Obskaya – Mys Kamenny railway line

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Obskaja – Mys Kamenny
Line of the Obskaya – Mys Kamenny railway line
Railway route № 502 from Obskaya station to Mys Kamenny
(yellow route)
Route number : GULag construction project number 501 or 502
Route length: 500 km
Gauge : 1524 mm ( Russian gauge )
Legend
Route - straight ahead
 Arctic Circle Railway from Tschum
Station, station
 0 Obskaya station in Obskoye
   
 Arctic Circle Railway to Labytnangi
   
 32 Charbei River
   
 86 Longatjagan
   
 113/120 River Shchuchya (for km, see)
   
 164 Vadajacha
   
 190 Chadytajacha River
   
 245 Jar sale
   
 281 Pyatajun Canal
   
 302 Jachadjjacha
   
 320 Nakhodka Bay
   
 351 Saleta
   
 372 Pajutojacha
   
 391 Ngojacha
   
 400 Nowy Port
   
 402 Paasjadejjacha
   
 411 Khebidjajacha
   
 426 Setnoya
   
 431 Lymbanajacha
   
 437 Ngsyndermacha
   
 452 Jarajacha
   
 457 Tarngjnecho
   
 470 Makodajacha
   
 482 Latajacha
   
 500 Mys Kamenny

The Obskaja – Mys Kamenny railway line ( Russian Железная дорога Обская - Мыс Каменный ) was an unfinished single-track railway line in the northwest of the Asian part of Russia , which led from the mouth of the Ob River to the Yamal Peninsula . This railway line, which was worked on from 1947 to 1949, was a Soviet gulag project that ran completely through the territory of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug .

The line was to connect Obskaya station, which is located on the Chum – Labytnangi railway line , with the settlement of Mys Kamenny over a distance of 500 km in the Russian gauge of the time (1524 mm) . Mys Kamenny is located on the west coast of the Obbus , exactly where the Obbus has its greatest natural narrowing.

Such as B. the Kolabahn , this railway project was canceled and the rails that had already been laid were dismantled.

prehistory

The idea for the construction of the railway line from Obskaya station to Mys Kamenny arose from two strategic considerations that were developed in the early 1940s:

  1. In the event of a military conflict, important ores (manganese, nickel and others) that are mined in the city of Norilsk must reach the industrialized areas of the former Soviet Union , i.e. the European part of Russia, via a short and, above all, safe route for further processing . Since Norilsk is in terms of transport technology like an island in the far north (a railway line there was considered technically impossible at the time), the ore could only be transported by ship. Murmansk as a destination port with a rail connection was well suited as a transshipment point, but strategically too insecure as the port is too close to the state border of the Soviet Union. The loss-making defense of this port city against the German Wehrmacht in 1941 ( Silberfuchs company ) showed this only too clearly.
  2. The Soviet coast on the Arctic Ocean was practically indefensible for long stretches. Apart from a road and the aforementioned railway line that leads to Murmansk, there was no paved road or rail connection from the inhabited part of the Soviet Union to the Arctic Ocean. Josef Stalin experienced the helplessness of Russia when a German ironclad , the Admiral Scheer , was commissioned in the summer of 1942 with the aim of intercepting allied supply ships in the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean ( Operation Wunderland ). The warship was able to fire at the few settlements or weather stations on the northern coasts of the Soviet Union without Russian resistance being expected in the foreseeable future.

In order to be able to ward off such attacks better in the future, Stalin and his leadership planned an additional naval base.

Instead of Murmansk, a port in Obbusen was to serve as a transshipment point for ores and as a military base. A place on the west coast of Obbusen is far enough from the border and is relatively close to the existing Soviet railway network . The latter is important because the rail connection described here was required for the removal of the ores and the delivery of military goods.

The settlement of Mys Kamenny was the compromise between a short distance to the railway connection in Vorkuta (approx. 400 km as the crow flies) and the closest possible military presence in the Arctic Ocean (which is still 500 km away).

The reason not to choose the direct route - across the Yamal Peninsula - to Mys Kamenny, but rather the route via Obskaja train station, which is located in the Obskoye settlement , was due to the interesting option for logistics, plus a rail connection to the Get the mouth of the Ob River.

