coruPlay and imagination

Window seat: this train is on its way to Vladivostok right now

The train will not wait: close the page and it keeps going. The window shows the real time of day at the place where the train is now.

The window

The window needs JavaScript, but the whole timetable of the trip and the notes on the road are below.

The timetable of the trip

Time from Moscow and stops come from the real timetable of train 002E. Kilometres are roughly fitted to the posts on the main line.

StationkmElapsedStop
Moscow00 min—
Alexandrov1121 h 32 min2 min
Rostov Veliky2252 h 47 min1 min
Yaroslavl2813 h 36 min3 min
Nerekhta3314 h 27 min5 min
Kostroma-Novaya3775 h 30 min45 min
Sudislavl4307 h 16 min2 min
Galich5028 h 45 min40 min
Antropovo54810 h 3 min1 min
Nikolo-Poloma57210 h 27 min2 min
Nomzha58310 h 42 min1 min
Neya60110 h 59 min1 min
Brantovka62911 h 24 min1 min
Manturovo65411 h 54 min2 min
Sharya70212 h 40 min14 min
Yakshanga72513 h 17 min1 min
Ponazyrevo74813 h 37 min1 min
Suprotivny75813 h 50 min1 min
Gostovskaya77014 h 5 min1 min
Shabalino79614 h 35 min2 min
Svecha81814 h 57 min2 min
Kotelnich87015 h 49 min2 min
Kirov95717 h 12 min25 min
Glazov116521 h 4 min3 min
Balezino119421 h 37 min30 min
Vereshchagino13161 d 18 min2 min
Perm-214361 d 2 h 27 min23 min
Kungur15371 d 4 h 19 min2 min
Yekaterinburg18161 d 8 h 35 min33 min
Tyumen21441 d 14 h 18 min19 min
Yalutorovsk22181 d 15 h 54 min2 min
Ishim24311 d 18 h 39 min5 min
Maslyanskaya24781 d 19 h 28 min2 min
Nazyvayevskaya25641 d 20 h 41 min2 min
Omsk27121 d 22 h 15 min16 min
Tatarskaya28802 d 23 min2 min
Chany29322 d 58 min2 min
Ozero Karachinskoye29442 d 1 h 12 min5 min
Barabinsk30342 d 2 h 27 min30 min
Kargat31582 d 4 h 31 min2 min
Ob33182 d 6 h 30 min2 min
Novosibirsk33352 d 6 h 54 min1 h 5 min
Moshkovo33942 d 8 h 49 min2 min
Bolotnaya34622 d 10 h 10 min2 min
Yurga34922 d 10 h 41 min5 min
Tayga35662 d 11 h 57 min4 min
Anzherskaya35972 d 12 h 31 min2 min
Mariinsk37152 d 14 h 8 min34 min
Tyazhin37752 d 15 h 33 min2 min
Bogotol38472 d 16 h 34 min2 min
Achinsk39152 d 17 h 36 min4 min
Krasnoyarsk40982 d 20 h 32 min51 min
Uyar42292 d 23 h 18 min2 min
Zaozyornaya42642 d 23 h 55 min2 min
Kansk-Yeniseysky43453 d 1 h 4 min3 min
Ilanskaya43773 d 1 h 35 min17 min
Ingashskaya44063 d 2 h 22 min1 min
Reshoty44533 d 3 h 3 min3 min
Yurty44903 d 3 h 47 min2 min
Tayshet45163 d 4 h 17 min3 min
Nizhneudinsk46803 d 6 h 50 min13 min
Tulun47963 d 8 h 45 min3 min
Kuytun48743 d 9 h 50 min2 min
Zima49343 d 10 h 45 min27 min
Zalari49893 d 11 h 59 min2 min
Cheremkhovo50543 d 13 h 3 min2 min
Usolye-Sibirskoye51173 d 14 h 2 min2 min
Angarsk51453 d 14 h 28 min3 min
Irkutsk-Sortirovochny51773 d 15 h 6 min2 min
Irkutsk51853 d 15 h 21 min43 min
Slyudyanka53113 d 18 h 40 min2 min
Baykalsk53523 d 19 h 26 min2 min
Mysovaya54783 d 21 h 17 min2 min
Timlyuy55443 d 22 h 18 min1 min
Selenga55623 d 22 h 37 min2 min
Ulan-Ude56424 d 1 min30 min
Zaigrayevo56994 d 1 h 42 min2 min
Gorkhon57514 d 2 h 37 min2 min
Petrovsky Zavod57854 d 3 h 13 min5 min
Bada58844 d 5 h 3 min2 min
Khilok59354 d 6 h 8 min21 min
Khushenga59724 d 7 h 15 min2 min
Kharagun59944 d 7 h 38 min2 min
Mogzon60554 d 8 h 32 min2 min
Chita-261994 d 11 h 14 min36 min
Karymskaya62954 d 14 h 3 min18 min
Solntsevaya64074 d 16 h 19 min2 min
Shilka64454 d 17 h 2 min2 min
Priiskovaya64904 d 17 h 48 min2 min
Kuenga65264 d 18 h 30 min3 min
Chernyshevsk-Zabaykalsky65864 d 19 h 41 min30 min
Zilovo66694 d 21 h 37 min2 min
Sbega67584 d 23 h 10 min1 min
Ksenyevskaya67984 d 23 h 56 min2 min
Kisly Klyuch68355 d 38 min4 min
Mogocha69065 d 2 h25 min
Amazar70045 d 4 h 2 min5 min
Yerofey Pavlovich71125 d 6 h 6 min21 min
Urusha72105 d 8 h 26 min2 min
Skovorodino73065 d 10 h 15 min46 min
Taldan74025 d 12 h 46 min1 min
Magdagachi74965 d 14 h 24 min15 min
Tygda75625 d 15 h 41 min5 min
Ushumun76065 d 16 h 29 min2 min
Shimanovskaya77295 d 18 h 1 min2 min
Ledyanaya77715 d 18 h 43 min1 min
Svobodny78145 d 19 h 20 min5 min
Belogorsk78735 d 20 h 18 min50 min
Yekaterinoslavka79515 d 22 h 21 min2 min
Zavitaya79905 d 22 h 59 min2 min
Bureya80355 d 23 h 38 min5 min
Arkhara80856 d 25 min2 min
Kundur-Khabarovsky81586 d 1 h 44 min1 min
Obluchye81936 d 2 h 29 min15 min
Izvestkovaya82376 d 3 h 34 min1 min
Birakan82506 d 3 h 53 min1 min
Tyoploye Ozero82626 d 4 h 8 min1 min
Izvestkovy Zavod82676 d 4 h 18 min1 min
Bira83086 d 4 h 53 min1 min
Birobidzhan83516 d 5 h 28 min7 min
In84236 d 6 h 23 min1 min
Khabarovsk85236 d 7 h 50 min1 h 10 min
Verino85906 d 10 h 11 min1 min
Khor86046 d 10 h 24 min1 min
Vyazemskaya86516 d 11 h 5 min15 min
Bikin87566 d 12 h 51 min3 min
Luchegorsk88036 d 13 h 33 min5 min
Guberovo88396 d 14 h 5 min2 min
Dalnerechensk88746 d 14 h 44 min5 min
Ruzhino89326 d 15 h 39 min15 min
Shmakovka89756 d 16 h 29 min2 min
Spassk-Dalny90486 d 17 h 26 min5 min
Muchnaya90906 d 18 h 10 min2 min
Sibirtsevo91086 d 18 h 33 min2 min
Ozyornaya Pad91406 d 19 h 9 min2 min
Ussuriysk91766 d 19 h 43 min22 min
Ugolnaya92556 d 21 h 30 min5 min
Vladivostok92886 d 22 h 17 min—

