The construction of Alapaevsk Narrow-Gauge Railway is closely connected with the Urals metallurgical industry. In the middle of the 19^th century the process of producing and transporting metal looked like a scene from an adventure movie, though  there were the oldest Ural plants here: Verchnesinyachihinskiy (founded in 1770), Neivo-Alapaevskiy (1827), Susanskiy (1710). The main obstacle was  the transportation of metal rather than the production itself. For example, till the end of the 19^th century the products of the plant were delivered by water. In April during the high water the ships went to St. Petersburg or Arhangelsk. By autumn only they would reach to Vyshniy Volochyok and rest there the whole winter to start their way back in spring. Sometimes the melted metal continued its way to England.

Alapaevsk steel factory on the old painting

     Another difficulty was wood transportation to the plant. Many of us buy small bags of coal for barbeque, right? The same was needed in enormous amounts for metalworkers as they could not work with black coal till the first half of the 20^th century. So they used usual wood which was processed into charcoal. For that special ovens or kilns looked like igloo were made of clay where the wood smouldered. Later the coal was transported to the plant.

     The plants in Alapaevsk region belonged to Alapaevsk forest division with low inhabited territories near the rivers Neiva, Sinyachiha, Mugay etc. One of the founders of Ural metallurgical industry Georg Wilhelm de Hennin strongly recommended to use building timber (pine first of all) for charring, and the residents were allowed to cut smaller trees and bushes for their needs. He also strongly recommended to punish those who burnt dry grass and many other sound things. The residents did not listen to him though, and despite the fact that the forest was rather thick logging activities for the Alapaevskiy plants' needs were held in 50-70 versts (53-75 km) from them. Animal-drawn transport not always coped with the transportation, so the wood was left in the forest.

old map of the Alapaevsk region

     Additional motivation to develop the transport was the upgrading of metallurgical processes. The blast furnace were changed and water handling facilities were expanded, which led to increase in producing metal. And of course, more coal was needed!

     Alright, no more words. Of course, the railroads were a rescue in this situation. And the first one was a narrow-gauge line. The idea of its construction belongs to a Frenchman  A.U. Illero who was the governor of a mountain region in the end of the 19^th century. In 1893 he suggested to the Management of Alapaevskiy manufacture to construct a 50 verst (53 km) narrow-gauge track to the north from Alapaevsk and to organize there production of coal. In addition he suggested to connect by a railroad Verhnesinyachihinskiy plant and mines.

Verhnesinyachihinskaya steel factory, nowadays

     So the next year, in spring the exploration headed by Vladimir Alexeevich Popov started. The first line to be built was the one which connected Neivo-Alapaevskiy plant with the iron-ore basin named Sredniye Yamy. Then a track went north-west to Mugay station. It was built by the residents of nearby settlements and the work conditions were really unbearable. It is considered that the Alapaevsk railroad is built literally “on the bones”. The only mechanical means was root extractor.

     The traffic started already in 1895, though official opening year of ANGR is considered 1898. The first locomotives to go on the tracks were the one be Mallet and Krauss and Co. The former were made by engineer Mallet where the steam flowed inside the engine through several stages. The latter were were tank-locomotives without a tender. In the same year a historic station Alapaevsk-2 was opened. Nowadays it doesn't function.

     The construction didn't stop after the commissioning of the first stage. There were built several branches to the nearby charcoal kilns. There were plans to construct a line to Nizhnyaya Salda and its metallurgical plant, but the plan was not realized as the broad gauge was to be built there. Before the Revolution the present main line was constructed, it stretched to settlement Strokinka. The lines to the south (Zyryanovskaya) and to Bobrovskiy charcoal kiln were commissioned then too. The expansion of the railroad was connected with the upgrading of Verhnesinyachihinskiy plant, where a new blast furnace replaced the old one in 1912. The production of cast iron increased greatly by 1914. And no doubt, a new blast furnace required more coal!

charcoal processing, an image from Wikipedia

     In USSR the increase in production on metallurgical plants continued and the charcoal was required till the 1930s (it could sound strange but black coal we are used to is in use for less than a century!). And ANGR connected almost all plants in Alapaevsk region together with the areas of producing charcoal. To the west from Alapaevsk in 1920s appeared a railroad ring which connected Neivo-Shaitanskiy plant (Susan station) with stations Poludyonka and Krasnaya-2. The latter became crossrail station of ANGR. Also the station in Muratkovo opened and the Bobrovskaya line was extended to Garaninka.