Preparatory work

Two expeditions were sent to Nowy Port and Mys Kamenny in 1942 and 1943 to pre-plan the route . Both groups - allegedly a thousand people each (prisoners and the associated guards) - did not survive the winters of 1942/43 and 1943/44. There is no trace of their whereabouts.

Start of work

On February 4, 1947, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to commission the planning work for “the construction of a port on the Obbusen and a railway line that connects the port with the existing railway network of the Soviet Union”. From February 17th, a research expedition took aerial photographs in order to precisely determine the suitable location for the port and the route to it. In March, surveying began in the least explored region of the Soviet Union. The route was selected according to hydrological aspects , i.e. i.e. where does the enormous meltwater flow and where does temporary flooding occur, which could undermine the railway embankment. Another important logistical aspect was finding suitable building materials along the route. As early as April 22nd, the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided - without waiting for the results of these explorations - to immediately start building a port (including a shipyard, warehouses and housing estate) near the Mys Kamenny settlement, first mentioned in 1927, and a railway line to it . This railway line should run from the Tschum station via the young settlements Obskoye (founded in 1945), Jar-Sale (founded in 1927) and Nowy Port (founded in 1920). More than half of the section from Tschum station to Obskaja station (with a short extension to Labytnangi), which is still in operation today, was designed and built in the same year. The remaining half of the route was realized in 1948.

For the section of the route described here, which should lead from Obskaja station, via Jar-Sale and Nowy Port to Mys Kamenny, three options were considered in 1947 with regard to the route. All three options should initially - starting from Obskoye - take the shortest route to the Shchuchya River. From here, the first option would have been the shortest route to Nowy. With the second option, the route would first have run north along the river valley of the Shchuchya, and then directly east to the Obbusen. Ultimately, the third option with the lowest supply for the route was chosen, which suggested the route along the coast via Jar-Sale and Nowy Port. Thus, camps were set up in all of the places mentioned. In Nowy Port and in the camps near the river Shchuchya River the first prisoners were living in mud huts in the dunes. In Mys Kamenny the ground was too swampy so that the prisoners were housed in tents.

Difficulties arose in Mys Kamenny: After the pack ice on the Obbusen at the northern end of the planned railway line had only disappeared in July 1948 and the first ocean-going ships arrived, they did not manage to get closer than two to three kilometers to the coast. The water was too shallow in this area. Therefore, the arriving prisoners unloaded the boats by standing up to their waist in the water. They brought building materials with them to make preparations so that next summer shiploads of 3,000 workers, equipment, technical material, wood, coal, fuels and lubricants and food for a total of 70,000 tons can land. By the end of July, the first building was built, which was supposed to house the components and systems to be delivered that were worth protecting. In addition, a five kilometer long pier was created, which was built from centuries-old larch trunks. Due to the frequent storms, the water reached a depth of five meters or sometimes even only 50 centimeters, depending on the wind direction. On July 14th, a great storm pushed a ship into the shallow water of the coast, where it ran aground and sank, laden with building materials, equipment and furnishings. People are said to have died. Unloading could only continue at the beginning of August. (There are literature sources that date the great storm of July 14th to 1947 instead of 1948.)

At the same time, construction work began in 1948 at the southern end of the line at Obskaya station. In addition, construction teams were sent out to prepare the bridges over the Kharbei and Shchuchya rivers.

A critical planning error emerges

As early as autumn 1947 it was clear that there were no stones at Mys Kamenny (literally translated: “Stone Cape”): the name of the settlement Mys Kamenny was misunderstood by cartographers in 1826. They heard "stone" ( Nenets пай, Russian камень ) but felt living here Nenets "curve" ( Nenets пае, Russian кривой ). In fact, the coastal area of ​​the cape is shaped like an arch, just like a curve. In reality there were never any stones on this "Crooked Cape". So there was not the coveted building material here that was needed for the construction of the necessary jetties for a port entrance or the construction of the route. At the end of 1947 it had been calculated what a solution to this problem might look like: 90,000 tons of sheet piling and 26 million m³ of rock would have had to be brought in to mark out the port entrance. The subsequent dredging to a depth of at least ten meters should make it possible for ocean-going vessels to land and unload their cargo. However, hydrographic studies showed that the fine sand and silt would level the fairway again relatively quickly. The seriousness of this problem was not recognized until 1948. It had not occurred to anyone to check the feasibility beforehand. A year of preparation was in vain.

