The city of Volchansk, Sverdlovsk Region, is a small town in the Russian Federation. It is located quite far from Yekaterinburg, at a distance of 450 kilometers. The city began with a small village on the Volchanka River and had the same name then. Currently, it is the administrative center of the eponymous district, which includes three settlements.
How many of us have not heard of the Ural Mountains, which Russia and the Sverdlovsk Region are so famous for? Volchansk is a city located on the eastern slope of their main ridge.
How was the city formed?
The village was formed thanks to the fur dealer, who settled there in 1850. 10 years after the establishment of the settlement, a group of gold miners discovered a brown coal deposit nearby.
In the next 50 years, the study and development of this point was conducted. Subsequently, mining began. Due to this location, the settlement Volchansk (Sverdlovsk region) began to develop quite quickly. By 1950, the construction of a coal mine for an aluminum plant began. And after six years, the settlement was transformed into a city called Volchansk. In 1966, he receives the status of a city of regional significance.
Stages of development
Volchansk (Sverdlovsk region) developed precisely thanks to coal deposits. As a result, in a recent small settlement, it even acquires the status of regional significance. Various factories were opened there, including car repair and consumer goods.
At the peak period of development, about 25,000 people lived in Volchansk. Unfortunately, today only 9.3 thousand live there (statistics of 2015). The bulk of the population of the city now works at a city-forming enterprise. This settlement is included in the list of so-called single-industry towns.
Transport
What makes the city of Volchansk (Sverdlovsk Region) unique is that it is the smallest settlement in Russia where the tram runs. There are several interesting stories connected with this type of transport. You can start with the fact that the tram in Volchansk appeared even before it received the status of a city. The population then reached almost 30 thousand people.
The tram line was opened as a gift for the New Year, December 31, 1951. Previously, the transport network consisted of two routes. One of them led to a coal mine, and the second to Lesnaya Volchanka. Unfortunately, due to the frequent theft of wires, the path to the mine was dismantled. There was even a route to the city of Karpinsk. But he, too, was decommissioned.
Now the tram line has a length of 8 kilometers. Only one tram, consisting of one carriage, travels along it. The state of the entire line these days is rather deplorable.
Legends
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Volchansk liked to tell the bike before that their city was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest in the world with a tram network. Unfortunately, this was not so.
But in 2008, to restore justice, the head collected the necessary amount, summoned experts and ensured that the city was included in the book of records. Volchansk (Sverdlovsk Region) was recognized as the smallest settlement with tram tracks, but not all over the world, but only in Russia. Nevertheless, the moderators of the city site continue to erroneously mention the world record.
To summarize
Unfortunately, the population of Volchansk decreases every year. Most likely, this is due to the fact that young people, after graduating from school, are eager to enter higher education institutions in large cities. But such is the fate of almost all small cities, and especially those in which there are no universities.