RUSSIA / Vologda Region / November 2007 / Local girls posing for picture in Kamenka - an isolated village in the forest on the Monzenskaya Railway. The railway is the only link to the world for locals. There is neither cellular nor land phone communications, and to call a doctor in emergency people have to pay the railway to send in a railcar. © Max Sher / Anzenberger
MONZENSKAYA RAILWAY

Russia’s Vologda Region (ca. 500 km northeast of Moscow) is a vast expanse of pristine forests, pure lakes and old towns. It is also home to Monzenskaya railway, or simply Monza, which starts from the Northern main line and runs eastwards for almost 300 km into deep forests connecting remote logging villages and a few dozen thousand people with the outside world. The history of this railway is, in some sort, the history of Russia in the 20th century.

Its construction began in late 1920s when the Soviet government decided to organise centralised supplies of timber to Moscow and other big cities, then entirely heated by firewood. Before WWII, the main work force was exiles and forcibly displaced people brought here from all over the country. This fact as well as a feel of permanent isolation from the outside world and harsh labour and living conditions helped forge a peculiar character and identity: locals are often cold, reserved or even rude at first sight but hearty and sincere if you get to know them better. As the construction went further, lumber camps were set up along the railway, which then grew into bigger villages. When firewood was no longer needed in huge volumes, the wood processing on Monzenskaya line was restructured to produce other timber products. The line itself was continually extended throughout the Soviet period as exploration of new logging areas continued. With the end of government funding, the extension stalled in late 1980s as the Soviet Union was approaching its demise, and the tracks now end in the middle of nowhere. -- 2007