Moldova - Getting around loco depots?

[shredder1]

Does anyone have any experience of getting around Moldovan loco depots Balti, Bender or Chisinau ?

 

[Richard Scott]

Not tried depots themselves but wandered around the demic locos near Chisinau Station without any bother.

 

[Dougal2345]

Might it not be a bit risky, given the tensions in the region at the moment? Photographing what is critical infrastructure and so on?

 

[Richard Scott]

Might it not be a bit risky, given the tensions in the region at the moment? Photographing what is critical infrastructure and so on?

A sensible point, a while since I went there.

 

[Segedunum]

I didn't experience any problems photographing in Chisinau station last Autumn (in fact I wasn't alone photographing the train to Bucharest) but Bender in particular I can imagine being quite sensitive due to proximity to Pridnestrovie/Transnistria.

Language-wise (if the OP chooses to attempt this) I'd say an written explanation in Russian (despite tensions against Russia) may bear more fruit than Romanian - from my experience of being in Chisinau Airport and being spoken to exclusively in Russian.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

Bender is controlled by Transnistria.

Bender ([benˈder], Moldovan Cyrillic: Бендер) or Bendery (Russian: Бендеры, [bʲɪnˈdɛrɨ]; Ukrainian: Бендери), also known as Tighina, is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under de facto control of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transnistria) (PMR) since 1992. It is located on the western bank of the river Dniester in the historical region of Bessarabia.

Together with its suburb Proteagailovca, the city forms a municipality, which is separate from Transnistria (as an administrative unit of Moldova) according to Moldovan law. Bender is located in the buffer zone established at the end of the 1992 War of Transnistria. While the Joint Control Commission has overriding powers in the city, Transnistria has de facto administrative control.

Bender, Moldova - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Cloud Strife]

Bender is controlled by Transnistria.

Not all of it. The depot in Bender is located close to Bender-3, but is within Moldovan-controlled territory. The Bender-3 station is (I believe...) just within territory administered by Transnistria, but it seems that there's a local agreement for it to be treated as part of Moldovan-controlled territory administratively as the only exit is to Moldovan-controlled territory. The depot, if anything is there, is just north of Bender-3.

Strictly speaking, Varnița (which is home to a major checkpoint and used a lot by residents of Bender to visit banks/doctors in Moldovan-controlled territory) is a suburb of Bender. It's claimed by Transnistria, and is considered part of Transnistria according to their law, but in practice, it's very much under Moldovan control.

Having said this, I'd strongly advise against taking photographs at the Bender depot unless you get permission first from the Moldovan police in Varnița. It shouldn't be a problem if you ask in advance, especially if you make it clear that you won't photograph anything in the direction of the occupied territory.

 

[Zerothebrake!]

I walked across the tracks and into the depot about ten years ago and was picked up a 'watcher' almost straight away so I took a couple of quick pics gave him a thumbs up and returned to the safety of the station platforms. The Airport has a Tu134 outside and several russian cargo types dotted around including a lot of Kamov crop spraying helicopters. It was a very cheap day trip using the overnight trains from Iasi ( pronounced 'Yash').

 

[shredder1]

Not tried depots themselves but wandered around the demic locos near Chisinau Station without any bother.

Thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2025 ==

I didn't experience any problems photographing in Chisinau station last Autumn (in fact I wasn't alone photographing the train to Bucharest) but Bender in particular I can imagine being quite sensitive due to proximity to Pridnestrovie/Transnistria.

Language-wise (if the OP chooses to attempt this) I'd say an written explanation in Russian (despite tensions against Russia) may bear more fruit than Romanian - from my experience of being in Chisinau Airport and being spoken to exclusively in Russian.

Thank you, yes I have my written notes

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2025 ==

Bender is controlled by Transnistria.

Bender, Moldova - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I didnt realise that, thank you, I wont be going into Transnistria this trip.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2025 ==

Not all of it. The depot in Bender is located close to Bender-3, but is within Moldovan-controlled territory. The Bender-3 station is (I believe...) just within territory administered by Transnistria, but it seems that there's a local agreement for it to be treated as part of Moldovan-controlled territory administratively as the only exit is to Moldovan-controlled territory. The depot, if anything is there, is just north of Bender-3.

Strictly speaking, Varnița (which is home to a major checkpoint and used a lot by residents of Bender to visit banks/doctors in Moldovan-controlled territory) is a suburb of Bender. It's claimed by Transnistria, and is considered part of Transnistria according to their law, but in practice, it's very much under Moldovan control.

Having said this, I'd strongly advise against taking photographs at the Bender depot unless you get permission first from the Moldovan police in Varnița. It shouldn't be a problem if you ask in advance, especially if you make it clear that you won't photograph anything in the direction of the occupied territory.

Thank you, yes Im aware of the sensitivities

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2025 ==

I walked across the tracks and into the depot about ten years ago and was picked up a 'watcher' almost straight away so I took a couple of quick pics gave him a thumbs up and returned to the safety of the station platforms. The Airport has a Tu134 outside and several russian cargo types dotted around including a lot of Kamov crop spraying helicopters. It was a very cheap day trip using the overnight trains from Iasi ( pronounced 'Yash').

Thank you, yes I can see a footbridge over the lines looking down towards the depot

 

[AdamWW]

I didn't experience any problems photographing in Chisinau station last Autumn (in fact I wasn't alone photographing the train to Bucharest) but Bender in particular I can imagine being quite sensitive due to proximity to Pridnestrovie/Transnistria.

I took the Bucharest-Chisinau train last week (quite an experience!) and wondered whether photography would be welcome in Chisinau station.

I needn't have worried. I wasn't the only person taking photos of the train and while there were plenty of staff around none of them seemed remotely bothered.

Though I was a bit surprised to see some of the staff in what seemed to be Moldovian Railways camoflauge uniform.

 

[Richard Scott]

I took the Bucharest-Chisinau train last week (quite an experience!) and wondered whether photography would be welcome in Chisinau station.

I needn't have worried. I wasn't the only person taking photos of the train and while there were plenty of staff around none of them seemed remotely bothered.

Though I was a bit surprised to see some of the staff in what seemed to be Moldovian Railways camoflauge uniform.

Photography wasn't an issue when I was there either, did some video footage and no-one took any notice.

 

[shredder1]

Thanks guy's I made it just had two days in Chisinau I asked to go around the depot and they said no but I had no problems walking across the track to photograph the scrap line having said that only two had numbers in does anyone have a list of numbers for the scrap line? Interestingly, I was told not to take pictures inside the sleep train by the carriage attendant, but I just waited until he was out of the way and took them. Looking back at Bald and Bankrupts visit on YouTube the city does appear to be being improved and yhey do have a bit yo join the EU. On Transnistria a few enterprising souls are offering expensive tourist trips but it appears simple enough just to jump on a bus I was told its not an issue

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

having said that only two had numbers in does anyone have a list of numbers for the scrap line?

Railgallery.ru has a stock list for Chisinau depot. You can look up the two numbers you have, see what it says about their status and then see which other locomotives have the same status. There are several different categories for disused locomotives, so the ones you saw might not be officially destined for scrapping yet. Look out for the note "Консервация", which means that the locomotive is at least theoretically stored out of use rather than being withdrawn.

 

[shredder1]

That's great thank you very much