Author Topic: Where was the station?  (Read 22826 times)

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John Walker

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Where was the station?
« on: April 29, 2012, 05:47:57 PM »
Can anyone tell me please whereabouts in Pushkin the imperial railway station stood?  I have seen several references to a broad tree lined road leading from the station to the Alexandra Palace.  Assuming the line was in the same place as today the shortest route from the railway to the Palace would have been from somewhere around Platform 24.  Why was the original station demolished and a 'ubiquitous Soviet structure' built in its present position?  Was it because of Great Patriotic War damage?  And further, the line continued to Pavlovsk where I believe the station was on a spur south-east of its present position.  Is that correct?  Presumably the line when original built went only as far as the Pavlovsk Palace but when extended to Novgorod and Pskov the line was diverted around the Palace park.  If so what happened to the spur and the original station building?

Offline Sarushka

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2012, 05:11:36 PM »
Copied from an older thread:

I've never been to Tsarskoye/Pushkin, so this is just a guess based on instructions, photos, and images from Google maps...


Step one: AP to Akademicheski Prospekt




Step two: Akademichesky Prospekt to ruins




Again, this is a guess. The building I've circled seems to match the size, shape, placement and color of the train station when seen via Google satellite images. When I zoom in, it's also the one of the few unlabeled building in the vicinity, which makes me think it could be the ruin. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Click here for more info: Imperial Train Station Ruins
« Last Edit: April 30, 2012, 05:14:10 PM by Sarushka »

John Walker

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2012, 02:49:40 AM »
Thank you, but if that is the case the whole line must have been in a different place.  If the line was built specifically for imperial business between Petersburg and Pushkin then it would have been logical for it to go directly towards the Alexander Palace and government buildings, stopping short to distance the attendant noise and smoke from the Imperial quarter.  If the line was built to go to Pavlovsk as well then logically it would have been built where it is now.  There is also the consideration of the contour of the land as the Palace area is considerably higher than the location of the present station.  My wife and I have an apartment in Pushkin where elderly relatives and friends can shed no light on the matter.  I will this summer go in search of your ruin!

pastpalacelife

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2012, 02:17:31 PM »
How wonderful that you have an apartment in Pushkin and are able to explore all the historic sites at your own pace! There is a lot of information on this site to give you details of the Imperial Train Station. Be sure and take pictures and post them please!

Offline BobG

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #4 on: June 11, 2012, 12:59:34 PM »
John,
I found a map of Tsarskoye Selo in 1901.  You can see the train lines on it and clearly the imperial line was a spur on a different line from the one seving the town.  It may have connected further to the north.  The line it seems to connect north and south and may have gone to Krasnoye Selo and Gatchina.  Hope this helps.
Bob G

John Walker

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2012, 04:25:38 PM »
Brilliant!  Thank you Bob G!  And yes, you are correct Sarushka, it is the building you identified on Akademicheski.  The building still stands albeit in a poor state of repair and, sadly from the point of view of photographs, has a bright blue 8 foot high metal fence all of the way around.  There is a typical tent roof to the entrance hall with a frescoed dome inside and ornate doorways and windows.  A friend found for me an article in the www.tsarselo.ru website which gives a lot more information and a map.  This map shows the line continuing further than the dead end shown on the 1901 map, looping around on the Petersburg side of the Egyptian Gates and joining the town line into Vitebskiy Vokzal.  There is no date on this map, which is hand drawn, and as the article amounts to a dozen or so pages of technical Russian I must await my next trip to Petersburg in August to get my friend to read it to me and find out more.  The line as shown on the 1901 map joined the Gatchina line at Alexandrovskiy Vokzal to the south and presumably ran north into Varsharvskiy.
The hand drawn map shows two bridges over the Kuzmenka, one on the south spur, the other to the north.  On Tuesday evening I explored in the company of two 'guides', members of the English Club from the adjacent Agricultural University.  It is not a particularly exciting expedition unless you have good company and an appropriate Russian picnic on a pleasant evening!  Only two pillars remain standing in the water of the bridge to the north.  The bridge to the south, very close to Alexandrovskiy Vokzal, is intact.  It is very plain with a little decoration at the top of the arch.  There is still track over this bridge which runs into a nearby industrial site but it does not show signs of recent use..  Considering the fighting which took place in this area it is remarkable it has survived.... unless of course it has been rebuilt.  I will know more when I have read the article.  I will post more in late August if anyone is interested.  Thank you all for your replies. 
   

Offline Joanna

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2012, 02:19:06 PM »
John, Fedor wrote a complete history/maps/photos of the line i.e. Imperial Bridges etc. with timeline of changes to today. One photo is interesting of the station:
http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/fedor_ragin/14665062/16966/600.jpg

Part 1
http://fedor-ragin.livejournal.com/2514.html
Part 2
http://fedor-ragin.livejournal.com/2618.html
Part 3
http://fedor-ragin.livejournal.com/2958.html

Joanna

John Walker

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Re: Where was the station?
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2012, 04:17:49 PM »
Thank you Joanna, that is very kind, and thank you everyone else who has contributed.  I can say that the station building is still the same as in the 2008 photo except it is fenced in and bridge 1 still stands with track over it leading from Alexandrovskiy Vokzal to an industrial site and the two pillars of bridge 2 are still in the river.  On site I could not understand where the platform was as it would appear natural that people would walk in through the main entrance, pass through the building and come out the other side onto the platform - but maps were showing the track on the front side!  Now I see that it was not so much a station building, but a pavilion some distance from the track.  I will explore further in August.  Thank you all!