Good day! Dear reader!

From 1985 to 1987 I served in the Soviet Army. Namely, in the railway troops. Then I didn’t even think that I would end up in these troops. And I had no idea that they existed. When passing the commission at the military registration and enlistment office, many of us were pre-registered in the missile, border, construction, airborne troops... But we had never heard of the railway troops. It so happened that most ended up there. Now I can’t say exactly why this happened. But this is what happened.

I would like to talk about how I served on the Baikal-Amur Mainline - BAM. Many have heard about this construction project of the century. But few people understand what BAM is. I am very sorry that everything there fell apart due to perestroika. I will also note that I do not regret that I visited there, despite any difficulties that existed. As everywhere else, I was lucky enough to meet good people there. I will try to remember them, who I knew and remembered. Many thanks to those commanders who were in the unit in which I served. Major Sachenko Leonid Grigorievich - deputy chief of staff of the unit. We can probably say about him that he is a man with a capital M. Very strict, but at the same time fair. Syvorotkin Alexander Nikolaevich (at the time when I served, he was still a major, but during correspondence, after his dismissal, he learned that he had been awarded the rank of lieutenant colonel). A person with a strong and tough character. What I remember is that he's creepy, you know? I smoked TERRIBLY a lot. Words cannot describe it. This was a must see. I would especially like to mention our platoon commander Viktor Fedorovich Medvedchuk, who later, after my dismissal, was awarded the rank of senior warrant officer. He commanded our platoon (at first it was a security platoon, then, after disbandment, it was a support platoon). Very strict! I always strived to ensure that cleanliness and order reigned in our barracks. And I think he succeeded.

I want to say in advance that I will not use dialogue speech in my memoirs. This is due to the fact that after such a long period of time it is impossible to convey them word for word. And approximately - I don’t want to. And what I will write about are all the real events that took place in the brigade battalions of military unit 40976 (this was our brigade - a higher military unit) in the village of Verkhnezeysk, Zeya district of the Amur region.

But a little background on how I got to BAM. In 1985, I completed my 2nd year at the Glazov Pedagogical Institute (Faculty of Physics and Mathematics). And then on one clear spring day, all of us guys were urgently called from a lecture to the military registration and enlistment office. We had to stay there for a long time. We were warned that in May we would be drafted into the ranks of the USSR Armed Forces. Nobody was happy about this. But no one showed any sign. Including me. It was April 1985. And we were faced with the task of how to quickly pass the exams. And the exams were in pedagogy, general physics, and philosophy. My friend and classmate Dima Fedorov and I began to “assault” these objects. Not even all the lectures and practical classes have been completed yet. And I’ll tell you that, in general, everyone treated us with understanding. Only officially I had to take the exam in pedagogy. And so, when everyone saw our agendas, they rated them “GOOD.”

On May 3, we were called to the military registration and enlistment office and given summonses for May 11. And all these exams took place from May 3 to May 10. Since I lived 23 km from the city in another area, I checked in at the military registration and enlistment office and went home. There were escort girls at home. For some reason I associate this escort with the songs of the group “Yalla”. There was such a group. If, for example, I hear songs performed by this group, then everything immediately comes to mind. On May 11, 1985, I boarded the Yar-Izhevsk train. My classmates were already there. Because they landed from the city of Glazov. Earlier. We arrived at the collection point in Izhevsk (the capital of Udmurtia). I remember very well the dining room, where we were immediately sent. We fed very well. We hung our duffel bags on hangers that were installed around the parade ground. During the day we were forced to march. These were mostly sergeants who arrived at the collection point along with the “buyers.” It was all very gloomy. I wouldn't want to be there again. At night we were driven into a room with nothing in it. Bare walls and floor, painted. They went straight to sleep on the floor. Morning. One can imagine the state of a person who “slept” for the first time on the floor, where there is no soft pillow or blanket... Terrible! Yes. There were also such things. The sergeants lined us up and asked us to put all our things out of our duffel bags. You can imagine the sergeants who, like big people, walked along the line and took away the things they “liked.”