     One of the turning points in history of ANGR was the middle of 1930s, when the plants completely switched to the use of black coal. Charring stopped being popular and the main cargo of the railroad became wood. Alapaevskiy manufacture devolved railroad to “Alapaevskles”  (“les” here means “forest”) trust which had been owning it till the 2000s. Since then the main line became Strokinskaya line with a lot of branches to the nearby forests. The greatest expansion of the road was after the World War II. The length of the tracks was then about 600 km, which is a little less than a distance between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

     In 1950s the first diesel locomotives appeared, later they became the chief traction power on the main line. These were nice round locomotives with big kind headlights. One of them became a memorial in the depot of ANGR. At the same time appeared a new station at settlement Sankino by the river Tura, a new branch to the mysterious place named Plantatsiya (“plantation”), and a line from Chernyshovka to Beryozovka and further. And those were only the constant lines, but beside them a lot of temporary tracks existed, no one knows how many of them there were.

Monument of TU2 diesel loco in Alapaevsk

     The most remote destination (settlement Kalach) of ANGR was reached in 1967. The line went even further, to settlement Romanovskoye, so it ended in about 160-165 km from Alapaevsk. Another striking number was the amount of cargo transported by the road, which was 1 million m² per year (the other narrow-gauge railroads made it 10-15 times less). A lot of new equipment was introduced on the railroad, each station had enough employees.

     Alapaevk-2 terminal station became a big transport hub. Passenger trains set off from this station to Susan and Sankino. The Strokinskaya line was also rather busy. There were trains to Poludenka, Beryozovka, Garaninka, Kalach. Narrow-gauge train was for many years the only and reliable transport for the residents of those settlements.

Boardin in the train №1 Alapaevsk - Sankino

     Unfortunately, wood is not unlimited resource. Enormous cuttings together with 'perestroika' ended in the crisis and “Alapaevskles” was closed. Even in 1970s some of the branches were taken to pieces including the very first ones which led to the plants. The demise of the wood industry led to sad consequences. There was no work in the settlements, their residents moved out. Beside that, appeared the motor roads to the towns. So many lines have already disappeared, the branch to Beryozovka is at danger now, though people still live there. A gorgeous building of Alapaevsk-2 station was of no use anymore, so now it is replaced by a shabby cabin near a depot. Several houses remained in Kalach. Recently there was a fire, probably caused by arson. Obviously, the branch from Sankino to Kalach is the next to be closed. The lines are being disassembled, the stations are being destroyed, the transportation of wood almost stopped. And now the road to Elnichnaya is being built, which will definitely decrease the income of the narrow-gauge railroad.

     In 2015 despite all difficulties the railroad still functions and remains one of the longest narrow-gauge railways in the world. A passenger train runs four times a week from Alapaevsk to Sankino. Sometimes the train is coupled by a post car or a church car.

     Three rimes a week a train goes from Sankino to the most remote place on the railroad, to Kalach. The rails end at a diesel station on 151^st km. Luckily, during the last years the ANGR draws attention of the tourists and the government of Sverdlovsk region. It financed the repairs and the purchasing of new locomotives and carriages. But it is not enough to save the unique railroad. We still hope that it will be preserved as a cultural heritage. For now they have declined our proposal to recognize ANGR as heritage object...

     Alapaevsk Narrow-Gauge Railway is truly unique. It is a separate world which one can enter to forget about all the troubles of ordinary life for a day or two. Just to listen to the rattle of wheels and count settlements from behind the window. Listen to the sounds of flowing water and smell the Siberian forests.

the last kilometer post in Kalach

     If ANGR stops existing in the way we fell in love with it, it will mean we failed to do something important, to invest our energy into the saving our culture. It will be very sad.