On the wall of the Urgal 1 station there was a payphone that worked using Rostelecom cards. Using a card I had lying around, I called my grandfather, which incredibly surprised the local railway worker: according to her, in the 2 years that have passed since the telephone was installed, this is the first time she has seen someone talking on it.
The car of the Tynda – Komsomolsk train that we boarded was half empty: it was only hooked up in Novy Urgal and it was filled up on the way. About 20 minutes after departure, the conductor decided to clean the carriage.
“Let me wipe the table for you,” she said joyfully.
“We’ve already wiped it,” I answered reproachfully.
- How?
“With napkins,” Katya entered the dialogue.
- You can’t wipe the table with paper!
- It was a wet wipe for intimate hygiene.
- It’s still impossible!
Coal pit dumps - in the previous part they were visible from Chegdomyn, and this photo was taken near the Chemchuko crossing.
On the way up to the Dusse-Alinsky tunnel along the river valley. Soloni landscapes were pleasing to the eye - on one side there were rocky half-cuts, on the other there was a mountain river. And all this is on numerous curves. In anticipation of tomorrow, when we had to walk on the eastern side of the ridge, we rolled into the darkness of the tunnel, immediately after which the switches of the Dusse-Alin junction began, where we left the train. Despite the vigilance of the station duty officer, who looked out several times to see who had arrived with large backpacks, I managed to photograph the tunnel: the permit that I had did not include tunnels and bridges, although I had applied for them.
Having moved a couple of kilometers away from the station and descended from a steep and high embankment along the stairs along a large reinforced concrete pipe from which a rapid stream was gushing out, we made our way through the thicket to a river called the Devil, along the valley of which the railway was laid. Despite the name, the overnight location turned out to be the first one of the entire trip that was actually pleasant for an overnight stay, and not chosen out of desperation: soft moss pillows, dwarf cedar, mighty trees and a river rustling nearby were happily complemented by the absence of midges.
The next day we went downstream the river. Damn, where, judging by the map, a great photo shoot should have taken place. However, suspicions about the railway photogenicity of this section arose even when looking for an overnight stay. Suspicions were fully confirmed. There are no recesses, no rocks, no river flowing along the embankment - only forested hills around.
There was still a lot of time left before the evening train, and few kilometers to the Suluk station. Therefore, we stopped for a long rest in the floodplain of the river. The devil is near the railway bridge. We managed to dry all our things, including the tent, and get ready before the next rain. While we were resting, an armored personnel carrier on a truck tractor suddenly drove out to the river - people from the tractor took water and drove off. Since 8 am, when we woke up, not a single train had passed, and I began to worry that there had been an accident somewhere. The first train appeared only at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, dispelling the gathering fears with its appearance.
Soon r. The devil ended its run by flowing into the river. Egono, we got to the Suluk station with an unexpectedly dull station, identical to the service building - we couldn’t even immediately figure out which building was the station. Only later did we find out that once upon a time there was a huge station in Suluk, but the project was flawed and already in the second year after its construction the station was closed because dangerous cracks appeared along it. Unfortunately, I did not know such details on the spot and did not photograph the ruins of the station.
Collapsed Suluk station. Photo from the photo album "BAM".
Leaving Katya at the station, I ran to the center of the village to buy bribes at the store. As in most villages on the BAM, the discrepancy between the large-scale plans and what happened gave rise to despondency.
Having boarded the train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a pleasant surprise for us was the beginning of perhaps the most beautiful section of the Eastern BAM - the majestic mountains of the Badzhal ridge rose to the south of the railway.
Wide rivers often began to appear, carrying their waters from the mountains to the wide Amgun. Moreover, interestingly, the Orokot River spilled into two branches, more than a kilometer apart from each other, so the railway turned out to be laid along a real river island. Before Orokot, the construction of the siding of the same name was actively underway - it should be put into operation this year.
An unpleasant addition to the trip was a fellow traveler in the compartment - an aunt of about 45-50 years old. She commented out loud on her every action and many thoughts: “Now I’m going to get water,” “I need to wash myself,” “I wonder what Nikolai has to do with it?” - this is about the church car named after. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Moreover, she continued to do this at night - she had to get off in Postyshevo, where the train arrived after midnight.
