Excursion to forgotten steam locomotives

Hello, friends!
Today I want to tell you about my visit to a kind of “open-air museum” - one of the construction sites of the Transpolar Railway.

In 2010, in the summer and early autumn, I worked on the Taz River. By mid-September we had completed our part of the work and were waiting for the helicopter to come pick us up. The rescuers next to us were bored - the navigation was coming to an end, the ships practically no longer came and there was no one to save.

One morning, rescuers offered to swim to the former Dolgiy siding; without hesitation, we agreed and set off by boat.

The Dolgiy crossing is one of the points on the Transpolar Railway; a ferry crossing was to be built in its area, and then a bridge across the Taz River.

The project of the Transpolar Railway, a railway connecting the cities of Salekhard and Igarka, was born out of the experience of the Second World War, when in August 1942 the Germans almost landed troops at the mouth of the Yenisei River. The Transpolar Highway was mainly created for the rapid response and transfer of troops; at the same time, it was supposed to help in the development of the natural resources of the Arctic.

The construction of the railway was carried out in the most difficult conditions of the Far North by prisoners.

After Stalin's death in the spring of 1953, construction was frozen, then stopped altogether, and many prisoners were released under an amnesty.

You can get to these places only either by helicopter or through the Arctic Ocean, and then going upstream of the Taz River. It was expensive to remove machinery and equipment, and everything was simply abandoned where it was in 1953.

At the Dolgiy crossing there are four rusty steam locomotives and several carriages; nearby are the ruins of a depot and repair shops. The railway track and bridges over the streams have been preserved. All this has remained virtually untouched since the mid-1950s.

As a tourist site, the Dolgiy junction is very interesting, but difficult to access and has a difficult climate. During the cold season, there are very severe frosts in this area. In the summer, a huge number of mosquitoes and midges prevent you from enjoying the surrounding nature.

Camera Sony Alpha DSLR-A300
Location Siberia
Friends, thank you for your attention, see you soon.
Best regards @irvet