Several legends are associated with the Circum-Baikal Railway - about a ghost train that sank with Kolchak's gold (this myth has long been debunked by scientists), about a white horse that jumps out of the darkness of the tunnels and behaves very aggressively towards tourists.
Also about the ghosts of passengers who died during the collision of trains, about the spirit of the Italian engineer - the designer of the tunnel, who shot himself after realizing that the tunnel, which was dug by workers from different directions, would not converge.
There are many legends, but most of them have an invented basis. We decided to check the Khabartui tunnel, in which the tragedy really happened, which means there is a possibility of anomalous activity.
Cape Khabartuy consists of three tunnels. 67 years ago, a tragedy occurred in one of them, which became the basis for ghost stories.
Train collision
Before starting our small expedition, we tried to collect information about the investigated place. As you know, the Circum-Baikal Railway cost its builders inhuman efforts. People died from cold, disease, during explosions, many were buried right there. Cape Khabartuy, which is a 50-meter cliff that drops vertically into Lake Baikal, is a place where hard labor awaited the workers. Little by little, reclaiming space from the cliff, they cut three tunnels and erected two galleries, one of which was attached to the Khabartui-3 tunnel, which became infamous after the largest accident at the KBJ.
On the evening of March 6, 1946, a passenger train was approaching the tunnel. In one of the carriages, for no reason, someone tore off the stop valve. After a short stop, the train moved on. At 21 hours 15 minutes, he drove into the tunnel. Behind him was a freight train driven by a steam locomotive, the driver of which, due to extreme fatigue, did not pay attention to the redirection signal. The freight train at high speed entered the tunnel, where it collided with the tail of the train in front.
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The last car of the passenger train was a bench car. There was a stove in it, from which a fire began to spread through other cars. As luck would have it, the locomotive's fire-fighting system was faulty. The drivers quickly uncoupled the train and took the remaining part of the passenger train out of the tunnel. During the collision and fire, 20 passengers died, another 29 people were injured. Since then, travelers have met the ghosts of those killed in a terrible disaster in the tunnel.
A ghost or a local?
Two and a half hours by train, and we are in Dark Pad - a stopping point, from where many tourists begin their journey along the Circum-Baikal Railway. From the stop, we walk 3.5 km through the forest to Staraya Angasolka. On the way, there are amanitas of indescribable beauty. The joke itself suggests that handsome mushrooms could be the culprit behind the hallucinations that gave rise to some ghost stories.
As we learned from tourists who regularly visit the Circum-Baikal Railway, many legends were invented by local residents. Also, the authorship of some stories related to otherworldly activity is attributed to the workers of the climbing base located in Staraya Angasolka. We could not confirm or deny this, the mountaineering base, now given over to the children's and youth center, was closed.
In addition, the locals not only invent legends, but also like to play a trick on tourists. So, a few years ago a controversial incident occurred with a group of hikers. After a long walk, the guys stopped at the longest tunnel of the Circum-Baikal Railway called Polovinny. According to legend (which, by the way, has no historical confirmation), this passage was dug from both sides. The workers worked like damned people and were about to see each other, but weeks passed, and the long-awaited meeting did not happen. When there was no hope left, deciding that he had made a mistake in the calculations, an engineer of Italian descent shot himself. The next day the tunnel converged.
Photo: baikalpress.ru
“After a long walk, we stopped at Polovinny, decided to take a break, lit a fire,” says an eyewitness. - Suddenly a man dressed in something dark comes out of the tunnel and asks us where, they say, we are going. We say, "Into the tunnel." And he: "Don't go there, there is no way out." And he turns around and goes back. We look at him in a stupor - the man was moving completely silently, not a single pebble snapped.
The person was wearing such faceless clothes that tourists could not determine which era it belonged to. However, discussing this meeting with each other, they agreed that they were simply played out by a local resident.
Visions
First of all, we decided to visit the Khabartuisky tunnel. It is only 5 kilometers from Staraya Angasolka. Passing Cape Khabartuy, we set up camp on a picturesque hillock, had supper and patiently waited for 12 o'clock in the morning. But according to Alexander Nikolaev, head of the Stilette group, the expeditionary department of Irkutsk-Kosmopoisk, otherworldly activity most often manifests itself from 12 to 3 am.
On the opposite shore of Lake Baikal, the lights of Slyudyanka flickered, stars poured into the sky, and we entered the same Khabartuisky tunnel number 3. We turned off the flashlights and sat down next to the rails. At first we were in an absolute visual and verbal vacuum.
“Pay attention to sounds and images that peripheral vision can fix,” Alexander Nikolaev instructed us in a whisper, breaking the silence for a while. - It happens that people who are in one place hear and see different things.
Gradually, a faint light began to emerge from the darkness, taking the form of a rounded triangle - this was the entrance to the tunnel. Against the background of this triangle, an oblong vertical spot loomed.
- Motion! - said Sasha, and the heart of the female half of the expedition sank. “Do not be afraid,” continued our leader, “physically they will not be able to do anything to you.
“Perhaps it’s just an optical illusion, because we are looking too hard into the darkness,” Natasha suggested.
Then something tinkled melodiously. We decided that rivets on Sasha's trousers made this sound.
In general, sitting in complete silence and darkness, you can dream up a lot for yourself. In a tunnel that transforms sounds, the singing of a cricket resembles steps. Eyes from gazing into the darkness can see vague images. The mystical reputation of the tunnel makes you tremble. As for us, none of the four members of the expedition during an hour of duty in the tunnel heard or saw anything that even remotely resembled a ghost.
… When we went to bed, the awning of the tent began to move. The rumble was growing in the nearest gully. The storm began. The breeze was bending our camp house to the ground and threatened to rip off the awning. The next day it started to rain, which, according to forecasts, promised to turn into snow. We decided to turn back and postpone the investigation of the Polovniy tunnel until next time.