spanic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:20:23 +0000

Today we’ll go down to a depth of 70 meters below the surface, into one of Russia’s many coal mines and see how it all works. Plus, you’ll find out where the 120 meter semi-abandoned mast is located.

Coal mine “Moscow” located in the Tula region (9 km from the village Gritsovsky) is currently the only coal mine in the whole central region of Russia. This mine used to be very productive in the early 80’s but today, since people refuse to use coal as energy, the mine barely produces any coal at all. The decline began in the 90’s and at that time the Tula region alone employed more than 30 coal mines. There were also mines in Ryazan, Tver and Smolensk regions.

Construction of the mine began in 1967. It was assumed that this will be one of the largest mines of the Moscow coalfield. The mine was completed in 1974.

At the moment, the mine employs 80 people who are working in 4 shifts. Coal is produced in very low volumes and at the current price, it’s not very profitable for the mine.

The main mode of transportation in the mine is a narrow-gauge railroad with a track of 900 mm. There are 3 electric coal carriers working on the surface of the mine and 7 below.

The pile of slagheap (tailings) is located not far away from the mine and is accumulated in a very interesting manner. The container carrying the slagheap is rope fastened to the mast. It carries the material all the way to the top of the tower and then dumps it into the large pile of tailings. The height of the pile is about 50 meters and the height of the tower is 120.

General view of the mine.

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There are ongoing projects to continue the development of this industry, but so far no real action is taken. Before the decline of the coal industry this mine employed over 1800 people.

Here’s the plan of the mine. There are two shafts going into the surface. The main shaft is used to carry out coal and to pump oxygen. The auxiliary shaft is used to carry workers and equipment. This mine has three wings – the north wing, the south wing and the east wing. They can be easily identified on the map. The southern wing is partially flooded and the southeastern is filled with gases. The total length of the underground tunnels is about 26 kilometers.

The administrative building of the mine also has classrooms. Previously, students who wanted to become workers in this facility were trained in this building.

Scheme of the conveyor line.

A model of the 4PP-2 miner. It is only here that you can see the whole machine since it is assembled underground, in the tunnels, and is covered with earth from all of it’s sides.

Before descending into the mine, everybody has to get acquainted with the safety rules, change into working cloths, get a helmet, flashlight and a self-rescuer (a device for respiratory protection)

The main clock. Previously, the building was equipped with a special computer and each miner had a personal token which had to be stamped on these devices every time they started work. Today everything is turned off.

After this, everyone must go through an isolated chamber where the air pressure is equalized.

Elevator boarding point. The rails are for carrying equipment into the elevator on small wagons.

On top of the elevator we can see warning signs which are lit one after another.

The descent is quite fast.

After the descent everybody must pass the “acclimatization” tests in a special room.

Before going further into the tunnels, everybody must tell the supervisors their destination and the route that they will be taking. Also, while going through the tunnels, everybody must stop at checkpoints and report their position.

Everything used to be illuminated. The effect is demonstrated here with the use of exposure photography.

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Some levels of the mine are flooded.

The tunnel of the left is closed due to the large amount of gases that is contained in that area. There is a high pressure water pipe leading into that tunnel, just in case something happens.

One of the checkpoints. The head of the group had to report our position by using the phone located on the wall.

In this part of the tunnel there was a lot of substance on the ground due to the previous inflow of ground water. Everything has been repaired and the tunnel was reinforced to prevent this from happening again.

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An electric pump used to pump out water in case of a flood. These are located all over the place and are needed all the time. Without water pumps, the mine will be flooded in about 6 hours.

We are approaching the mining zone. On the picture above we can see what they call an “Electrotrain”. It is used to supply energy to the whole mechanized complex.

The mining zone. On the left we can see the material which will be extracted from the earth, in this case coal, and of the right we can see one side of the mining combiner.

The height of this tunnel is about 1.5 meters.

The cut coal is fed to the conveyor.

Conveyor drive.

Conveyor line on the right.

This is where all the coal is loaded from the conveyor line into the wagons.

In some places, the tunnels are supported by wooden sleepers which are not always in very good condition due to previous floods. This is why throughout the tunnels we can see these metal wires attached to the ceiling. They are under high tension and are used to support the ceiling if it starts to collapse.

One of many air pumps.

Water pipes which are no longer needed.

The electric trains take the coal to the main shaft, where it is unloaded into an elevator and sent to the surface.

The electric train depot. They are serviced and repaired here since they never go to the surface. There used to be 45 of these working at the same time, but today only a few remain functional.

Transport in Old Moscow

spanic — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:03:26 +0000

Ever wonder what were people driving back in the beginning of the 20th century? Like this tractor/car hybrid. This is actually a construction vehicle. On this picture we can see Prospect “Kalinina” being built.

This is what they used to mount the electric wires for the trolley buses.

More construction…

Back in those days, seaplanes could actually land on Moscow river, this plane is called Dornier Wal.

A steam powered boat of course…

And bikes…Lot’s of bikes

Here’s the mailman.

The flower vendor. “Delivering flowers to your House” says the ad. Note that in those times there were even number plates on bikes.

There were double-deckers too but they quickly disappeared.

This is apparently one of the first “electric” trams in Moscow.

A shop on wheels.

Going to the market.

Even the kids had something to drive.

The first imported police cars of the 90’s. Before that date police only used Russian built vehicles.

And why not, an elephant.

The Soviet Scooter

spanic — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:48:37 +0000

Viatka 3, 1974

In 1953, a year when Dwight Eisenhower became President, Soviet engineers produced something quite outstanding: the scooter. Just like almost everything else in the USSR, the scooter was initially a brick in the propaganda wall — it was supposed to become the means of transportation which your typical Soviet citizen could buy for their average two-month paycheck (just like Lenin promised.) And the engineers delivered, by accidentally producing a masterpiece.

Initially, Vyatka Industrial Plant which produced mostly military equipment, planned to copy Vespa-150, smack a red star-logo on the front and call it the Soviet scooter (that’s exactly what happened to the Soviet family car Lada, i.e. Fiat.) However, Vespa could not handle Russian roads, cold winters and poor quality fuel. Ironically, it still can’t. So naturally, there was a need for some industrial design and engineering.

In 1957, when the scooter went to mass production, it was truly the Soviet-made product. The scooter, called Vyatka, was 15 percent lighter than Vespa, had more power, could reach 60 miles per hour in 10 seconds and could be easily disassembled for storage; there were other innovations implemented, including electric start. From 1960 to 1975 there were some 1.5 million scooters produced.

In 1960, another Soviet scooter appeared on the market. “Tula”, produced by yet another military plant, was heavier than Vyatka and had much more power. It instantly became a hit in the villages, where farmers bought this cheap little vehicle, added huge trunks and used it to transport their pigs, potatoes and chickens.

The last Soviet scooter was produced in the 1990.

Turist, 1965:

Tula-T 200, 1962: