Circum-Baikal Railway is a 85-km historical railway branch of Trans-Siberian Railway laid from Irkutsk along the steep north-western shore of Lake Baikal from port Baikal at the Angara river headwaters to Slyudianka settlement at the most southern extremity of the lake.
Prior to the commissioning of the Circum-Baikal Railway, the icebreaking ferry «Baikal» and later built icebreaker «Angara» made two runs every day between the Baikal and Mysovaya piers to another side of the lake. It used for carriage of trains through lake Baikal following the Trans-Siberian Railway. In winter almost all the way went through the ice virgin soil and lasted 17 hours.
The construction of the railway section from Irkutsk to the Baikal station lasted from 1896 to 1900, and the most difficult section of the railroad from Slyudyanka to the Baikal station was constructed in 1902-1905 years. During the construction of the Circum-Baikal Railway 2 carriages of explosives were spent for every kilometer of the way — they broke through the rocks. Subsequently, the road was nicknamed the “Golden buckle of the steel belt of Russia.”
After the construction of Irkutsk Hydropower Station on the Angara river (1956), Port Baikal became a dead-end siding because a section of the railway (the Irkutsk-Baikal branch) was flooded. Before damming, the railway ran along the left bank of the Angara River to Irkutsk. The Circum-Baikal Railway was the only link in the Trans-Siberian Railway. The name “Circum-Baikal Railway” or “Old Railway” is attributed only to the western dead-end section.
This part of Trans-Siberian Railway is not operating nowadays. It is used mostly for tourist attraction as unique architecture ensemble and as a historical open-air monument. Behind the curves of numerous tunnels the mighty peaks of Chamar-Daban Mountain ridge appear. Seagulls are hovering above your head. Sharp rocks of the shore rise up high and impress by their funny-shapes curves and shapes.
Nowadays the Circum-Baikal Railway is included in the List of Historical-Cultural Heritage Sites as a monument of architecture. It represents almost everything what the experience of the world railway construction has gained. The route Slyudyanka-2 – Kultuk – Marituy – Baikal crosses about 40 tunnels with the total length of 9,063 km, 16 stony galleries (295 m), about 470 culverts, including bridges, viaducts, pipes and flumes, as well as 250 retaining walls. This complex is unique due to the elegance of engineering and architectural constructions that are harmonically match the shoreline of Lake Baikal and have been well preserved.
If you are planning to visit Lake Baikal, you are advised to get acquainted with a unique engineering monument – the Circum-Baikal Railway or Krugobaikalka in short as it is usually called.
