Cross Country Train Ride To Batumi

Electric trains used by Georgian Railways

I had to attend a meeting in Batumi on the coast of Georgia. Since I had wanted to ride the trains since my arrival in the country I decided that there was no time like the present to "enjoy" the ride.  This series of images were shot from the window of the passenger car as the train traveled from the capital of Tbilisi to the seacoast town of Batumi.  Shot mostly in black and white, the images are intended to document the changing landscape and life that takes place along the trains route through the countryside.

Leaving the urban center of Tbilisi

The urban center gives way quickly to the rolling hills between Tbilisi and Gori.

The open farmland sandwiched between the Caucus Minor (south) and the Caucus Major (north) mountain ranges.

Soviet era train stations still in use along the route

Some stations and towns, however, have not survived the withdrawal of industry from the country

Abandoned rail cars sit beside abandoned factories

Life goes on in the countryside

Gardens still need to be tended and equipment fixed

The ubiquitous station manager appears at each passing station with official red hat and waves on the train

Soccer stadiums sit abandoned in struggling towns

The tracks follow the rivers into the mountains where communities use wooden suspension bridges to cross the raging streams

Small villages dot the landscape through the mountain passes

The train passes below feudal castles that once dominated the landscape

Cows graze in the former front lawns of railroad car factory buildings