Arrival of the First Train at the Nizhneangarsk Station on the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) Railway, USSR 1979 -- Daily LIFT #60

Arrival of the First Train at the Nizhneangarsk Station on the Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) Railway - USSR 1979

Much of the BAM was built between 1975-1979 with it being fully completed in 1984.

"The BAM sought to open up vast areas of Siberia economically. Many new communities were planned (and were built) for its route. (Numbers of these, tragically, became ghost towns with the collapse of the USSR). It was to also provide another rail access to the Pacific via ports like Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

In order to expedite construction the Communist Party called on its youth wing, the Komsomol, to send volunteers to help plan, engineer and build the line. Volunteer brigades from the whole of the Soviet Union were formed, often along republic lines, and tens-of-thousands of young workers went into action across the route."

To learn more about this largely forgotten tale of socialist construction and achievement see: Road of Courage and Heroism -- Building the BAM in the USSR 1979 and Riding the rails of the Soviet Union in 1984 - A look at the railway system of the USSR.