Trainspotting in St Petersburg

Curling Today flagged up back in May (see here) that David Murdoch and his team of Graeme Connal, Peter Smith and Euan Byers had been invited to play in a demonstration event in St Petersburg, Russia. The event, organised as part of the WCT-e, begins tomorrow, July 25, and is sponsored by Adamant, a property development and management company.

Also taking part are Canada's Brad Gushue, Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Pal Trulsen, and Andy Kapp from Germany. Eight teams play in two sections, and the top two teams from each will advance to Sunday's semifinal. Follow the results here.

The event is taking place on an ice pad in the 'Warsaw Express', an Adamant shopping and entertainment complex constructed within a former railway station. See what it looks like now, and what it used to look like, here. The site is also home to an open air railway museum. There are lots of photos here. Trainspotting heaven!

Top: A semi-streamlined 4-8-4 number P36-0251, one of the last steam locomotives to be built in the USSR in 1956. This is from: http://www.nevsky-prospekt.com/warsaw.html

Above: Swiss icemaker Peter Luck and local helpers preparing the ice on Tuesday. Photos courtesy of Armin Harder.