According to the original plan, from Komsomolsk we were supposed to return back to the station at night. Postyshevo (since in the western direction the train travels much more during daylight hours) and take a ride to Gerbi on a work train. But reality made its own adjustments: the work train did not run on Saturday, so the plan could not be fully realized. In addition, by this time we had already decided that since Katya began to try to get sick and was coughing regularly, she would live for 2 days in Kosmolsk while I drove back and forth. I just had to figure out what to do in the current situation with the train cancellation.
Railway is our way toBAM: B July 1974 The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 561 on the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway. The word “BAM” entered life quickly and firmly established itself in it. Millions of people looked at geographic maps with interest in order to connect Baikal and Amur with a line in their mind's eye.
We were amazed by the vast expanses of the region and the grand scale of the upcoming construction. The highway crossed an extremely complex natural region, most of it was in the mountains, and the central section was in a zone of high seismicity, it met with such deep rivers as the Lena, Upper Angara, Olekma, Gilyuy, Selemdzha, Byssa, Bureya, Amgun, Amur, and passed across vast areas of permafrost. In these northern regions, where the ground is frozen at 50–60 degrees, there were almost no roads, not even trails. The rare Evenk villages that found shelter along the banks of the rivers were separated from each other by many kilometers of taiga.
857 The Training Center of the Railway Troops was created on August 1, 1996 on the basis of 1 separate training railway regiment, which began its history on October 5, 1918. Throughout the entire period of activity of the military unit, its main task was to train highly qualified sergeants and junior specialists intended to fill positions that determine the combat capability of military units and formations of the Railway Troops. Over the past years, tens of thousands of junior commanders and specialists have been released from the military unit and sent to the troops. Graduates of the military training unit performed their tasks with honor and dignity on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, during the restoration of railways in war and post-war times. The personnel made a great contribution to the development of the country's railway transport during the construction of the Ivdel-Ob, Abakan-Tayshet, Tyumen-Surgut, and Baikal-Amur Mainline railway lines. Hundreds of unit graduates have been awarded government awards for their successes in increasing the combat readiness of military units and military formations. Currently, work continues at the Training Center of the Railway Troops to train squad commanders and specialist soldiers. Training is conducted in 14 specialties, defined by Order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of 2006 No. 480 “On approval of the List of military positions filled by soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen, for which military personnel are subject to training in training formations and military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
"Do you hear time buzzing - BAM! In the steep expanses - BAM!
And the big taiga submits to us!
Do you hear time buzzing - BAM! In the steep expanses - BAM!
This is the bell of our young hearts..."
(music by O. Feltsman, lyrics by R. Rozhdestvensky performed by Vladislav Konnov)
On July 8, 1974, Resolution No. 561 “On the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway” was issued by the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Before this, on March 15, L.I. Brezhnev, at a speech in Alma-Ata, called the BAM “the most important construction project of the 9th Five-Year Plan,” and on April 26, the “All-Union Shock Komsomol Detachment named after the XVII Komsomol Congress” was created - the first of such detachments at this construction site. On July 27, the Pravda newspaper published an editorial “From Baikal to Amur” - the first editorial on this construction. An active propaganda campaign began for the new “great construction project,” which dates back to the 19th century.
The road connected on 10.05 Moscow time on September 29, 1984 at the Balabukhta crossing, but the ceremony of nailing down the “Golden Crutch” was held at the nearest large station - Kuanda. On the main track, the last rails were laid on October 27 and through traffic along the BAM was opened. At the same time, the Baikal-Amur Railway was organized, from Lena to Komsomolsk with a management center in Tynda. But this entire vast facility was completely transferred to the operation of the Ministry of Railways only in 1989.
According to the established legend, BAM was built by three forces: The Skovorodino - Tynda (and then the village of Tyndinsky) - Neryungri section was built by convicts and this section appeared before everyone else. The first attempts at construction began in 1932. Aldan gold, Neryungri coal and Kalara forest had to be exported somehow. (See Note #4)
The Komsomolsk-Tynda section was built by soldiers (“Komsomol members in military uniform,” as they said then), so the road there is the most rotten and slow. Slave labor is the least productive.
