Circum-Baikal Railway... by boat. Circum-Baikal Railway... on a motor ship How I almost missed my cruise
September 19th, 2017 , 02:11 am
In order to visit the Circum-Baikal Railway, you do not have to take a train. Instead, it is quite possible to use a ship on air cushion. On weekends, the Barguzin-3 motor ship departs from Irkutsk to Lake Baikal. On the coast of Lake Baikal the ship makes three stops at interesting places on the Circum-Baikal Railway. Go?
The Raketa pier is a landscaped piece of the embankment with a river station and ticket offices. From here, regular and excursion ships depart along the Angara to Lake Baikal. The ship "Barguzin-3" is boarding.
10.30. Let's go on a flight. We wave to the Raketa pier and, picking up speed, head up the Angara.
The Angara in this place is very wide: the dam of the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station created the Irkutsk Reservoir, raising not only the level of the Angara, but also the level of Lake Baikal. There are no navigation facilities here, so ships in Irkutsk depart from different places: down the Angara from the Raketa pier, and up from the pier at Gagarin Boulevard.
The passenger cabin of the Barguzin is designed for one hundred people. Above the deck there is a bar, which was not included in the original design, but was added later. Here we cannot help but recall that Barguzin-3, despite its relative youth (it was built in 1995), has a rather turbulent past. The ship, built on the Vyatka River, in Sosnovka, managed to work in Panama, return to Russia, stand idle in a backwater on the Oka, and then go to Baikal, the journey where it took two whole years. All this is described in material by Mikhail Arkhipov.
I will only add that the transition of “Barguzin” from Lena to Baikal became almost the most non-trivial part of the operation. From the Lena to the Angara (Bratskoe Reservoir) the ship was transported overland on a tractor. In Irkutsk, in order to bypass the dam, the ship was pulled ashore again, but it had to be towed through the center of Irkutsk, where, due to the city contact network it didn't go through the heights. In order to still deliver the ship to the lower Angara, it was necessary to temporarily dismantle the wires in two areas of the city.
After the ship returned from Panama, it was rebuilt: the wheelhouse was moved forward, and behind it a new superstructure appeared, where a bar and service premises were located. After this restructuring, the ship received new documents with a new year of construction, “younger” by ten years.
Along the bar there are narrow walking terraces, from where, if you don’t pay attention to the wind, you can quite comfortably admire the shores.
The Barguzin speed is 40 kilometers per hour. The air cushion does not give any special sensations: the ship moves moderately smoothly, moderately quickly, without shocks or vibrations. The noise level varies from comfortable in the bow of the vessel to strong but tolerable in the stern.
September is a very good time to visit these places. The banks of the Angara have already turned charmingly yellow, and the weather is still quite warm.
Before leaving for Baikal, we pass the legendary Shaman Stone, which has served as a place for shamanic rituals since ancient times.
We go out to Baikal, make a right turn and then follow along the coast. At the very source of the Angara there is the Baikal railway station. This is the final station of the Circum-Baikal Railway.
Circum-Baikal Railway was once part of the Trans-Siberian Railway. It was built a little later than the adjacent sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway, in 1905, and until the completion of construction, trains traveling along the Trans-Siberian Railway were transported across Lake Baikal by rail ferries.
The road was laid from Irkutsk to Baikal station along the left bank of the Angara, and then along the coast of Lake Baikal, which at that time consisted mainly of steep cliffs going into the water. The constructed section of the road became a real decoration of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
In 1947, the Circum-Baikal Road lost its importance due to the construction of a straightening line from Irkutsk to Slyudyanka station. In 1956, in connection with the filling of the Irkutsk reservoir, the section from Irkutsk to Baikal station was dismantled. The remaining 89-kilometer section of the road became a dead end, and perhaps it would have been completely forgotten if not for the nature of these places, which attracts many tourists here. Today, in addition to suburban ones, tourist trains also run along the Circum-Baikal Railway.
In the port of Baikal there are cabin ships that operate multi-day cruises on Lake Baikal.
Thanks to good weather, the opposite, Buryat shore of the lake is also visible.
And we are walking along the northern coast of Lake Baikal. From on board the ship, tunnels and other structures of the Circum-Baikal Railway are clearly visible.
First stop: Cape Tolstoy
We go around Cape Tolsty and approach the shore.
Having climbed the picturesque slope, we come out onto the railway. It was once double track; Now, as unnecessary, one track has been dismantled.