But to our surprise, it all ended quickly. Already at noon we were lined up on the parade ground and, having been put on buses, taken to the railway station. We got on the train and went. Everyone was thinking about where they were taking us. The fact is that at the institute they always scared us that they would take us to Afghanistan. Because At this time, the military operations in Afghanistan were in full swing. But, fortunately, when we found out that we were going east, we calmed down a little. Later we found out that we were going to the Amur region.

We arrived in Sverdlovsk (Ekaterinburg). We were taken off the carriages and taken to the airport. Not far from the take-off field there were tents with bunk beds. The first time I saw these bunk beds was then. We were there for exactly 24 hours. There were also negative moments. The boys took food and things from each other. In general, this is not a pleasant memory. And then at night we were put on a TU-134 plane. Again this was news to me. Flying on an airplane. I had never flown before this time. They also fed us there. Liked. When I went to the toilet, I accidentally saw the pilots' office and the Earth appeared before my eyes. It's dark all around, and the sun is rising on the horizon. It was very beautiful.

We arrived in Irkutsk in the morning. From Irkutsk by train. We spent half a day driving through Lake Baikal. There was still ice there. Very beautiful places. For some reason I don’t have any special memories of this “piece”. Apparently there was nothing memorable. We arrived at Skovorodino station. This is the station from which there is a line “up” to Tynda and another further to Vladivostok. We were all put on a passenger train and went to Tynda. We arrived in Tynda at night at 2.00. And we were all taken to some club. We sat down to watch a movie. Alas! I don't remember the name anymore. But the film was about the war. But practically no one watched the film. Because everyone wanted to sleep. This is how I first began to comprehend a new type of sleep, “Sitting.” In the morning we were put on the train again and we moved on. I don’t know how long we drove, but we reached the Dipkun station. Before my eyes, the Dipkun station appeared like a populated area with several high-rise buildings, a new store and an unfinished station. We all immediately went to the store. We bought food and ate heartily. We stopped at an unfinished train station. It would probably be wrong if I say unfinished station. In principle, there was already light inside and there was light. There were no other people (civilians). There were no seats, the ticket office was not yet open. Apparently, this station was about to open. There were already a lot of recruits here at this station. Here I felt what “countryman” means. And it doesn’t matter if you’re from the same city, town or village. Even if you are from neighboring Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Perm, Kirov regions - this is already a “countryman”. And the soul rejoices. And there were already Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Chechens, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Tajiks... It was very surprising to see the clothes that the recruits from the southern republics were wearing. Some kind of robes, skull caps and all that. It was just interesting. Because Before the army, I practically didn’t go anywhere (not counting Krivoy Rog in 1980 and Moscow). Therefore, a lot of things were unknown and a little unusual for me. Despite the fact that everyone seemed to be of the same conscription, there were clashes based on nationalities. And Udmurtia and I stuck together. And it helped all of us.

And our next journey continued in the heated vehicles. This is a covered carriage, in which there is a corner for accompanying officers (ensign and sergeants). Potbelly stove for heating. And in this heated vehicle there were about 30 of us. The train was moving very slowly. This is understandable. If even now they don’t move along the BAM at high speeds, then even more so. The road was not electrified. Therefore, while we were driving, we heard some people walking and jumping on the roof of the carriage. At first we didn't understand what it could be. But at night we were stopped at some stop. The doors open. And there are three soldiers. It's dark, you can hardly see anything. They quickly jumped into the carriage. They had belts in their hands. The end of the belt is wound around the right hand. And the plaque sags at the other end. And they started swinging these belts. They began to take us out of the carriage one by one and search the money. But it didn't last that long. I don’t know what moved us, but one day they all took the picket fences that were intended as firewood and, jumping out of the carriage, gave them to these old men. And they seemed to run away. Meanwhile, we got back into the carriage and locked ourselves in. One thing surprises me now. Why didn't our escorts do anything? They were in their corner all this time. But at the same time, I imagine that they were practically powerless to do anything. And so they distanced themselves from everything. The train started moving. And we also heard walking on the roof for some time. Then everything became quiet. I am now thinking that perhaps we made a stop at some station where soldiers were serving (meaning on the highway). Then I already knew that along the BAM highway there were small stations where soldiers served. The word station should not be understood to mean any populated areas. Basically it was a free-standing trailer (trailer) with spare tracks. Arrows. Apparently these soldiers wanted to “rob” us. But maybe that's not the case.