The Lena-Tynda section was built by Komsomol volunteers from different parts of our country, which is why construction was completed later than everyone else. In addition to the road itself, the entire infrastructure of towns and villages along the highway was built from scratch. They were built by different republics and regions, so the Novaya Chara station station looks like a yurt (Kazakh SSR), the Severobaikalsk station looks like a sea wave (Leningrad), and the Tynda station looks like a swan (Moscow). Full list of chef regions: Ukraine - New Urgal, Belarus - Muyakan, Latvia - Taksimo, Moldova - Alonka, Turkmenistan - Larba, Uzbekistan - Kuanda and Leprindo, Tajikistan - Soloni, Estonia - Kichera, Georgia - Niya. Russian territories and regions built smaller stations.
I intended to drive along the entire highway (with the exception of the “zekovsky” section) and understand what benefits the Soviet government was pursuing by harnessing itself to such a project. I remembered very well both the Komsomol romance and the obvious reluctance of ordinary Komsomol members to embark on this dubious adventure. But it was true that it was possible to earn money. I remember the cute little ditty - “How I left for BAM\ With a leather suitcase\ And I returned home\ With frostbite” or, for example, “Where tigers used to shit\ We will lay highways\ Come to me at BAM\ I’ll give you I'll give you the rails..."
It is now clear that the BAM did not and does not have any national economic significance. It is needed only as a backup for the Trans-Siberian Railway in case of Chinese military aggression. The Trans-Siberian Railway is located too close to the border and, although the entire border area was (and is now also) occupied by Soviet/Russian troops, one offensive operation by the PLA is capable of cutting off the Far East completely.
From Komsomolsk-on-Amur the diesel locomotive is puffing and dragging our train to the northwest. The only train on the road running daily - Komsomolsk-on-Amur - Tynda does not cause a stir. Three reserved seats, two compartments and one general carriage, that's all. The general carriage is filled with students going home to relax before exams. The compartment and reserved seat are filled with more serious people.
In the next compartment car there is even such a luxury as a buffet. It is unprofitable to attach a dining car to such a train, so they made do with a gondola car. It consists of half a compartment car (5 pieces) and half a car of clean space with a tent and a bar counter. Very spacious and cozy, you can eat right there. The assortment includes nuts, chocolates, juices, beer, vodka, pizzas, pies - all with a moderate markup. I repeat once again - with moderate. Sometimes it is even cheaper for local residents to buy food from the dining car than from local stores.
My traveling companions were two middle-aged men who lived near Tynda and worked on rotation throughout the country. Now they were returning from Sakhalin, where they worked for six months as drivers filling soil at the oil terminal of the Sakhalin-1 project. One of them, in his youth, worked on the construction of the highway in the Ulanmakit-Muyakan area, and I managed to ask him about the construction of the road and his current life.
Outside the window stretched the fences of military units. This section of the BAM was built and inhabited by the military, so there are a lot of high frequencies here. And bridges over rivers are protected much better. Now this is private security armed with real machine guns. Along the banks there are armored caps, concrete trenches, and so on. Now everything is abandoned.
Holgasso is the first village with a huge inscription “Tambov Region”. Almost every station has monuments of this kind. The highway itself was built by soldiers, prisoners, and ordinary Komsomol members, but the station villages were only free builders. Many of them stayed to live here.
At the Lian station, a motrice (a self-propelled railway car) rolled up to the parallel track and from it a bunch of auditors ran onto our train. Trains on the Far Eastern Railway are inspected very often. During the entire trip I encountered only two checks and both of them were at the Far Eastern Railway. (Khabarovsk and Lian)
Khurmuli, Mavrinsky, Gorin, Kharpichan, Evoron, Moni, Bolen
The first standing station is Postyshevo (the village of Berezovy), you can still get to this place by car. Along the entire BAM, the road laid during construction is preserved. It is gravel now and then, but in some places the bridges have already rotted. We pass this section year-round with Urals, and during the seasons - even with passenger cars. The village itself is widely scattered throughout the area, which is rare for these places. The passengers from Lian got off here, and my fellow travelers and I fell asleep peacefully.
