DICK MOON gave an illustrated account of his 10,000-mile trip on the Trans-Siberian railway to members of Henley Probus Club at Badgemore Golf Club.

The journey to meet his son, who was working in Japan, began when he left St Pancras on the Eurostar in May last year.

Mr Moon, who is interested in rolling stock and railway engineering, left with 35 lapel badges to give to people he met on the way.

He travelled to France, then on to Warsaw and Moscow, where the huge blue locomotive was waiting at the main station.

His fellow passengers were from many different countries but spoke English so friendships emerged from their 10 days together inside the elaborately decorated carriages.


In Asian Siberia the long train passed through the city of Yekaterinburg, near where Gary Power’s spy plane was brought down and where the Tsar and his family were murdered during the revolution.

The journey continued through Mongolia.

Irkutsk was cleaner and visually different from the previous landscapes. One lake was hundreds of miles long and was said to be fed by 30 rivers.

In the recent past, the railway line had been swept away by earth movements and the hostile climate.

The train emerged from the region into an area dominated by stretches of extreme poverty and of contrasting industrialisation. At last, it arrived in Vladivostok and greater industrialisation and vast ports.

After a companionable journey, Mr Moon said goodbye to his new friends and saw his son, who had come to meet him.

Henley Men’s Probus meets on the second Tuesday of the month at Badgemore Golf Club.

For more information, visit henleyprobusclub.wordpress.com

Published 10/12/12