Here is one of the thirty-eight tunnels Circum-Baikal Road. The tunnels on the road are wide, designed for two paths, and, although operational, they are open for free access (it is better to take a flashlight with you). An approaching train will warn you of its arrival with horns.
The transition to the next parking lot lasts only fifteen minutes.
Second stop: Shumikha village
The population of the village is only two people, but this place is known for its original retaining wall, built by Italian specialists.
Next to the wall there is a gallery, under which the second path once passed. How is a gallery different from a tunnel? The fact is that the tunnels made their way through the mountains, and the galleries were built next to the mountains. They served to protect trains from collapses.
Third stop: Polovinnaya Bay
Another twenty minutes of walking and we are in Polovinnaya Bay, next to the village of the same name. The name is not accidental - this is exactly the middle of the Circum-Baikal Road.
The road here crosses a river called... correctly, Polovinnaya, over two bridges - iron and reinforced concrete.
The reinforced concrete bridge is working; trains pass through it. The Iron Bridge has long been a pedestrian bridge. Its railway past is reminiscent of a steam locomotive-monument, as if it had just passed over an iron bridge.
A loud whistle is heard: a train is approaching. Here he is. What can you say - handsome! Two real steam locomotives and two modern passenger cars. This is a tourist train.
The train crosses the bridge and stops at the platform, in front of the longest 777-meter tunnel of the Circum-Baikal Road. Guess what the tunnel is called. That's right, Half.
While tourists are exploring the surrounding area, a local railway crew is working on a steam locomotive. What a stylish unit this is! A kind of particle of the early 20th century with impressive mechanisms and hissing steam.
Of course, I waited until the train continued moving and went into the tunnel. So he set off, dousing everything around with smoke and steam, and slowly carried the carriages with passengers inside the tunnel.
The see-through tunnel became invisible after the passage of the train.
When I walked about a hundred meters away from him, the smoke had almost cleared. But here...
Well, then the direction of the wind changed. Smoke poured out of the tunnel and obscured everything around me, including the platform I was on. I can’t even imagine what people could have felt if they were in the tunnel at that moment, as often happens here.
A steam locomotive is stylish and romantic, but definitely smoky.
Next to the Half Tunnel there is the shortest one on the road, the 30-meter Chaikinsky Tunnel. They say that if you make a wish and run through this tunnel, it will come true.
It's time for us to leave.
Now "Barguzin" is going in the opposite direction, towards the source of the Angara, and we again admire autumn landscapes Baikal coast.
We enter the Angara and quickly run along its current towards Irkutsk.
Here is Irkutsk. Our nine-hour excursion ends here. I found her very interesting. I think it's good idea– to use Barguzin type vessels not only for scheduled transportation, but also for such one-day trips.
Have fun traveling everyone!
The device physically eliminates all flying insects over an area of up to 300 m2. This occurs by attracting animals to a grid that is supplied with 3,000 volt electricity. Not a single mosquito or fly can withstand such an unexpected turn of events and will die instantly when they fall into the storage tank. Barguzin 12-3x40 does not poison the air with chemicals, does not affect human well-being, and the main thing when using it is to provide protection from the influence of precipitation.
Details of the destruction of mosquitoes and midges
An ultraviolet lamp is responsible for attracting insects to the device. Light of this spectrum is a tasty bait for any mosquito, fly or wasp, all of them strive to reach the source of this glow. Additionally, they will be attracted by the minimal heating of the lamp, which they will perceive as body heat of a person or animal. The ultraviolet glow attracts all flying pests within a radius of 10 meters around the device, because its body is transparent on all sides, and the lamp has a circular shape.
Next, the metal mesh comes into play. It is durable and will not rust from the first contact with water, although, of course, it is forbidden to keep the shredder in the rain or water it - after all, this is an electrical device and obvious rules must be followed with it. To the grid you or a pet will not reach, because it is protected from such contacts by a fence and is located quite far from the outer surface of the device. Therefore, people or cats will not suffer from a voltage of 3,000 volts, which cannot be said about countless mosquitoes and midges, which will be killed by an electric discharge in the blink of an eye.
Let's indicate important points, which will accompany this tragic process for flying insects:
- electricity applied to the grid can kill only a small Living being, because even though there is a voltage of several thousand volts, the current strength is minimal, and it itself is constant, and not variable, as in all electrical networks;
- the only thing that limits the endless destruction of mosquitoes is the lifespan of the ultraviolet lamp, because due to insurmountable physical laws, it can glow “only” from 8 to 10 thousand hours, that is, almost a year without interruption, and after its failure in the store catalog, the website is easily it will be possible to purchase a new one;
- the main consumer of electricity in the device is the lamp, and not the energized grid, so for a day of continuous use the device will consume a little less than two kilowatt-hours of electrical energy with a total shredder power of 40 watts.
