This is the fifth issue of the Russian'language magazine for railway enthusiasts. The magazine is published by a group of railway fans. Many materials published in The Semaphore originally appear in the Internet'forums, such as 1520mm@yahoogroups.com (Russian'language), and 5feet@yahoogroups.com (English'language). The magazine is available for download for free as a PDF file or as a collection of PDF files, and can be freely printed and distributed, provided that the integrity of the magazine is preserved.

THE VEREBYE CURVE, by S. Harebov

There is an urban legend in Russia, that once upon a time the railway engineers asked the Tzar where to build the railway from St.Petersburg to Moscow. The Tzar reportedly took a ruler and draw a straight line between the two capital cities. However, as he was holding the ruler with his finger, the line had a small bend. The engineers did not dare to argue with the Tzar and built the railway according to his specs. Including the Verebye curve (which indeed is attributed to the wide and deep Verebye ravine that must have been bypassed). The recent advances in bridge construction technologies made it possible to build a bridge across the ravine and get rid of the "royal finger" bend. S. Harebov reports his findings about the bridge, the bypass, and what's left of it.

THE LOVOZERO SAFARI, by A. Zarucheisky

If Murmansk region of Russia is not the end of the Oikumena, then it must be pretty close to it. This region, however, is extremely rich in ores and minerals, and it is literally larded with mines - and industrial railways connecting these mines to the main line. It happened so that A. Zarucheisky was coming back home from his tundra field trip, when he ran across a friendly engineer of a friendly industrial shunter in such an unfriendly place.

AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES IN ESTONIA, by T. Tancula

Finally, one of the post'Soviet national railways is experiencing the results of the globalization (for better or for worse). A thrilling story of how the Estonian railway (EVR) acquired used US'built diesel locomotives, how they got overseas, and what happened next, as told by Tom Tancula, an employee of the Rail World Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA, USA).

THEY WERE THE FIRST, by O. Izmerov

This is the third part of a comprehensive study of the first Russian and Soviet diesel locomotives attempted by O. Izmerov. The author argues that it was in the USSR, Germany, and the USA that the world's first diesel locomotives were designed and built. The article has a plenty of blueprints and rare photographs, as well as detailed descriptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the early diesel locomotive designs.

WELDING OF NARROW GAUGE RAILS,

by A. Menshikov and I. Krutikov Russia is still one of those few countries in the world that heavily depend on narrow gauge railways in logging and peat industries. With more than 10,000 km of narrow gauge rail lines, the problem of welding rails to lay high'quality temporary and permanent forestry tracks becomes a real issue. The authors who not incidentally work for the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Lumber Processing (TsNIIMOD), describe a family of field mechanized self'propelled rail welding stations. The technical specs and photographs of the stations are given.

THE MAKI NARROW GAUGE RAILWAY, by E. Aliev

A story about little'known Russian military narrow gauge railway in the Transcaucasian region (Azerbaijan, Iran, and Turkey). The railway was built during the WWI by the Russian troops and later dismantled by the Turks. YEAR 1929, by D. Zinoviev The author presents the railway history of the USSR in year 1929. The article touches such issues as the construction of the Turksib, Moscow Metro, and Moscow electric railway, the construction of new lines, renamings, accidents, etc. Based on the materials from the Vechernyaya Moskva daily newspaper.

A DIESEL FROM THE KHARKOV UNDERGROUND, by O. Izmerov

The Tekhnika_Molodezhi, a well'known and respectable Soviet technical magazine, surprised its readers with a "Pobeda (Victory) diesel locomotive developed by the Kharkov Works during the WWII". The problem is that the works were under the Nazi occupation!

…AND CAMELS SCENT RAILS, poems

The Turkestan'Siberian railway (the Turksib) was widely glorified by the Soviet propaganda as one of the "Construction Sites of the Communism". It was presented in art works, movies, novels, and poems. Several excerpts from two typical Turksib poems are offered for your consideration.

ALONE AND IN HOUSTON, by D. Zinoviev/I. Andreev

What are those five Russian TEM7A diesel locomotives doing in the Houston, TX seaport? Rusting… Read their story and look at their pictures, before it's too late!

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