What is real here

The stations, their order, the elapsed time and the stops come from the real timetable of train 002E Rossiya: 138 stations and 6 days 22 hours 17 minutes. That is why we stop for 45 minutes in Kostroma, 1 hour 10 minutes in Khabarovsk and a single minute in Brantovka.

The kilometres are roughly fitted to the posts on the main line: zero at Yaroslavsky station, 1777 at the border of Europe and Asia, 9288 at Vladivostok. The timetable of this train, which runs via Kostroma, says 9300 km.

The sun and moon are computed for the point where the train is now: the coordinates of towns along the line come from Wikidata, and between them the point moves in a straight line. The clocks change at the same stations as in the timetable. If it is dark outside, it is night there.

What is made up

There is one train. The real one leaves Moscow every day at 01:00 Moscow time, so several are on the line at once. Ours sets out every seven days and six hours, so each trip passes the same places at a different time of day. The real one passes Slyudyanka at 00:40 local time and Mysovaya at 03:17: it reaches the shore of Baikal at night.

The scenery, the stations, the people on the platforms, the weather, the oncoming trains and the length of the bridges are drawn, and the tunnels are placed roughly. Rivers sit roughly where the line crosses them: at kilometre 4101 it really is the Yenisey, but its banks here are invented. Between stations the speed is one figure for the whole stretch, with acceleration and braking.

The window faces left in the direction of travel. That is why Amur Bay, before Vladivostok, stays out of sight: it is on the other side. Kilometre posts usually stand on the south side of the tracks, but we draw them here as well.

The sound of the wheels is synthesized, with no recordings: four axles of a carriage cross the joints of 25-metre rails at the speed from the timetable. We measured the rate and the level, but nobody has checked this sound by ear. If it sounds wrong, write to us.

The ticket

The Take a ticket button saves in your browser where and when you boarded and when you were last here. When you come back the window tells you what you missed: which stations and rivers are behind us and whether it got dark. The place and time of boarding are not sent anywhere, and you can return the ticket.

Notes from the road

  • Everything is counted from here: the post marked zero stands at Yaroslavsky station.
  • The Volga at Kostroma. This railway bridge was finished in 1932.
  • The border of Europe and Asia: post 1777.
  • The Ob. Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 where this bridge was being built.
  • The Yenisey. The first bridge here won a gold medal at the 1900 Exposition Universelle.
  • Tayshet. The Baikal–Amur Mainline starts here. From the 1930s to the 1950s the Ozerlag and Angarstroy Gulag labour camps were run from this town.
  • Slyudyanka. The station is built entirely of unpolished white and pink marble and was finished in 1904.
  • Baikal: the deepest lake in the world, 1,642 metres, with 22–23% of the planet’s fresh surface water.
  • In the winter of 1903/04 rails were laid straight across Baikal’s ice and animals pulled the wagons.
  • Ulan-Ude. The main square holds the largest Lenin head in the world: 7.7 metres tall.
  • Mogocha. In January 2008 the Rossiya train stood here at −40 °C.
  • Yerofey Pavlovich: the settlement takes the first name and patronymic of the explorer Khabarov.
  • Birobidzhan, capital of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. In Yiddish: ביראָבידזשאַן.
  • The Amur. The bridge is 3,890 metres long and appears on the 5,000-rouble note.
  • Post 9288 at Vladivostok station: the end of the line.

Sources & further reading

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