Stations Ebgun, Sonakh, Amgun, Eanga, Sektali, Dzhamku, Badzhal, Urkaltu, Talijan, Gerbi, Orokot, Mogdy, Suluk, Dusse-Alin, Naldy I slept peacefully. Among them there is not a single one that is more or less large. Only traveling.
At the Soloni station I already woke up and began to look out the window with renewed vigor... Mmmm, nothing interesting appeared there compared to yesterday. The village at the station was built by builders of the Tajik SSR, so it resembles some kind of mausoleum.
Mukunga, Turuk, Mugule, Chemchuko.
Urgal is not one village, but a whole bunch (Urgal, Urgal-1, Middle Urgal and New Urgal). On New Urgal the longest parking is 32 minutes. New large station, but there are absolutely no old ladies selling food. Everything is imported, we don’t have enough ourselves. The village is neat and the street names bear the stamp of Little Russia - Krymskaya, Kyiv... A short branch runs from Urgal to the Chegdomyn station. There is even a daily local train Khabarovsk-Chegdomyn.
And beyond Uragl the Mari begin, i.e. endless swamps on permafrost. Square kilometers of grass and tussocks, and only trees standing alone, frail and crooked.
Bureinsk, Chebangda, Alonka, Stlannik, Tuyun, Shugara, Amgan are stations in Mary. As a rule, at each of them a freight train awaits us to pass along the single-track further to the east. The carriages contain wood, wood, wood, and occasionally coal from Neryungri.
Etyrken is the last station in the Khabarovsk Territory - next comes the Amur Region. And therefore - a change of time zone, I become an hour closer to Moscow, for the first time during this trip. After all, until this moment I was only moving away. A regular work train reaches Eterken from Urgal itself. And the road rises higher and higher into the mountains.
Here the train crosses large mountain ranges. Larch forests appear on the hills, swamps disappear. The landscape is enlivened only by rare clearings with power lines. There are no settlements in these places at all; all sidings are served by one station attendant. As a rule, this is a woman dressed in a FULL railway uniform. And I was especially surprised by the fact that each DS had a uniform red cap. Some kind of fetishist's dream. Nowhere else have I seen such discipline in clothing. Service in the Ministry of Railways is prestigious and respected in these places. In addition, this is almost the only job that pays at least some money. The second money job is logging. All BAM does is cut down timber and transport it to China, since this is its only cargo here.
Ulma, a station on the banks of the river of the same name, Mustakh, Gvozdevsky - tiny patrols with traditional duty officers in red caps.
Small station Isa on the pass itself. A three-way trip, a small hut for the station attendant and the most beautiful mountains around. There is a road “serpentine”, but here there is a railway “serpentine”. The rails are laid along stone recesses, literally carved out of granite mountains.
Isakan, Demchenko, Zvonkoye - here the mountains slowly recede and endless swamps with stunted forests begin again. But sawmills are working hard here too.
Fevralsk is finally another big station. As always on BAM, there is a grandiose station built by builders from the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the absence of passengers. There is no excitement, trains run very rarely. Apart from our daily, only local “scourge carriers” or “scourges”. What it is? These are one or two reserved seat cars attached to a diesel locomotive and are a substitute for an electric train. Freight cars can also be attached to passenger cars; in official schedules this is called a “work train”. As at any large station in this section, next to the station there is a stele with the numbers of military units that participated in the construction of the road. The granite monument covered with numbers looks like a stone telephone book.
They say that from Fevralsk there are buses to Blagoveshchensk and Ekimchan. Tickets are supposedly purchased at the station building. Behind the city flows the large Selemdzha River, a tributary of the Amur. The following stations - Chervinka, Skalisty, Drogoshevsk, Meun, Nora, Dugda, Tangomen, Kamnega are no different from their previous siblings.
Tungala is considered a large station, but compared to any station in the European part it is a small stop. Although there is everything that is required, and even the Tungalinskaya track distance (this is the name of the railway operation office) with repair and restoration trains. The village itself was built by builders from the Novosibirsk region. Brrr... It's scary to live in such places, a natural wilderness.
