A train in the night

The screeching sound of the train woke me again for a third time tonight. The railroad is used so frequently that often two trains would pass in unison, the sound loud enough to wake even a deep sleeper such as myself.

It’s somewhat unavoidable; the 9289 km Tran-Siberian Rail contours the lake’s southern shoreline straying only for villages and the occasional small river delta. Day and night the track is constantly occupied by trains, carrying everything from lumber, oil, coal and passengers. Even today the railway is by far the easiest method of transporting heavy equipment across the country.

When the train started to operate in 1908 (it was officially finished in 1916) it brought 750,000 peasants west that year alone. And since, around Baikal a string of villages follows the rail, often consisting of many dasha, Russian cottages or summer houses, stereotypically surrounded by a small garden and decorated with blue shutters. We take advantage of these towns to restock on fresh food, and meet the locals.

By Eric McNair-Landry