Wowzzz...this hits REAL close to home...Im first generation here in the US...my grandfather was Czarist (an officer) and was killed by Bolsheviks...I still have much family over there in Byelorus, Latvia and the Ukraine...
Here at home, we still use old place names..."Ekaterinsburg and Petterburg" (St.Petersburg)...
Thanks so much for the read...may have been a relative of mine on the train !!!
Very well written !!!