The next station has an intricate name - “Departure named after the hero of the Soviet Union Miroshnichenko”, which is reflected in concrete letters on the monument next to the station.
Despite the summer, the evening is cold (no more than 6-8 degrees) and then it started to rain. It will be bad if the weather remains like this tomorrow. We pass the small stations Ulagir, Moldavsky, Ogoron. After Ogoron, sleep puts me on the shelf.
We passed Verkhnezeisk late at night and failed to see anything. And I really wanted to see Zeya and the giant reservoirs. They say it’s very beautiful, but sometimes you also need to sleep.
Morning found us at the Dipkun station. It’s not far from Tynda (6 hours’ drive) and the village itself looks more cheerful than others. Solid brick houses, asphalt roads, and, like everywhere else, a civilian station. And during the whole night we passed only six stations (Ulyanovsky Stroitel, Izhak, Apetenok, Verkhnezeisk, Tutaul, Dess), such are the local distances.
Unakha, Marevaya, Jalingra,
Bestuzhevo. We can say that this is a satellite city of Tynda, with which it is connected by a good asphalt road. Here, 22 kilometers from it, there are children's camps, a holiday home and even a bomb shelter. A line from Southern Yakutia, from Neryungri, also approaches Bestuzhevo station. Coking coal is transported intensively from there and the road is doing well. They are even preparing to continue the journey deeper into Yakutia, to the Tommot station, and then, you see, all the way to Yakutsk.
The train crosses a bridge over the small river Gilyuy, a tributary of the Zeya.
Shakhtaum, the last station before Tynda, the village of Vostochny is located nearby (5 five-story buildings, several barracks and that’s it). There are only 7 kilometers left to the “Capital of BAM”. The first and most difficult 1469 km to home is behind us.
And so, behind the mountain the houses and chimneys of the city of Tynda appeared. The capital of BAM was waiting for me. (that is, a continuation will follow...)
Eastern BAM is a section of the railway from Tynda to Komsomolsk-on-Amur. This section, in general, is not as beautiful as the western one (from Lena to Tynda), but, nevertheless, it will be of interest to travelers, so you should not neglect visiting it. Some sections of the eastern BAM were built by prisoners. During the Great Patriotic War, part of the rails was removed and sent to the west for military needs.
If the western BAM is sparsely populated, then the eastern one is practically unpopulated. Between Tynda and Komsomolsk, which is 1469 km, there are only a few urban-type settlements. The largest of them is Fevralsk (it seems to even have the status of a city), located approximately in the middle of the site.
So, on the evening of August 2, cargo and passenger train 963З “Tynda-Komsomolsk-on-Amur” departed from Tynda and headed east – towards the Amur.
For some time (to the Bestuzhevo station, it is about 30 km from Tynda), the AYAM - Amur-Yakutsk Mainline runs parallel to the BAM.
Currently, the road has been built to the Tommot station; there are several hundred kilometers left to Yakutsk and a bridge across the Lena.
Then AYAM goes to the left - to the north, towards Yakutsk.
We passed the unremarkable Dzhelingra station, 45 km from Tynda.
A little more nature of the north of the Amur region. One of the photographs shows the Gilyuy River.
Marevaya station and the tiny village near the station were built by residents of the Tula region.
Marya is a wetland covered with sparse oppressed larch forest, interspersed with areas of treeless swamps. In our country, this type of natural community exists only in Eastern Siberia and the Far East of Russia. When the BAM was built, temporary roads made of logs were laid along the mari, along which material was transported and dragged.
After Mareva, evening came.
Unfortunately, the Zeya Reservoir was moved late at night. By the way, it cannot be seen from the train window during daylight hours and when moving back, from Komsomolsk to Tynda.
In the morning, outside the window stretched an absolutely flat plain, covered with taiga and numerous rivers.
Recently there were heavy rains here, many rivers overflowed their banks, and the Zeya reservoir was overflowing. To avoid tragedy, it was necessary to release water and flood a number of populated areas. This is a forced measure aimed at preventing a dam break, which could lead to a real tragedy.
As a result of the rains, the Selemdzha River overflowed its banks.