Morning. We saw the rays of the sun and opened the doors. And all the time we drove, admiring the nature that greeted us at BAM. We arrived at the Zeya Reservoir. There is a bridge across the reservoir about 2 km long. The reservoir was still covered with ice. In general, the ice melts there towards the middle, end of June. When we crossed the bridge, the train stopped. We were dropped off. Sun was shining. It was very warm. I even “wanted to live” after everything. We were all brought to the Fokina battalion. This name is in honor of the name of the battalion commander. In general, all the parts had such names. “Suleymanovo”, “Ugarovo”, “Almazovo”, “Syvorotkino”... And so they took us to the club. The club was large and spacious. There was nothing there. There were several tables, and several soldiers at the tables. We realized that now we will be given new clothes. Our accompanying warrant officer said that we could collect the hats and, if desired, send them back home. Well, we are so naive, we gave up everything. He left. And we never saw him again. But we still remained in our clothes. They showed us a place where to throw our clothes. Some of the boys started tearing their clothes and throwing them there. And everyone threw off everything. Jackets, shirts, sweaters, trousers, briefs, swimming trunks, socks and shoes. And each of us approached the standing soldiers completely naked. At first they gave out underpants and a T-shirt, then cotton, tarpaulin boots, belts and caps. Yes, by the way, you also had to tell me your correct size so that they would give you clothes that fit you. There were also those who had no idea what size shoes and clothes they wore. But somehow everything was resolved later. Here. I forgot, they also gave out the famous foot wraps. What would it be like in the army without them? And you also had to be able to wind them. And so we, having put on all these unusual clothes, headed to the soldier’s bathhouse. We washed ourselves and got dressed again. It was very unusual in these clothes. Cotton is completely new and tough. We walked around there like people who had been sacked. We were in this part for about 1 week. What did I remember there? The first time we were taken to the dining room. For breakfast. We were surprised that there were pots on the tables and there was semolina porridge. No, it was not semolina porridge. And mashed potatoes. It just looked like semolina porridge. It was there that we first became acquainted with the (food) powder from which mashed potatoes were made. And later there we were fed potatoes, which were cut into long dried parallelepipeds. They were in tin cans. Usually at that time jam was sold in such jars. But there were dried potatoes. To be honest, I got very tired of her after 2 years of service. Probably not because the potatoes were so bad, but because the cooks didn’t prepare it well. If they had soaked them properly first, the taste would have been much better. And that morning there were pieces of butter left on all the tables. The sergeants were very surprised by this circumstance. They stood and laughed, saying that we’ll see what happens tomorrow. And they were right. Then there was never any butter left on our tables at breakfast. For two years, the menu remained virtually unchanged. In the morning, a piece of butter, bread, porridge (millet, buckwheat, pearl barley, mainly with stew), coffee. I want to say something about coffee separately. It was just called that. It was a coffee drink. And how they prepared it!!! They pour water into the cauldron, add this drink and, the culmination of the preparation... open the condensed milk and immediately throw it into this cauldron, without even tearing off the paper. All this is boiling and it seems like nothing. Usually they had soup for lunch. For the second course there is also porridge with stewed meat or (rarely) fresh meat. Third - compote. Dinner. Here are the potatoes that I already mentioned and the fish. The fish was supposed to be fried. But the cooks didn’t want to bother with it, and they often broke the electric frying pan. And they just cooked the fish for us. The cooking was very interesting. Frozen fish is taken in a slab and placed in boiling water in a cauldron. That's all. So, bon appetit. In the evening there was always tea at dinner. It happened that the bakery broke down. Then we were given loaves of alcohol in alcohol instead of bread. They were all in plastic bags treated with alcohol and tightly closed. In principle, they were as fresh.

Well. I'm getting a little off topic here. There were old-timers in this unit. They kept watch for us at the dining room all the time to take our belts. And many, when leaving the dining room, they fastened their belts on their naked bodies under cotton. But they guessed that we were doing this. And they picked up the cotton and took it away. This was on the first day. But then, seeing such a thing, our platoon commander collected the belts for a while. And we walked without belts. I remember the following events there. Work in a sawmill. We helped pull out boards, roll up logs, and carry out shavings. They worked in a warehouse. I don't remember what we did there. But it was good there. Calmly. Nobody pulled. And once they sent me to headquarters. They said that some boss was coming, so everything needed to be shiny. And we worked even after lights out.

