IRKUTSK, May 4  (RIA Novosti's Alexander Batalin) - A holiday train called Pobeda (Victory) left Severobaikalsk on Wednesday on a jubilee route across the Irkutsk region, RIA Novosti was told at the East Siberian railroad administration.

The unusual train is hauled by a steam engine that has survived since the Great Patriotic War and which is decorated with streamers and flower garlands.

The train includes a flat car with military equipment of the 1940s, one legendary heated goods van and 10 comfortable cars for veterans.
 
War veterans and wartime rear workers will be feted at stations along the itinerary.

On May 6, the train will arrive in Irkutsk, where veterans who came from the region's distant districts will attend holiday festivities and a victory parade to be held on May 9 in the regional center's main square.