Fevralsk, parking 31 minutes. More than half of the train's population left the train, leaving the train almost empty.
The station building from the station square.
There is also a bus station here; most buses are scheduled for the arrival time of train 963/964. A minibus arrived to Blagoveshchensk, the capital of the Amur region, about 400 km away, the ride takes about 7 hours. The groove was jammed almost to capacity, there were a lot of people standing, I hope they don’t need it until the end.
The central part of the city of Fevralsk, located a 10-minute walk from the station.
About 4,600 people live in Fevralsk - quite a bit. The future of the village is connected with the railway, as well as with logging and mining in the Selemdzhinsky district. Thus, there are plans to build a railway line 144 km to the Ogodzhinsky coal deposit.
Low mountains appeared in the distance - this is the Turan ridge, which the railway crosses perpendicularly. The vast uninhabited territories continue to amaze.
Midday, extreme southeast of the Amur region, Isa station.
Crossing the Turan ridge.
Next to the road there is a stone with a memorial plaque and a Cross, which, unfortunately, I did not have time to photograph in time, I noticed it too late. This photo shows that the monument should be illuminated at night, since there is a lantern.
Etyrken station, Khabarovsk Territory. Here the time differs from Moscow by 7 hours! I have to stay in this time zone for quite a long time.
On the mountain slopes in some places you can see entire strips of dried trees, it seems they are birches.
The serpentine road climbs to another pass. And finally, the Turan ridge was left behind.
An unfamiliar plant appeared, which was a cross between sea buckthorn and broom.
Station station and the village of Alonka. This settlement was built by residents of Moldova.
Immediately after Alonka we drove through a very large burnt area; it was clear that the fire was approaching close to the railway. Low rocks sometimes approach from the left, then from the right. When there are no rocks, vast expanses are visible. The vegetation began to change, it became richer, and this is not surprising - compared to Hani, the train descended quite noticeably to the south, approximately to the latitude of Voronezh. And the ocean became closer.
The plain began again, before New Urgal we passed the bridge over the Bureya.
Novy Urgal station, parking 35 minutes. Stanislav and I went for a walk around the village, walked up the tiled path to the “BAM” stele, where we took photos.
View from the stele down towards the station.
The village of New Urgal was built by residents of Ukraine. After walking around a bit and buying mineral water, we moved on. After 11 km, Urgal 1 station, parking 18 minutes. The Khabarovsk-Chegdomyn train arrived on the adjacent track; the Chegdomyn station is located 17 km from the main line of the BAM; I would never have thought that a whole train from Khabarovsk goes to this branch! After all, only 15 thousand people live in it! It is noteworthy that in Fevralsk, which has the status of a city, the population is 3 times smaller.
For some time the branch to Chegdomyn runs parallel.
For the first time in many days I saw cumulonimbus clouds, although they were of no use.
The Bureinsky Ridge appeared - a tough nut to crack on the path of the BAM builders.
We are approaching the Dusse-Alinsky tunnel. The mountains covered with taiga look very beautiful in the rays of the evening sun.
The Dusse-Alinsky tunnel has a length of 1806 meters 75 cm. It was made through rocks and permafrost back in the fifties. But it so happened that the tunnel was not used then: the construction of the line was mothballed. Time has not been kind to this unique structure. Drainage devices have fallen into disrepair, and inspection wells are filled with rock. Over the decades, water and severe cold destroyed the tunnel. In the end, the tunnel was completely blocked with ice. The railroad warriors had to clear the tunnel and lay the rails. The tunnel was cleared of ice four times faster than envisaged by the project. The rails were laid through the tunnel in 2 days!
How BAM began
In 1974, Stepan Fedorenko was transferred from sunny Baku to serve in cold Tynda. The officer was warned that the family should not be taken to BAM, because there were no living conditions there. Tynda was still a miserable village at that time, recalls the retired colonel.
“Our brigade was given the task of meeting construction cargo at the Skovorodino station and transporting it in columns to the points where military units should be stationed. Shields for the barracks and canteen and food were transported along the Lena highway,” says Stepan Fedorenko. “There were no roads to the east; our guys were flown there by helicopters. They left them bags of food, and they built winter huts and cut clearings. We were given instructions to equip military units and build a road along the future railway line. The second task was to help in the construction of the Small BAM. The railway was supposed to arrive in Tynda by May 1, 1975.
