Russia Soviet Railroad in Siberia Baikal–Amur Mainline Train Map stamp 1981 MNH

Description

Nice rare stamp.
The
Baikal–Amur Mainline
(Russian: Байкало-Амурская магистраль, БАМ, Baikalo-Amurskaya magistral', BAM) is a 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in) broad gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the 4,324 km (2,687 mi) long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 480 miles) north of and parallel to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The BAM was built as a strategic alternative route to the Trans-Siberian Railway, especially along the vulnerable sections close to the border with China. The BAM's costs were estimated at billion, and it was built with special, durable tracks since much of it was built over permafrost. Due to the severe terrain, weather, length and cost Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev described BAM as "the construction project of the century". If the permafrost layer that supports the BAM railway were to melt, the railway would collapse and sink into peat bog layers that cannot bear the railway. Over the last years the number of reports about climate change and damage to buildings and infrastructure as a result of thawing permafrost have increased.