Brand Barguzin Country of manufacture Taiwan Certified Yes Effective area 400 sq. m. Against mosquitoes, sand flies, insects, flies, moths Operating principle ultraviolet lamp, energized grid Housing material Metal Power source 220 V Color
silver
grey
black Packaged dimensions 65 × 32 × 32 cm Weight 6.5 kg Warranty 3 years Service life 10 years
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Those who have been to Baikal may have seen such ships. They are called "Barguzin", they transport tourists and passengers around Lake Baikal. This . Project 19591 was developed in 1987, the first ship of the Barguzin-1 project was built in 1989 - it is in the photo. Then, at the plant where they were built - the Sosnovsky Shipyard in the Kirov Region - four more such vessels were laid down. Barguzin-2 arrived at Lake Baikal in 1990.
And then came those 90s, when it was difficult, and sometimes simply impossible, not only to build, but also to operate what had already been built. But then the happy 2000s came and immediately everything seemed to change. In 2010, the company operating these vessels announced that another vessel was being added to the fleet of already operating Barguzins, which was finally completed as planned. They cheerfully sent out scanty press releases to the media, which the journalists then stuffed with various crazy additions for completeness and beauty, and presented to the public. And as a result, it turned out that this event represents almost the beginning new era Russian shipbuilding.
But recently an interesting detail came to light:
The fact is that the newly built ship, which according to the documents was first presented as built in 2009 (then it was corrected to 2005), seemed to have existed in this form for a very long time. Specifically, it was built back in 1995, under the serial number "Barguzin-4".
But the mid-90s are not best time for passenger fleets in general, and high-speed ones even more so. There are many ships, there is enough work, but there is no money for salaries, repairs, maintenance and fuel. Hundreds of ships that previously operated on the Volga, Don, Dnieper, Dniester, Irtysh and other rivers were either laid up in backwaters or bought abroad. Holland, Nicaragua, Vietnam and China, Canada and African countries - the geography is vast, whoever is lucky enough to go where.
One of these countries was Panama. The beach and tourism industry is well developed, the climate is fine, and there are many tourists. It is profitable and convenient to use former Soviet high-speed ships as regular vessels for local transportation. Two were purchased there high-speed ships type "Linda" () and two "Barguzin" built by that time - No. 3 and No. 4.
They worked there under the hot tropical sun, transporting either tourists or the film crew of the program." Last Hero“and they didn’t know grief. But then 2005 came and everything changed dramatically. “Barguzin-3,” which by that time had been renamed “Barguzin-3,” was caught in Hurricane Katrina, got out of hand and was carried around the sea, they say, for all 9 hours. After which, he washed ashore and that’s where his life story ended. Here are his photos in 2008 and 2009.
But with Barguzin-4 it was not all so sad. He left Panama - a certain source familiar with the Russian owner (who operated these ships there) explained that for financial and criminal reasons they could not bear the claims of local criminals. Perhaps there were other reasons. From Panama the ship was taken to Italy, where it sat for a year and was bored.
Then, in 2007, he was taken to Rostov and released into the Don, after passing which he reached Nizhny Novgorod along the Volga, and then turned to the Oka, where he moored in a small ship repair village.
The ship was repaired, updated, rebuilt and put up for sale. He was noticed by comrades from the East Siberian River Shipping Company, which deals with transportation on Lake Baikal, and bought it. The register issued new documents, according to which the ship was immediately 10 years younger and the entire Banana-Panamanian history remained in the past.
But there was still a way to Baikal ahead. After Nizhny Novgorod, the ship went to Murmansk, where, after spending the winter, it was loaded onto sea transport and along the Northern sea route delivered to the Lena River. Having ascended along it, the ship, which at that time bore the name "OLKHON" transported to Lake Baikal and released to a new place of work. Finally, he was given the third name in his life, in memory of his colleague who remained in Panama - "BARGUZIN-3". He now works under it at Lake Baikal.
There are two interesting points in this whole story. Firstly, not every ship is given the opportunity to cross the world in twenty years, visit Panama, return back and, in fact, go through the North Pole to work on the other side of the world.
Secondly, this whole story with rejuvenation is incomprehensible. There is nothing criminal in it, but it’s simply not clear why it was hidden, hushed up, invented, or passed off as a new building (although some media outlets wrote that the ship had been at the factory for 20 years).