Soviet Major General of Railways

[Bill D.]

I am now getting around to photographing some uniforms from my collection.
These are the tunic and cap and cap of a Major General of the Soviet Railway system.

Unlike the military, the Railway Generals wore their rank insignia on their sleeves, piped in the green color of the Railways service.

The buttons display the state seal of the Soviet Union, just as on the uniforms of military General officers. The backs of the buttons are dated 1984.

The tunic displays not only bullion collar embroidery, but a bullion breast badge in the form of the winged wheel emblem of the railway service. Bullion branch emblems of the railway are also on the sleeves above the rank insignia.

The tunic came to me with the engineering school graduation badge on it, and there were three holes for badges above the winged wheel, in which I placed Soviet railway badges.

The cap uses the standard cap band emblem of an officer of the railway system, but it is placed against a bullion wreath. Similarly, the stndard railway insignia on the cap peak is not metal but bullion as wel.

[Bill D.]

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[Bill D.]

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[Bill D.]

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[Bill D.]

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[Tretov]

Very interesting uniform, I don't think I've seen anything like it. Nice!

The only thing that could be discussed would be the graduation badge, for this rank one would perhaps expect a white academy badge rather than a mere university level.

[Rommel1933]

Very interesting... Kind of curious, what kind of tie is that? A silk tie? Would this have been a daily use uniform?

Thank you,
Scott

[Bill D.]

Tretov.....

I think that you are absolutely correct about the graduation badge, but it was on the tunic and I was too lazy to switch it !

Scott:

The tie is....one that I was not wearing at the time that I took the photograph.
Seriously, it is just a silver-gray necktie that is from my closet and that I thought would look good in the photo and it was already on the mannequin torso that I used for the photo.
I suspect that the correct tie would be the standard military black tie.
As to the style of this uniform....
I have not been able to find a copy of the uniform regulations of the Ministry of Railways, so I am not certain whether this uniform would have been for daily service wear, or whether it might have been a dress uniform, in the same way that the uniforms of Army Generals i this color were designated as the "holiday" uniform.

[Komandir RKKA]

I'm not a specialist on Railways Ministry uniform but it's not major general.
Officials of Soviet RM had no military ranks.
Sach a sleeve patches show official's post but not a military rank.

[Bill D.]

I'm not a specialist on Railways Ministry uniform but it's not major general.
Officials of Soviet RM had no military ranks.
Sach a sleeve patches show official's post but not a military rank.

Yes, I understand.
I wasn't sure whether the Railway system used the "General" title, so the best way to describe this, I suppose, is "Senior Railway Official with military rank equivalent to Major General."

[Komandir RKKA]

Your uniform looks parade for me.
I had time ago black visor of same type and patches with 2 and 3 stars but with dark color hummers.
http://www.savashantiques.com/ussrcivil.html

[Tretov]

Yes, I understand.
I wasn't sure whether the Railway system used the "General" title, so the best way to describe this, I suppose, is "Senior Railway Official with military rank equivalent to Major General."

Perhaps they used the "category" system utilized by Aeroflot as well as Morflot? This would perhaps be a 12th or 13th category official.

[Bill D.]

The U.S. government has a similar system for individuals in certain jobs that deal with the military. A civilian who works for the CIA, for example, might have a senior position that specifies "militarily equivalent rank of lieutenant general."

[RichieC]

The sleeve insignia denotes the position of "GENERAL DIRECTOR - THIRD RANK".

[Valter Gorenc]

Yes, I understand.
I wasn't sure whether the Railway system used the "General" title, so the best way to describe this, I suppose, is "Senior Railway Official with military rank equivalent to Major General."

Kaganovich was known to have a rank of "railway marschal" during Ww2 - but I think that was just an unofficial name for #1 in railways (he was people's commisar for transport in 1943-44, and 1935-37 and 1938-42) - I didn't find any official explanation.