Salekhard–Igarka Railway

Salekhard–Igarka Railway
Transpolar Mainline
Legend
Straight track
Pechora Railway from Kotlas
Station on track
0 Chum (Pechora Railway km 2200)
Junction to left Transverse track
6 Pechora Railway (km 2206) to Vorkuta
Bridge over water
45 Usa
Station on track
51 Yeletskaya (Yeletsky)
Station on track
75 Khorota
Unrestricted border on track
99 Komi Republic/Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Stop on track
Polyarnaya Ural
Stop on track
118 Sob
Station on track
153 Kharp-Severnoye Siyaniye (Kharp)
Stop on track
181 Obskaya
Junction to left
to Bovanenkovo
Unknown BSicon "KBHFxe"
196 Labytnangi
Unknown BSicon "exENDEe"
Bridge over the Ob
Unknown BSicon "exENDEa"
Unknown BSicon "exBHF"
209 Salekhard
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
Yangiyugan
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
359 Poluy
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
489 Yarudey
Unknown BSicon "exBHF"
589 Nadym
Unknown BSicon "exWBRÜCKE"
Nadym
Unknown BSicon "xABZrg" Non-passenger terminus from right
Stary Nadym
Unknown BSicon "eDST"
Novy Khorey
Non-passenger station/depot on track
699 Pangody
Non-passenger station/depot on track
Nyda
Station on track
819 Novy Urengoy
Junction to left
to Yamburg
Station on track
Korotchayevo
Unknown BSicon "xABZrf"
to Surgut
Unknown BSicon "exENDEe"
Bridge over the Pur
Unknown BSicon "exENDEa"
Unknown BSicon "exBHF"
909 Urengoy
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
1059 Vodorasdelnaya
Unknown BSicon "exENDEe"
Bridge over the Taz
Unknown BSicon "exENDEa"
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
1129 Sedelnikovo
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
Kataran
Unknown BSicon "exGRENZE"
Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug/Krasnoyarsk Krai
Unknown BSicon "exWBRÜCKE"
Bridge over the Turukhan
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
1219 Yanov Stan
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
Kostyor
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
Yermakovo
Unknown BSicon "exENDEe"
Bridge over the Yenisei
Unknown BSicon "exENDEa"
Unknown BSicon "exHST"
1339 Yeniseiskaya
Unknown BSicon "exKBHFe"
1459 Igarka

The 1,524 mm (5 ft)  broad gauge Salekhard–Igarka Railway, (Трансполярная магистраль, Transpolyarnaya Magistral - "Transpolar Mainline") also referred to variously as Railroad of Death, Road of Death, and Dead Road, is an incomplete railway in northern Siberia. The railway was a project of the Soviet Gulag system that took place from 1949 to 1953. Construction was coordinated via two separate Gulag projects, the 501 Railroad beginning on the River Ob and 503 Railroad beginning on the River Yenisey, part of a grand design of Joseph Stalin to span a railroad across northern Siberia to reach the Soviet Union's easternmost territories.

The planned route from Igarka to Salekhard measured 806 miles (1,297 km) in length. The project was built mostly with prisoner labor, particularly that of political prisoners,[1] and thousands perished.[1][2]

A rebuilt section of the railway between Novy Urengoy and Stary Nadym is still in operation, as is the extreme western section connecting Labytnangi and the railway to Vorkuta. The section from Salekhard and Nadym is planned to be rebuilt,[3] including a new bridge over the Ob to connect Salekhard to the rest of the Russian railway system via Labytnangi.[4]

Contents

Purpose

Salekhard-Igarka Railway

The purpose of the railway was threefold: to facilitate export of nickel from neighboring Norilsk; to provide work for thousands of post-war prisoners; and to connect the deep-water seaports of Igarka and Salekhard with the western Russian railway network. With Soviet industry relocated to western Siberia during World War II, it was seen as a strategic advantage to use the northward-flowing river systems to deliver supplies to Arctic Ocean ports. Salekhard was on the Ob River, downstream from Novosibirsk and Omsk, and Igarka was on the Yenisei, which flowed north from Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, and Lake Baikal.

History

Railway between Salekhard and Nadym

Prison labor was used to construct the railroads of Imperial Russia and later those of the Soviet Union during the rapid industrialization of the 1930s.

Watchtower near Turukhansk, Part of 503rd Labor Camp

Construction of the Salekhard–Igarka Railway began in the summer of 1949 under the supervision of Col. V.A. Barabanov. The 501st Labor Camp began work eastward from Salekhard, while the 503rd Labor Camp pushed westward from Igarka. Plans called for a single railway line with 28 stations and 106 sidings. It was not feasible to span the 2.3 km Ob River crossing or the 1.6 km wide Yenisei River crossing. Ferries were used in the summer, while in the winter the trains spanned the river on ice with specially strengthened crossties.