A variety of training sessions were conducted. Combat, political training. And everything else. I liked studying in the Lenin room when there was a theoretical part. You sit and take a break from everything.

One day I don’t remember why, but our warrant officer started a showdown. He threw everything away, beds, bedside tables. Everything was scattered. I also had my Komsomol card lying on the floor. I now think that this is how they tried to scare, or rather, hold everyone back. I don't know if this is right or wrong. Can such actions be justified? I can’t say affirmatively, and I don’t want to say so. They were also understandable.

I remember that as part of the exercise, we were picked up at 24.00, put in cars and taken to the track. We stopped near a small bridge. The train arrived. There were cobblestones that were used to cover bridges. So they forced us to unload and cover this bridge. I still remember this moment. We sat down to rest and talked something with one guy. Now I don’t remember what his name was. But we calculated how much time we still had to serve. It was over 23 months. But we reassured ourselves that we had already begun to eat. No idea what will happen next. At 3.00 we finished work. But there was no car. And we walked back. Where we run, where we walk. We got there around 5 o'clock in the morning. And we managed to sleep for another hour before getting up.

I still remember one such episode. We were forced to run around to check if we had wrapped our footcloths correctly. Out of 30 people, one guy had blood all over his leg. When he took off his boots, it was a very terrible phenomenon.

And one guy was simply fired. I don’t know how he managed it, but the fact remains. The fact is that he could not march in formation with everyone. They gave the commands “Left”, “Left”..., but he kept raising the wrong leg. This is what I remember. But maybe he had some other deviations. I don't know that anymore. But he was fired. And can you imagine? What was my condition? You just had to think that the person was going HOME!!! And I will have to walk a whole 730 days in boots.

Then a week later we were sent to battalion 51560 (Almazovo). Where I took the oath and completely completed the Young Fighter Course. That's another story. To be continued.

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How BAM began

In 1974, Stepan Fedorenko was transferred from sunny Baku to serve in cold Tynda. The officer was warned that the family should not be taken to BAM, because there were no living conditions there. Tynda was still a miserable village at that time, recalls the retired colonel.

“Our brigade was given the task of meeting construction cargo at the Skovorodino station and transporting it in columns to the points where military units should be stationed. Shields for the barracks and canteen and food were transported along the Lena highway,” says Stepan Fedorenko. “There were no roads to the east; our guys were flown there by helicopters. They left them bags of food, and they built winter huts and cut clearings. We were given instructions to equip military units and build a road along the future railway line. The second task was to help in the construction of the Small BAM. The railway was supposed to arrive in Tynda by May 1, 1975.

In 1974, relations with the Chinese were tense. Therefore, the railroad soldiers had to encrypt themselves, communicating via radio under the code names Worker, Foreman, and Master. 40 years have passed, but Stepan Stepanovich easily reproduces the episodes of those days one after another.

The military was not at all prepared for the local winters. The built barracks were frozen through. The soldiers erected log houses from larch, insulated the joints with moss, cut windows with a Druzhba chainsaw, and erected large tents on top of wooden boxes. Such buildings, unlike the “barrels of Diogenes”, in which steam came from the mouth in winter, retained heat.

– We didn’t imagine that it could be 60 degrees below zero in winter. Our thermometers were designed to reach minus 50. In the mornings they went off scale,” recalls Stepan Stepanovich. – To avoid catching a cold, we ate garlic and onions, which were sent to us in parcels. Everyone carried garlic cloves in their pocket. There were also problems in the spring, especially when the rivers melted. There was a case: a car with construction materials fell through the ice, and by the time the soldier reached the shore, it was like he was wearing a glass suit. The poor fellow was brought to his senses with alcohol.

Test of courage

The soldiers still managed to create a normal life in the taiga. The units built baths and baked bread in field ovens.