Despite this poor prognosis, in 1948, at the places where the Jar-Sale, Nowy Port and Mys Kamenny stations were to be built and where there were already prisoners (e.g. in BaidarLag, near Nowy Port, up to 2500 people and in SapoljarLag near Mys Kamenny, up to 2000 people) continued to deliver large quantities of material and food.

Termination of work

Ultimately, the planning and construction engineers were convinced at the end of 1948 that a major seaport that could accommodate ocean-going ships and should be a base for the navy or ocean-going submarines, where they could weather storms and carry out repairs in the "dry dock" Mys Kamenny cannot be built. When developing the route from Obskaja station to Yar-Sale, the planners were convinced of the inexpediency of a polar railway line the further the work progressed towards the Obbus. On October 1, 1948, construction work on the port and the railway was stopped and the entire SapoljarLag camp district was closed.

For organizational reasons, the camp inmates could not be picked up until next spring, in order to then take them to a new railway construction project (Salekhard - Igarka) via the Pur and Taz rivers . Thus, the prisoners had to spend the polar winter of 1948/49 in tents and earth huts that were dug directly into the icy tundra floor. The prisoners did not have much to do that winter. One prisoner later reported that there was no other job than to dig up the barbed wire fences that were buried in the snow. It was not until January 29, 1949 that the Council of Ministers officially decided to remove the port and railway construction sites on the Yamal Peninsula. The resolution did not mention the technical difficulties, but presented a larger and more important solution. What was previously not considered to be technically sensible should now be aimed for: The ores from Norilsk should no longer reach the European steel and heavy industry via the Arctic Ocean via Mys Kamenny, but first via the Yenisei River to Igarka . From there they should then be transported over a new railway line, parallel to the Arctic Circle, to the recently completed Tschum - Labytnangi railway line, which crossed the Urals . This new consideration replaced the previous strategy and thus the railway line described here. The new concept had considerable advantages over the old one. Ore transport over the Yenisei River is possible for significantly longer in summer than over the Arctic Ocean. Four months a year, the Yenisei can be navigated by ocean-going vessels - without the use of icebreakers. The route is militarily safer as the transport does not take place through waters that are close to the Soviet state border. In addition, the focus had shifted: if only a punctual defensive weak point in the Kara Sea and the adjoining waters was recognized during the war, the entire northern border turned out to be a security risk with the emerging Cold War . A year-round supply for defense posts to be set up in the future on the entire Siberian polar coast would be possible with a railway, which could run as far as the Bering Strait when completed . The name Arctic Circle Railway was born and to this day describes the attempt to realize the first section of this railway line from the Urals to Igarka in the years 1947 and 1949 to 1953.

Course of the planned and partially realized railway line

The exactly planned course of the route is hardly documented. There are verbal descriptions and very little map material. It is even more rare to find sources in which statements are made about the sections that were actually piled up or occupied with tracks until the demolition. A Russian military map suggests the exact route of the first 32 kilometers. An overview map in a standard work suggests that even tracks on the first 25 maybe even on the first 32 km had been laid.

Pictures from the railway line

There is almost no image material of the concrete route construction. Only the landing of material at Mys Kamenny is documented.

Designation of the GULag construction project № 501 or № 502

During the Soviet era, the GULag construction projects were often given three-digit numbers by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The 500 numbers were mostly intended for rail projects. So is z. For example, the "500" is the route from Komsomolsk on the Amur to Sovetskaya Gawan , the "501" and "503" are sections of the Arctic Circle Railroad, the "505" is the route from the Trans-Siberia to Ulan Bator , the "506" is the route from the Sakhalin tunnel to Alexandrowsk-Sakhalinsky , the "507" is the route from the Sakhalin tunnel to De-Kastri , the "508" is the Baikal-Amur highway , the "509" is the route from Apatity via Kejwa to the Ponoi river (on the Kola - Peninsula ), the "510" is the distance from Archangelsk about Rutschi by mesas and the "511" is the distance from Murmansk about Nikel according Pechenga .