It was estimated that anywhere from 80,000 to 120,000 laborers were engaged in the project. In the winter, construction was hampered by severe cold, permafrost, and food shortages. In the summer came bogged terrain, diseases, and the pestilence of mosquitoes, gnats, midges, and horseflies. On the technical side, engineering problems included construction across permafrost, a poor logistical system, and tight deadlines compounded by a severe lack of power machinery. As a result, railway embankments slowly settled into the marsh or were eroded by ponding. A shortage of materials also affected the project. One-meter segments of damaged rail lines from war-torn areas had to be sent in and re-welded to form 10-meter lengths.

As the project progressed, it became clear that there was actually little demand for this railway. In 1952 officials permitted a reduced tempo of work on the project. Construction was stopped in 1953 after Stalin's death. A total of 434 miles (699 km) of railway were completed at an official cost of 260 million rubles, later estimated to be near 42 billion 1953 rubles (2.5% of total Soviet capital investment at the time, or about $10 billion in 1950 dollars). The project was quickly destroyed by frost heaves and structural failures arising from underconstruction. At least 11 locomotives and 60,000 tons of metal were abandoned, and bridges have decayed or burned down. However, the corridor's telephone network remained in service until 1976.

About 350 km of track between Salekhard and Nadym remained in operation from the 1950s to the 1980s. However in 1990 the line was shut down, and due to rising steel prices the first 92 km of rail from Salekhard were dismantled and recycled during the 1990s.

Current operations and future prospects

The far western section of the railway, linking Labytnangi with the railway to Vorkuta, and thus to the rest of the Russian rail network, is the only section that has continuously remained in operation. A bridge across the Ob to Salekhard was never built, although this has often been reported to be planned for the future.

The section between Pangody and Novy Urengoy was rebuilt in the 1970s with the development of the gas deposits in the region, including a branch to Yamburg. The line connects to the rest of the Russian rail network at Korotchayevo.

Around the year 2000, discussion began about building a railway to Norilsk, about 220 km from Igarka, following much of the original corridor, to support the nickel and petroleum industry.

New construction of the railway section between Salekhard and Nadym started on 19 March 2010 in Salekhard.[5] This section is planned to be finished by 2014,[3] with combined road-rail bridges across the Ob and Nadym rivers, thus connecting to the existing Russian railway system at both ends.[4]

See also

  • Rail transport in the Soviet Union

References

  1. ^ a b Gulag Memorial
  2. ^ JENISSEI-ITL UND BAU 503
  3. ^ a b Industrial Urals & Polar Urals build $1.9bn Salekhard & Nadym railroad
  4. ^ a b [www.en.cupp.ru/db/files/company_presentation.pdf Polar Ural]
  5. ^ [1]

Books

  • T. Paschkowa (auther): Poljarnaja magistral, Moscow, Veče, 2007, ISBN=978-5-9533-1688-0 (The Polar Magistrale; Russian)
  • Norbert Mausolf (auther): Die Stalinbahn-Trilogie, Books on Demand GmbH, 2011, ISBN= 978-3842353985 (The Stalin Railway Trilogy; German)

External links

Coordinates: 65°51′00″N 88°04′00″E / 65.85°N 88.0666667°E / 65.85; 88.0666667


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Voie ferrée Salekhard-Igarka — Carte de la région du chemin de fer Salekhard Igarka. La voie ferrée Salekhard Igarka, également nommé Voie ferrée 501, Chemin de fer de la mort, Route de la Mort, et Route morte, est un projet ferroviaire dans le nord de la Sibérie, entre les… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Chemin de fer Salekhard-Igarka — 65°51′00″N 88°04′00″E / 65.85, 88.066667 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Salekhard — (English) Салехард (Russian) Саляʼ харад (Nenets language) Пуӆңават …   Wikipedia

  • Igarka — ( ru. Игарка) is an town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located 163 km north of the Arctic Circle. It is also a port on the Yenisey River, situated 673 km away from the river s mouth. Population: 8,627 (2002 Census); 18,820 (1989 Census); 16,000… …   Wikipedia

  • Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line — The Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line is not shown on this map, but it start at Obskaya just west of Salekhard and goes north to Bovanenkovo on the peninsula. The Obskaya–Bovanenkovo Line is a 525 km long railway line in northern Russia. It was opened for …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of largest projects in the Russian economy — Moscow International Business Center under construction …   Wikipedia

  • List of railways in Russia — This is a list of railways in Russia.Main lines and their divisions*Armenian Railway *Azerbaijani Railway *Belarus Railway *Dnieper Railway *Donetsk Railway (a section runs in Rostov Oblast, Russia) *East Siberian Railway **Irkutsk Railway… …   Wikipedia

  • 1953 in rail transport — EventsJanuary events* January 15 The brakes fail on Pennsylvania Railroad s westbound Federal Express passenger train; the train barrels through the end of track barriers and stationmaster s office at Union Station in Washington, DC, but nobody… …   Wikipedia

  • 1949 in rail transport — EventsJanuary events* January 22 The American Freedom Train tour, carrying the original versions of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, officially ends in Washington, DC. See also American Freedom… …   Wikipedia

  • Nizhny Novgorod International Airport — Международный аэропорт Нижний Новгород IATA: GOJ – …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”