И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

TEXT 8. FOUR TRAINS IN ONE

A world record is claimed by Soviet Railways (SZD) for running a train of 43,407 tonnes non-stop over a dis­tance of 300 km. The train of 440 loaded coal hoppers was four miles long. It was made up of four "heavyweight" trains coupled together, with a locomotive at the head end and three others (each with its own crew and all interlinked by radio) distributed down the length of the train. The run went without a hitch after much time had been spent in planning and briefings. Assistance was given by the Railway Research Institute and a track fault detector car made a preliminary run over the route. A number of ordi­nary trains had to be sidetracked to ensure a non-stop journey.

TEXT 9. CHALLENGE FOR MOTOR CAR

Which transport is the most comfortable and reliable? Some people say it is the automobile. The underground, others object. The researchers in Soviet Georgia are sure it is a suspended cable car. In any case, this transportation is unrivalled in the mountains.

Highly economical (in the mountains one kilometre of a cableway replaces from five to ten kilometres of highway), reliably and simply designed, the cable cars can compete successfully with automobiles, railways and even planes. They do not need bridges and tunnels, they do not pollute the air with exhaust gases and do not shake the air with the sound of a motor. A cargo cableway can be built in a matter of days.
Cable cars are used to haul agricultural products such as grapes, tea, and food from areas with limited access, while fertilizers, building materials and other things are taken there on the way back. Hikers and skiers also like to use overhead cableways.
Since long ago, in the small Georgian town of Chiatura, the cableway has been used as the main transportation facility. The cableways have become as common for those living in this mountainous area as the Metro for the Mus­covites. There is even a station where one can make a transfer—the station Pionerskaya. Brightly painted, beau­tifully designed cars ascend from here in all four directions, suspended from steel cables.