The name of the railway line from Obskaya station to Mys Kamenny described here is not clear. In the literature, the route is often referred to as № 502, but it is often identified as № 501. In the latter variant (№ 501) only the construction of the port facility in Mys Kamenny (i.e. not the railway project) is referred to as № 502. Even Russian experts on the Arctic Railroad cannot give a clear answer. A source, to which many other sources refer, even speaks of № 503 in connection with the route described here. This is not the eastern part of the Salekhard – Igarka railway, which will later also be called № 503. The number was probably not yet assigned and so it was first used here between May 6, 1948 and January 29, 1949.

outlook

One of Josef Stalin's reasons for building this railway line was, “... that the Russian people have long dreamed of a reliable way to get to the Arctic Ocean.” When the work was stopped in 1949, this dream was initially not realized. But in 1985, starting again from Obskaya station, a new attempt was made to get to the Yamal Peninsula. A railway line to the north was built, this time not to the Obbusen but to the Kara Sea ( Obskaya – Karskaya railway line ).

literature

  • Norbert Mausolf: The Stalin Railway Trilogy. In search of traces in the Arctic Circle . Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2011, ISBN 978-3-8423-5398-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Гриценко, В .; Калинин, В .: История "Мертвой дороги", Издательство: Баско, Екатеринбург, 2010, 240 c., ISBN 978-5-91356-111-4 ♦ Gritsenko, V .; Kalinin, V .: History of the "Dead Line", Publishing House "Basco", Ekaterinburg, 2010, 240 pages, ISBN 978-5-91356-111-4 ; here: Chapter “From the Urals to Yamal”, pages 19–39.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Пиманов А. С .: История строительства железной дороги "Чум - Салехард - Игарка" (1947-1955 гг.), Тюмень 1998, 114 с. ♦ Pimanov, AS: The history of railway construction, Tschum - Salekhard - Igarka (1947-1955), Tyumen 1998, 114 pages
  3. ↑ a b c d e Самая полная библиотека отчетов по туризму. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian). or Мертвая дорога. Стройка №501-№503. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  4. ↑ a b Строительство ж / дороги. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  5. ↑ a b История станции Обская. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  6. ↑ a b c Малый проезд. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  7. ↑ a b c d e История 501-й стройки. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  8. ↑ a b Липатова Л. Ф. Малый проезд // Обская радуга: альманах литераторов Ямала. -Вып. 5. - Салехард: Обская радуга, 2001. - С. 100-113. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  9. ↑ Labytnangi city map: streets, buildings, businesses. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (English).
  10. ↑ a b Мастерская - Александр Левинтов: Русский Север. Заметки. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  11. ↑ Северо-Сибирская история. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  12. ↑ a b 1947-1955 гг. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  13. ↑ a b c Экскурсия - ГУЛАГ. 501-я стройка. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  14. ↑ a b Липатова, Л. Ф .: Дороги и судьбы. I том, ISBN 978-5-4485-8418-3 , Литагент Ридеро, 2017, 282 с. ♦ Lipatowa, LF: Streets and Fates, Volume 1, ISBN 978-5-4485-8418-3 , Litagent Ridero, 2017, 282 pages
  15. ↑ Кратко и справочно о некоторых населенных пунктах. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  16. ↑ Ненецкое оленеводство в XX - начале XXI века (fb2). Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  17. ↑ a b Kizny, Tomasz: GULAG, Hamburg 2004, 1st edition, ISBN 3-930908-97-2 , 496 pages; here: pages 436, 458 and 459.
  18. ↑ BaidarLag. Retrieved June 27, 2017 .
  19. ↑ SapoljarLag (polar camp) Building 503. Accessed June 27, 2017 .