In 1974, relations with the Chinese were tense. Therefore, the railroad soldiers had to encrypt themselves, communicating via radio under the code names Worker, Foreman, and Master. 40 years have passed, but Stepan Stepanovich easily reproduces the episodes of those days one after another.
The military was not at all prepared for the local winters. The built barracks were frozen through. The soldiers erected log houses from larch, insulated the joints with moss, cut windows with a Druzhba chainsaw, and erected large tents on top of wooden boxes. Such buildings, unlike the “barrels of Diogenes”, in which steam came from the mouth in winter, retained heat.
– We didn’t imagine that it could be 60 degrees below zero in winter. Our thermometers were designed to reach minus 50. In the mornings they went off scale,” recalls Stepan Stepanovich. – To avoid catching a cold, we ate garlic and onions, which were sent to us in parcels. Everyone carried garlic cloves in their pocket. There were also problems in the spring, especially when the rivers melted. There was a case: a car with construction materials fell through the ice, and by the time the soldier reached the shore, it was like he was wearing a glass suit. The poor fellow was brought to his senses with alcohol.
Test of courage
The soldiers still managed to create a normal life in the taiga. The units built baths and baked bread in field ovens.
The military railway workers left for work early, the stars were still shining in the sky, and they also returned with them. They cut a clearing, built a road, laid rails that were supposed to reach Komsomolsk-on-Amur.
The 35th Brigade of Railway Troops was a small state. It included 12 military units, about 15 thousand personnel, a military court, the prosecutor's office, military trade and a special department. The headquarters was located in Tynda. The military settled in the area, which was popularly called “Squirrel”, in honor of the first cafe that opened in the city. By the way, Stepan Stepanovich keeps a piece of red ribbon from the opening of “Squirrel”.
With Tynda awarded the status of a city, it began to quickly transform. Kindergartens and schools were opened, temporary settlements were built. With the arrival of the shock troops, the first families began to form at BAM. Wives and children began to come to the military. Serving at BAM together with Stepan Stepanovich were his wife Taisiya Vasilievna, she worked in the hospital, and daughters Irina and Ella.
– Where the trains go today, our parents lived their lives. I was a schoolgirl then. What I remember most is how fresh vegetables arrived in stores for the New Year, but there were very few of them, so they were distributed equally to everyone, regardless of their official position. There was one chopped cucumber and two tomatoes on the festive table. Fresh vegetables were valued at BAM more than red or black caviar. Some people associate New Year with the smell of tangerines, but for Bamov’s children, New Year is the smell of fresh cucumber,” says Ella.
We gave the country a way
In 1979, due to health reasons, Stepan Stepanovich had to leave the construction site. At that time, on the eastern section, the rails already approached the Zeya River. For their service at BAM, the Fedorenko spouses were awarded medals “For the construction of BAM.”
After Tynda, the family went to Ukraine, to Dnepropetrovsk. This was already the twelfth duty station. And our hero retired to a well-deserved rest, having gone from lieutenant to colonel. Now the Fedorenko family lives in Gelendzhik. Stepan Stepanovich is the deputy chairman of the city council of veterans; for many years he has been defending the interests of war participants and home front workers.
– This year marks 40 years since the start of construction of the BAM. Today the word “BAM” is pronounced differently, but at that time it contained such enthusiasm and enthusiasm that it is now difficult to associate anything with it. After 40 years, I would really like to visit Tynda to donate to the Museum of the History of BAM the silver crutches that I received when laying the last link and at the rail joints at the first stations, as well as a file of the newspaper “Bamstroyput”, ribbons, pennants and badges of those years , says Stepan Fedorenko.
At eighty, the military man has no complaints about his health. He says that he has the strength and a great desire to travel by train along the eastern section of the BAM, which was built by railroad soldiers, to meet with colleagues and remember the past.
On the picture: Wedding photography on rails was invented at BAM
Svetlana Nazarchuk