The military railway workers left for work early, the stars were still shining in the sky, and they also returned with them. They cut a clearing, built a road, laid rails that were supposed to reach Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

The 35th Brigade of Railway Troops was a small state. It included 12 military units, about 15 thousand personnel, a military court, the prosecutor's office, military trade and a special department. The headquarters was located in Tynda. The military settled in the area, which was popularly called “Squirrel”, in honor of the first cafe that opened in the city. By the way, Stepan Stepanovich keeps a piece of red ribbon from the opening of “Squirrel”.

With Tynda awarded the status of a city, it began to quickly transform. Kindergartens and schools were opened, temporary settlements were built. With the arrival of shock troops, the first families began to form at BAM. Wives and children began to come to the military. Serving at BAM together with Stepan Stepanovich were his wife Taisiya Vasilievna, she worked in the hospital, and daughters Irina and Ella.

– Where the trains go today, our parents lived their lives. I was a schoolgirl then. What I remember most is how fresh vegetables arrived in stores for the New Year, but there were very few of them, so they were distributed equally to everyone, regardless of their official position. There was one chopped cucumber and two tomatoes on the festive table. Fresh vegetables were valued at BAM more than red or black caviar. Some people associate New Year with the smell of tangerines, but for Bamov’s children, New Year is the smell of fresh cucumber,” says Ella.

We gave the country a way

In 1979, due to health reasons, Stepan Stepanovich had to leave the construction site. At that time, on the eastern section, the rails already approached the Zeya River. For their service at BAM, the Fedorenko spouses were awarded medals “For the construction of BAM.”

After Tynda, the family went to Ukraine, to Dnepropetrovsk. This was already the twelfth duty station. And our hero retired to a well-deserved rest, having gone from lieutenant to colonel. Now the Fedorenko family lives in Gelendzhik. Stepan Stepanovich is the deputy chairman of the city council of veterans; for many years he has been defending the interests of war participants and home front workers.

– This year marks 40 years since the start of construction of the BAM. Today the word “BAM” is pronounced differently, but at that time it contained such enthusiasm and enthusiasm that it is now difficult to associate anything with it. After 40 years, I would really like to visit Tynda to donate to the Museum of the History of BAM the silver crutches that I received when laying the last link and at the rail joints at the first stations, as well as a file of the newspaper “Bamstroyput”, ribbons, pennants and badges of those years , says Stepan Fedorenko.

At eighty, the military man has no complaints about his health. He says that he has the strength and a great desire to travel by train along the eastern section of the BAM, which was built by railroad soldiers, to meet with colleagues and remember the past.

On the picture: Wedding photography on rails was invented at BAM

Svetlana Nazarchuk

On the wall of the Urgal 1 station there was a payphone that worked using Rostelecom cards. Using a card I had lying around, I called my grandfather, which incredibly surprised the local railway worker: according to her, in the 2 years that have passed since the telephone was installed, this is the first time she has seen someone talking on it.

The car of the Tynda – Komsomolsk train that we boarded was half empty: it was only hooked up in Novy Urgal and it was filled up on the way. About 20 minutes after departure, the conductor decided to clean the carriage.
“Let me wipe the table for you,” she said joyfully.
“We’ve already wiped it,” I answered reproachfully.
- How?
“With napkins,” Katya entered the dialogue.
- You can’t wipe the table with paper!
- It was a wet wipe for intimate hygiene.
- It’s still impossible!

Coal pit dumps - in the previous part they were visible from Chegdomyn, and this photo was taken near the Chemchuko crossing.

On the way up to the Dusse-Alinsky tunnel along the river valley. Soloni landscapes were pleasing to the eye - on one side there were rocky half-cuts, on the other there was a mountain river. And all this is on numerous curves. In anticipation of tomorrow, when we had to walk on the eastern side of the ridge, we rolled into the darkness of the tunnel, immediately after which the switches of the Dusse-Alin junction began, where we left the train. Despite the vigilance of the station duty officer, who looked out several times to see who had arrived with large backpacks, I managed to photograph the tunnel: the permit that I had did not include tunnels and bridges, although I had applied for them.

