#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. 25 kilometers from Norilsk is a short distance. But on the way there was the Norilskaya river, and behind it – impassable tundra “jungle”.
Until the spring of 1961, all cargoes were transported to the geologist settlement Talnah from Norilsk in a roundabout way: down the Norilka river, then across lake Pyasino and from there to the mountains.
For most of the year, a winter road operated, and in summer the route was laid by water.
In 1962, near the geologists’ village, they even built their own runway, which, according to eyewitnesses, received planes with building materials and food around the clock. In the meantime, roads began to be built to Talnah – automobile and railway.
The highway construction was completed in July 1963. However, at that time it lacked one essential detail – a bridge across the Norilka river. It was completed only in 1965. And until that time, transport went in the summer along the pontoon bridge, and in the winter – right on the ice.
Despite this, regular bus service operated between Norilsk and Talnah. Travel by bus No. 16 on the route Norilsk bus station – Talnah village cost as much as 45 kopecks.
In the spring, when the ice of Norilka still held the cars, but the melt waters were already flooding the crossing, the way to Talnah became a real challenge. Passengers for safety reasons overcame it on foot, and drivers drove empty buses with the door open to jump out if the ice could not stand it.
After the opening of the bridge across the Norilka, rail transport began to run. The first electric train of the Norilsk-Talnah line was launched in November 1966.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told that the first public transport in Norilsk was a hybrid of a truck and a bus.
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Text: Svetlana Ferapontova, Photo: Nornickel Polar Branch archive
