. FEBRUARY 2013 BACK ISSUE by Denis Tarasov The Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway (АУЖД), is the longest running narrow-gauge railway in Russia.  Currently 250 kilometres, about half of the extent of the original line, is still operational. Building of the line began in 1898 and it was used as transport for the Soviet wood and coal industries.  Now it serves as a vital connection to those rural and remote settlements and villages left behind when the coal and wood industries dwindled away. To the majority of these dying villages the АУЖД provides a train once a week.  Some of the more remote settlements have a bi- monthly service.  The trains carry; essential produce for rural shops, passengers and they also provide an essential service to an area of Russia in which roads are scarce. The driver of the locomotive and his girlfriend at the station in Elnichnaya. In the locomotive cab, a portrait of Stalin. A child with his mother riding in a railway carriage at the Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway. Railway track, Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway. Inside a railway carriage on the Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway. View from the window of the ruined station building at Strokinka. Alapaevsk narrow-gauge railway. Unloading food and mail from the train at the station, Elnichnaya. Locals at the station, Elnichnaya. Alapaevsk station. View from the window of the ruined police office at the station, Elnichnaya Peter - a resident of the station at Strokinka, in his home. Passengers smoke in a railway carriage. Narrow gauge railway. Passengers playing cards. Back to current issue