Video: Soviet Signaling on the Russia - Ukraine Border

 Today's video post is ripped from the headlines!  I'm sure many of you are familiar with the past and current conflict between Russia and The Ukraine. Well, the 2014 disagreement had some implications for the Moscow - Rostov-on-Don railway line as some of it actually runs through Ukrainian territory in the vicinity of Chertkovo. To avoid being in any way beholden to the Ukrainian government, Russia built an entirely new bypass between the towns of  Zhuravka and Millerovo.  While trying to figure out how this trans-national rail segment functioned, I found some reverse railfan window video footage that not only showed the area, but also provided a taste of Soviet style railway signaling, a versions of which are also used in former Eastern Bloc states and China.

While I'll try to do a more in depth review of Soviet railway signaling later, a brief primer can be found here. It's an interesting system based on the station and main line system where stations have crossovers and siding tracks and can sort of be considered within interlocking limits.  Here one sees more complex sation signals where the upper head provides information about the next signal, while the lower head provides information of any immediate diverging route, plus stop.  Between stations an ABS 251 system predominates with Approach type signal indications being given by flashing Green and Yellow aspects.  There's a lot of incomplete information so I'll try to get a more complete picture in the future, but for now, enjoy the video.