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Train : 'No.004' Moscow to Bejing (4th day on the train).
It’s a very misty morning as we pull into Achinsk station, a small gold mining town. From here we start to climb upwards and away from the Siberian plains and into the Siberian mountains and Taiga forest. The change in elevation is apparent from the slow speed of the train winding its way up the steep gradients for mile after mile. In the gulleys and ditches between the tracks and the edge of the dense forests we start to see thick compacted areas of snow and ice where the spring sunshine has not yet penetrated. The Chinese attendants say that the winter this year in Russia has been a particularly bad and extended one, so Spring is late this year. We are now at the half way point of our journey from Moscow to Beijing. We are climbing even higher into the mountains and see more and more snow, passing through ravines following fast flowing rivers. I even see a bird with large wingspan, maybe an Eagle, swoop down from the pine trees and skim across the water of a river with its talons open, but couldn’t quite see
ACHINSK
Early morning mist over Achinsk station.if it managed to catch its prey. Occasionally the forest opens up to provide views of probably 20 miles or more of little wooden villages clinging to the sides of steep mountains of pine trees in every shade of green and blue you can imagine, streaked with remnants of snow and ice. Its absolutely breathtaking and beautiful scenery, so remote and so unspoilt, and lasts for over a 100 miles between Achinsk and Krasnoyarsk, which is our next stop.
We stop at Krasnoyarsk, a remote industrial city on the wide Yenisey River forming the border between west and east Siberia. Even though the city is 3000 miles south of the Arctic Circle, it has been known in Winter for icebergs to be seen on the river which have made their way from the Arctic only gradually melting along the way due to the severely cold temperatures in this part of the world. A few years ago at least one bridge here was demolished by an iceberg. The station building here would not be out of place if it were a cathedral or a mosque, made entirely of marble, as are the buildings on the platforms. Just a point to
ACHINSK
Leaving Achinsk station. note….. the entire Russian railway system works on Moscow time and not local time. So if you are in Krasnoyarsk and want to catch a train at 11am local time, then you need to look in the timetable for a train at 7am - even the station clock here displays Moscow time only. Our train does not exactly adhere to the timetable. Its always 20 to 30 minutes ahead of schedule so departs from stations earlier than it should. All I can think of is that this is an international train with all tickets having to be purchased in advance in conjunction with valid passports and visas, so the train crews know if passengers are due to get on or off the train at a station, so if there is no one getting on, we can depart early. As usual as at all major stations, the state police are in evidence, and on this occasion the military - all eyeing our train and its passengers with some suspicion.
Leaving Krasnoyarsk we cross the spectacular girder bridge over the Yenisey River and to the east I can see high peaked mountain ranges which we start to climb. Outside the city
OVINNEY
River crossing in the Taiga Forest. I notice lots of what appear to be trap doors on a grassy stretch of land alongside the railway with vent pipes protruding from the ground. I can only assume that they are underground storage areas for the adjoining high rise flats, and possibly used as make shift fall-out shelters during the cold war ? We continue to climb through the mountains, many barren apart from the odd group of trees. This is an open cast mining region so its hard to distinguish between the smaller mountains and old grass covered mounds of mining spoil. We later encounter some severe track curves around the hills of between 90 and 180 degrees within very short distances and on more than one occasion we can see both the front and the back of the train at the same time ! Every 10 miles or so along the entire route we see track maintenance crews at work in the remotest of places with no access apart from by train, another indication of the continued high level of maintenance that this railway requires partially due to the severe climatic conditions. Everytime we pass through a station where we are not stopping, the station master
TAIGA FOREST
Village in the Taiga Forest. or main official stands to attention in full uniform looking straight ahead holding a yellow baton, sometimes standing on a raised plinth. This could be possibly a fall back to the military, as in a form of saluting the train, or maybe an indication to say all is well with the station and the ability of the train to pass through their station safely, or possibly just to show that they are awake and not asleep in the station building - not too sure. This was to continue to be seen in both Mongolia and China.
Along this stretch of line are 2 interesting branch lines according to the guidebooks. The first goes to 'space city' Krasnoyarsk-45, which allegedly built rockets for the space race of the 1960's, and the second branch line goes to 'nuclear city' Krasnoyarsk-26, allegedly where the Russians built their weapons of mass destruction, or 'intercontinental ballistic missiles' as they were called during the cold war. It’s a pity that Mr Bush and Mr Blair couldn’t get hold of a similar guidebook for Iraq. In addition to people living in small wooden houses, every now and again you can see old railway wagons in disused
TAIGA FOREST
Snow in the Taiga Forest. sidings being used as homes - the only clue being the radio or TV aerial attached to the roof with the cable disappearing inside through a crack in the door. The people seem to struggle to keep a roof over their heads, yet in the poor villages there is always the small railway station building built with no expense spared, looking like a small palace. It seems the state has an open cheque book for the railways but will not provide any money for its people in the more remote areas of the country.
Just before coming to Ilanskaya, we pass through a very large town where logging is the main industry with many yards of timber being processed through sawmills, the air is full of the smell of burnt wood. The trains of logs awaiting processing are full of birch, pine, and redwood. In the distance I can see heavy industry in forest clearings with smoke belching into the sky. Everywhere looks dirty, the wooden housing can only be described as being 'third world', theres water and mud everywhere and animals roaming around looking for food - a stark contrast compared to what we have seen of Siberia
TAIGA FOREST
Village in the Taiga Forest. so far, but probably the vision that a lot of outsiders have when 'Siberia' is mentioned. We stop in Ilanskaya, a busy commuting centre with its own loco works serving the largest logging region in Siberia and founded by Bering, he of the Bering Straits. The housing here is still poor but many have an old battered car such as an old Lada parked outside. Where these are driven by younger men, some have blacked out windows and others a high rear mounted boot spoiler similar to those seen on drag racing cars. They must be home made unless the car accessory market has spread to eastern Siberia. Having already said that people in this region are poor which is reflected in their clothing, you do occasionally see younger people walking out of these ramshackle homes wearing very smart clean fashionable clothes that would not look out of place on a UK high street.
We stop at Tayshet for just a few minutes, a fairly small town but a huge railway centre with 3 loco depots fully stocked and marshalling yards that last for miles to serve the heavy industry in this region. This is where the old Trans-Siberian
KRASNOYARSK
Preserved steam loco on the station. route continues eastwards but the Baikur-Amur Line (BAM) goes to the north-east to the north of Lake Baikal. In the 1940's, fearful that the Chinese could possibly capture Russian land near the Chinese border where the Trans-Siberian railway is routed, Stalin ordered the building of a second railway, the BAM. This was to be routed away from the Chinese border to the north-east to ensure the safe passage of Russian military to and from the militarised zones north of Vladivistok. Tayshet was the location for the Stalinist prisoner camps, where prisoners were put to work on building the BAM railway.
Final stop of the day is Nizhneudinsk, a prosperous town judging by the new modern buildings with a strong logging industry. Tomorrow we leave Russia and enter Mongolia.
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