Russian volunteer fleet’s. S.S. Simbirsk. 1914. Tokyo-London.

[Eugenio Treviño]

Nice postcard of the SS Simbirsk covering the route Tsuruga-Vladivostok.

 

(In fact, the photo is of the SS Orel. The trip was done on the Simbirsk).

 

Part of the journey from Tokyo (Feb 22), to Moscow (Mar 1), to London (Mar 9) by the Trans Siberian Rail in 1914. Final destination was Mexico City. No date of arrival, but it was a long one !!!

 

Here are the picks!!!

Edited January 17, 2021 by Eugenio Treviño

[Roger Pellett]

And a cold one!  During my working career, I made two trips, both in January to Harbin, China, a former Russian railroad stop on the TransSiberia railway network.  Coming from a cold climate I was still not prepared for the bitter cold.

[Eugenio Treviño]

Roger:

 

I have never been to Harbin. The closest has been Beijing in winter. Also very cold. 
But even Chinese people complain about Harbin’s cold !!!
 

This was an around the world trip done by my great grandfather. Mexico - Japan was done through the Pacific, this is the return trip.

 

It was an assignment to buy weapons for the Mexican Army. His photo attached.

 

Best regards,

 

Eugenio.

 

 

[Roger Pellett]

Eugenio,

 

That’s a great picture!  That must have been a real adventure.  Even today, with so many people traveling (pre Covid) a round the world trip is unusual.

 

You’re right, Beijing can be quite cold in the winter when fronts come down from Mongolia.

 

Harbin would not be on anybody’s “must see” destinations in China.  The topography is flat, and at least when I was there in the late ‘90’s the city was smoky..  It was home to two large companies that built equipment for the electric utility industry; boilers and turbines.  I was visiting the Harbin Turbine Works.  In the middle of the city there was an old Russian Church, the kind with onion shaped steeples, that had been converted into a museum.  In January, it was unheated so I didn’t stay long.  I was there during their winter celebration with ice sculptures and a huge building built from blocks of ice.  For a few coins you could rent a small sled to slide down the side of it.  At that time the rail yards were still filled with steam locomotives puffing away.

 

While I’m glad to have had the opportunity to go there, the two trips that I made were enough.  According to the railroad timetable your great grandfather would have stopped there in 1914 while it was still a Russian City.

 

Roger

Edited January 17, 2021 by Roger Pellett

[Valeriy V]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:53 PM, Eugenio Treviño said:

Nice postcard of the SS Simbirsk covering the route Tsuruga-Vladivostok.

 

(In fact, the photo is of the SS Orel. The trip was done on the Simbirsk).

 

 

Hello Eugenio!

SS  "Simbirsk"  was similar in appearance to the SS "Orel", but was shorter in length by 8 meters.

[Eugenio Treviño]

Valeriy thank you very much for the information!

 

Nice postcard with those Japanese post stamps of their 1913 definitive series.

I collect post stamps (specially Mexican stamps), so two of my hobbies are represented here.

 

Do you know if there are models of any of those  ships, either wood or plastic? It would be nice to build one.

 

My best regards to you in Ukraine!

[Valeriy V]

2 hours ago, Eugenio Treviño said:

Nice postcard with those Japanese post stamps of their 1913 definitive series.

I collect post stamps (specially Mexican stamps), so two of my hobbies are represented here.

This means that I have successfully selected this picture.  

 

3 hours ago, Eugenio Treviño said:

My best regards to you in Ukraine!

Thanks a lot, Eugenio! 

[Valeriy V]

3 hours ago, Eugenio Treviño said:

Do you know if there are models of any of those  ships, either wood or plastic? It would be nice to build one.

 

There are no wooden or plastic kits for this model.

But there is a very good development of patterns for a paper model SS "Orel", from which you can build a wooden model or from another material.

[Valeriy V]

At the shipyards of Germany, 5 steamships were built for the Volunteer Fleet steamship company:

-  steamships Orel, Poltava and Ryazan had a length of 103 meters and a displacement of 3500 tons

- steamships Simbirsk and Penza had a length of 95 meters and a displacement of 2,700 tons.

 

At the beginning of the WW1, the Orel was armed and became an auxiliary cruiser.  

SS Ryazan was captured by the cruiser SMS Emden. Later it was converted into a raider SMS Cormoran .