I've been looking at a sign in our Samarkand picture . . . but not the Battery & Ignition one. Here's a detail from the pic:
The sign at center, at too great an angle for us to read, appears to be some standard roadside sign giving information for motorists to heed. This may yield a clue to location. Does anyone more familiar than I with the signs which motorists in that era might have encountered have an idea what message such a sign would have?