  20. ↑ "Брошенная дорога" Салехард - Игарка. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  21. ↑ * Мертвая дорога *, или дорога в никуда ... Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  22. ↑ СЕВЕРНОЕ УПР. ЛАГЕРЕЙ - ЖЕЛЕЗНОДОРОЖНОГО СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВА (Северное упр. ГУЛЖДС, Северное упр. В / д строительства). Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian).
  23. ↑ a b Стройки №№ 501, 502 и 503. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  24. ↑ a b Мертвая дорога: Салехард - Игарка. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  25. ↑ a b Bährens, K .: Germans in penal camps and prisons of the Soviet Union, in: On the history of German prisoners of war of the Second World War, Volume V / 2, Ed .: E. Maschke, Bielefeld 1965; here: Map 31 on page 142 and Map 32 on page 159.
  26. ↑ Mildenberger, Florian Georg: Die Polarmagistrale, dissertation, University of Munich, 2000, ISBN 3-89791-129-9 ; here: fig. 21, page 169.
  27. ↑ Богданов, Ю. Н .: Сергей Круглов. Два десятилетия в руководстве органов госбезопасности и внутренних дел СССР, "ТД Алгоритм", 623-840-2., ISBN 97-840-2 . ♦ Bogdanow, Ju. N: Sergei Kruglow. Two decades in the governing bodies of State Security and Internal Affairs of the USSR, "TD Algorithm", 623 pages, ISBN 978-5-906817-40-2 ; here: The map from this book with the route shown can be found at http://loveread.ec/read_book.php?id=53623&p=208 .
  28. ↑ Мертвая дорога: Салехард - Игарка. Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian). or Как все начиналось. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian). or Мертвая дорога: Салехард - Игарка. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian). ; here: slide 2
  29. ↑ Гриценко, В. Н .: История Ямальского Севера в очерках и документах: В 2 т. Т. 2. Омск, 2004. 311 с. (очерк “Сталинка”), ISBN 5-85540-483-8 . ♦ Gritsenko, WN: History of the North on Yamal - Articles and Lectures, Omsk, 2004, 311 pages (essay «Stalin»), ISBN 5-85540-483-8 ; here: page 113.
  30. ↑ БАМ, да не там. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  31. ↑ Map 100k - q42-037_038. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016 ; accessed on June 27, 2017 . or Map 200k - q42-07_08. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016 ; accessed on June 27, 2017 .
  32. ↑ Указатель названий лагерных структур. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  33. ↑ Стройка №509 МВД. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  34. ↑ Дмитрий Мищенко "Байкало-Амурская магистраль - начало истории города Тынды (1929–1950 гг.)". Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  35. ↑ Н.Петров История ГУЛАГА-2. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  36. ↑ Пашковой, Т. Л .; Афанасьев, М. Ю .; и др .: Полярная магистраль, ВЕЧЕ, Москва 2007, 441 с., ISBN 978-5-9533-1688-0 . ♦ Pashkowa, TL; Afanasew, M. Ju. u. a .: Polar Magistrale, Veche-Verlag, Moscow 2007, 441 pages, ISBN 978-5-9533-1688-0 ; here: footnote on page 62.
  37. ↑ Как все начиналось. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  38. ↑ Старый Обдорск и Мёртвая дорога. Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian).
  39. ↑ ОБСКИЙ ИТЛ. Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian).
  40. ↑ Вопросы по истории стройки 501. Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian). ; here: point 5
  41. ↑ Кокурин А. И., Моруков Ю. Н .: Сталинские стройки ГУЛАГ. 1930..1953. / Под общей ред. акад. А. Н. Яковлева; составители: - М .: МФД, Материк, 2005, 568 с., ISBN 5-85646-139-8 (Россия ХХ век. Документы). ♦ Kokurin AI, Morukow Ju. N: Buildings in Stalin's Gulag. 1930..1953. / Under the editorship. Acad. AN Yakovlev; Compiled by: - ​​M .: MFD, Materik, 2005, 568 pages, ISBN 5-85646-139-8 (Russia's documents of the twentieth century); here: pages 310-314.
  42. ↑ Pobozhy, A .A .: Dead Street (from the notes of a surveyor) , "Neue Welt" magazine No. 8, 1964
  43. ↑ Александр Петрушин - ПРИЗРАК «МЕРТВОЙ ДОРОГИ». Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  44. ↑ Тайны «мёртвой дороги». Retrieved June 27, 2017 (Russian).
  45. ↑ a b История станции Обская. Retrieved June 10, 2019 (Russian).
  46. ↑ Topographic map ggc Q-42-037,038. Archived from the original on November 12, 2016 ; accessed on June 27, 2017 .