Has anyone seen the train station on a visit to Tsarskoe Selo? It is such an important place, and i wondered if anyone could tell me what it is like now? In Peter Kurth's book it says "The ruins of the train station.." with a photo of the imperial crest in poor condition on the station walls. The book was published some time ago though, and i wondered if the station was still in the same state?
Best wishes,
Elisa
Hi Elisa,
In response to your original question about the imperial train station, I saw it a few weeks ago, or rather its ruins. Yes, it is still in ruins. It is about a 15-20 minute walk from the AP via Akademichesky Prospekt. The station looks very incongruos standing there among new (or relatively new) apartment buildings, as it is the newer area of town, and back in the early 20th there wasn't much around there.
I took lots of photos of the surrounding area and the station itself, inside and out, and I will post them after I get back. The doors to the station are blocked off, so you can't get inside, but if you really try, you can look through the windows, and this is how I was able to get some shots of the inside. It is not a pretty picture. Everything is literally in ruins, it is obvious that at some point or another it served as an inofficial shelter perhaps to the homeless (rubbish, bottles, grafitty, etc.). But you can still make out the imperial crests, and imagine what it looked like back then. Also, the rails are now gone, but you can sort of tell where they were... When you see the pictures, you will see what I mean.
Helen