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Circum-Baikal Railway


The Circum-Baikal Railway (Russian: Кругобайка́льская желе́зная доро́га or Кругобайка́лка, abbreviated "КБЖД") is a historical railway in the Irkutsk region of Russia. It runs along the Northern shore of the Southern extremity of the lake from the town of Slyudyanka to the Baikal settlement. Until the middle of the 20th century the Circum-Baikal railway was part of the main line of Trans-Siberian Railway; later on, however, a duplicate section of the railway was built. Sometimes called a unique achievement in engineering, the Circum-Baikal is one of the picturesque sights of the area around Lake Baikal.

When the Siberian railway, later called the "Trans-Siberian Railway" was being designed, it was divided into seven sections. Circum-Baikal railway was one of these, being the section from Irkutsk to Mysovaya wharf (now the town of Babushkin on the South-Eastern shore of Lake Baikal.

The first survey of a possible route for the first section of the Circum-Baikal, from Irkutsk to Lake Baikal, was carried out in 1894. Initially the surveyors proposed to build a pontoon bridge and have the railway go down the right (east) bank of the Angara River (the left bank was too built up); however, later this variant was found to be inexpedient, as the level of water in the Angara was subject to fluctuations, and during spring thaws, crossing the river would have been difficult. Therefore, the planners decided to establish the railway from Irkutsk along the left bank.

The construction of the railway along the Angara from Irkutsk to Cape Baranchik (Port Baikal) on Lake Baikal was carried out in 1896-1900, at a total cost of 3.47 million rubles. In the meantime, East of the lake the railway from Sretensk was completed up to Mysovaya on the east shore of Lake Baikal. With the purpose of establishing a through railway connection, before the Circum-Baikal was finished, it was decided to link the shores of the lake with a train ferry. Trains were carried on the special ice breaker-ferry "Baikal" which had three parallel tracks on its train deck. Another, smaller icebreaker-ferry, the "Angara", was also built which carried passengers and goods, but not trains. In the cold winter of 1903/04 when the icebreakers were not strong enough to break the ice, a railway line was laid on the ice, and railway wagons were pulled by draft animals.


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