myaroslav
The #L-3609 locomotive of driver Parfenov and female driver assistant Valentina Burtenko staying in Karasuk, near the border between Russia and Kazakhstan. Those days the first soviet women were admitted to the locomotive crews in 1939, but relatively high numbers were engaged in driving trains during wartime. A number of underaged high school students (mostly boys, but girls also) were even ordered to study the new job (while much more were working at factories). I found some memories about these times. They studied in Kazakhstan, not very far from this station, mostly in real trips as there was no time or no skilled men to teach. Some succeeded in a new career, and even some full-female crews have been formed. After the war driving a locomotive was labeled as hard or dangerous labor, and no women were hired despite transition to electric traction (somehow this measures didn't touch track maintenance workers). In modern Russia the views have changed and just a year ago the first female drivers started work. I guess some other post-soviet countries have already gone further this way. #lineside #steam
