The Circum - Baikal Railway is considered to be a unique place in Russia (the photo will be presented below). Such an unusual name was formed due to the fact that when you look at the map, the impression is that the road really makes a circle.
Some facts about the Circum-Baikal Railway
The above name was applied to the railway section of the Trans-Baikal road from Baikal Station to the Mysovaya platform. Its length was 260 kilometers. It is worth noting that at present this section is an integral part of the East Siberian Railway. In addition, at the moment, such a term (Circum-Baikal Railway) is used only to refer to deadlocks from the Slyudyanka stop to the Baikal point. Until 1949, the main route of the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through the territory of the Circum-Baikal Road. By the way, the above section (to the Mysovaya platform) is to this day a component of the Siberian direction. And the segment of the Olkhinsky plateau (its southern part), passing from the settlement of Slyudyanka to the Baikal station, is recognized as a monument of engineering.
However, after the duplicating railway segment was put into operation, the need to use the section from Irkutsk to Slyudyanka disappeared. And in 1956 he was dismantled. And by the end of the 50s during the construction of the Irkutsk hydroelectric station, it was completely drowned (as a result of flooding of the reservoir). That is why a dead end was formed. For information, officially the Circum-Baikal Railway never existed (it was an integral part of the Trans-Baikal section). Only the railway construction department operated. Today, this distance is an element of the East Siberian traffic.
Research work on site
The first surveys were carried out from 1836 to 1840. These works were carried out by A.I. Stukenberg. However, the final steps to identify the plan, according to which the Circum-Baikal Railway was to be built, were completed in 1894. The first path went from Irkutsk to the deepest lake on the planet. At first, a decision was made to maintain rail links along the right bank of the Angara. For this purpose, it was assumed the construction of a pontoon bridge. But later this idea was rejected because the water level in the river was subject to frequent fluctuations. And during the ice drift, the use of this section was not at all possible. Therefore, it was decided that the Kurgobaikalskaya railway will go along the left bank, although it was considered too complicated to develop. Simultaneously with these surveys , research was carried out to study the possibility of laying railway links to connect the “gap” on the Siberian Railway. And there were no problems with the eastern section. Here, a stretch of road passed along the flat terrain and the southern shore of Lake Baikal, which is characterized by sloping. But the gap for connecting Irkutsk and Kultuk caused significant difficulties.
Creating railway tracks
As a result of the work carried out (which were conducted under the supervision of Professor I.V. Mushketov), four possible options were developed for stretching this railway strip. Namely:
- 1. From Irkutsk to the settlement of Kultuk through the left bank of the river through the Zyrkuzun ridge.
- Along the valleys of the Krutaya Guba and Bolshaya Olha rivers with further laying of the road along the shore of Lake Baikal.
- From the village of Belektui to Kultuk through the Tunkinsky ridge.
- From the Baikal platform to the end point along the shore of the lake.
Final acceptance of option
As a result of the research (which conducted mining engineering lots), only two were selected from the proposed versions. And in 1899, the committee for the construction of the Siberian railway communication approved the first and third options for connecting the "gap" of the highway. Throughout the year, under the supervision of B.U. Samrimovich on the selected routes passed the final detailed research. This made it possible to irrevocably give preference to communication along the shore of Lake Baikal. Doubts about the appropriateness of using this option were due to the fact that the coast was a rocky area with steep slopes. However, according to calculations, it was found that this particular plan has economic efficiency. The final approval of the chosen route was adopted in 1901. B.U. Savrimovich, who at that time held the post of engineer of communications. For information, the estimate of this railway construction amounted to more than 52 million rubles.
Circum-Baikal Railway. History
During the design, the Siberian section (which as a result became known as the Trans-Siberian Railway) consisted of 7 sections. Among them was the Korugobaikalsky Railway, the construction of which was carried out along the eastern shore of the lake from Irkutsk to the city of Babushkino (previously Mysovaya marina). In the period from 1896 to 1900, railway tracks were built from the starting point of departure to Cape Ustyansky (which had the original name Maly Baranchik). In addition, by 1900 construction work was completed on the Circum-Baikal Railway on the eastern shore, and initially all forces were directed to the construction of the line between Mysovaya and Tankhoi stations. In subsequent works (to the Slyudyanka platform), the labor of convicts and prisoners was used mainly.
Final work
The laying of the most difficult stretch (to the stop of Baikal) began only in the spring of 1902. Moreover, it is worth noting that the deadline was set for the end of the summer of 1905. The shore of the lake at that time was a rocky cliff with an elevation of up to 400 m. It was initially assumed that this section would include 33 tunnels. In addition, due to the negative impact of the waters of Lake Baikal, the height of the railway base should have been at least 533 cm. Also, the passage capacity was taken into account during the construction of siding. He was at least 14 pairs of trains during the day.
Circum-Baikal Railway. Schedule and price
In the 80s, they gradually began to work out the tourism sector. It is worth noting that, since the commissioning of the Circum-Baikal Road, it has already been used as a recreation area, although in an extremely limited range. What is the Circum-Baikal Railway today? 2014 is rich in various excursions. Travel is weekly. In June - on Saturday and Sunday, in July - from Wednesday to Sunday. The Circum-Baikal Express was launched throughout the site. The train departs in the morning. The cost of excursions is a little over 2000 rubles. The duration of the tour is one day.
sights
Today there are several recreation centers, as well as an unusual type of tourism - wild. The company "Russian Railways" is currently intensively engaged in the development of tourist opportunities that the Circum-Baikal Railway has. Reviews of tourists who have already visited these places are very positive. First of all, many go there to see the "engineering" sights. In addition to them, there are many natural monuments along the Circum-Baikal Railway that are of no less interest. These are rock outcrops, a number of wooden structures made in the Art Nouveau style (built at the beginning of the twentieth century), stone remains and so on.