Having moved a couple of kilometers away from the station and descended from a steep and high embankment along the stairs along a large reinforced concrete pipe from which a rapid stream was gushing out, we made our way through the thicket to a river called the Devil, along the valley of which the railway was laid. Despite the name, the overnight location turned out to be the first one of the entire trip that was actually pleasant for an overnight stay, and not chosen out of desperation: soft moss pillows, dwarf cedar, mighty trees and a river rustling nearby were happily complemented by the absence of midges.

The next day we went downstream the river. Damn, where, judging by the map, a great photo shoot should have taken place. However, suspicions about the railway photogenicity of this section arose even when looking for an overnight stay. Suspicions were fully confirmed. There are no recesses, no rocks, no river flowing along the embankment - only forested hills around.

There was still a lot of time left before the evening train, and few kilometers to the Suluk station. Therefore, we stopped for a long rest in the floodplain of the river. The devil is near the railway bridge. We managed to dry all our things, including the tent, and get ready before the next rain. While we were resting, an armored personnel carrier on a truck tractor suddenly drove out to the river - people from the tractor took water and drove off. Since 8 am, when we woke up, not a single train had passed, and I began to worry that there had been an accident somewhere. The first train appeared only at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, dispelling the gathering fears with its appearance.

Soon r. The devil ended its run by flowing into the river. Egono, we got to the Suluk station with an unexpectedly dull station, identical to the service building - we couldn’t even immediately figure out which building was the station. Only later did we find out that once upon a time there was a huge station in Suluk, but the project was flawed and already in the second year after its construction the station was closed because dangerous cracks appeared along it. Unfortunately, I did not know such details on the spot and did not photograph the ruins of the station.

Collapsed Suluk station. Photo from the photo album "BAM".

Leaving Katya at the station, I ran to the center of the village to buy bribes at the store. As in most villages on the BAM, the discrepancy between the large-scale plans and what happened gave rise to despondency.

Having boarded the train to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a pleasant surprise for us was the beginning of perhaps the most beautiful section of the Eastern BAM - the majestic mountains of the Badzhal ridge rose to the south of the railway.

Wide rivers often began to appear, carrying their waters from the mountains to the wide Amgun. Moreover, interestingly, the Orokot River spilled into two branches, more than a kilometer apart from each other, so the railway turned out to be laid along a real river island. Before Orokot, the construction of the siding of the same name was actively underway - it should be put into operation this year.

An unpleasant addition to the trip was a fellow traveler in the compartment - an aunt of about 45-50 years old. She commented out loud on her every action and many thoughts: “Now I’m going to get water,” “I need to wash myself,” “I wonder what Nikolai has to do with it?” - this is about the carriage-church named after. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Moreover, she continued to do this at night - she had to get off in Postyshevo, where the train arrived after midnight.

According to the original plan, from Komsomolsk we were supposed to return back to the station at night. Postyshevo (since in the western direction the train travels much more during daylight hours) and take a ride to Gerbi on a work train. But reality made its own adjustments: the work train did not run on Saturday, so the plan could not be fully realized. In addition, by this time we had already decided that since Katya began to try to get sick and was coughing regularly, she would live for 2 days in Kosmolsk while I drove back and forth. I just had to figure out what to do in the current situation with the train cancellation.

Railway is our way toBAM: B July 1974 The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 561 on the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway. The word “BAM” entered life quickly and firmly established itself in it. Millions of people looked at geographic maps with interest in order to connect Baikal and Amur with a line in their mind's eye.
We were amazed by the vast expanses of the region and the grand scale of the upcoming construction. The highway crossed an extremely complex natural region, most of it was in the mountains, and the central section was in a zone of high seismicity, it met with such deep rivers as the Lena, Upper Angara, Olekma, Gilyuy, Selemdzha, Byssa, Bureya, Amgun, Amur, and passed across vast areas of permafrost. In these northern regions, where the ground is frozen at 50–60 degrees, there were almost no roads, not even trails. The rare Evenk villages that found shelter along the banks of the rivers were separated from each other by many kilometers of taiga.
857 The Training Center of the Railway Troops was created on August 1, 1996 on the basis of 1 separate training railway regiment, which began its history on October 5, 1918. Throughout the entire period of activity of the military unit, its main task was to train highly qualified sergeants and junior specialists intended to fill positions that determine the combat capability of military units and formations of the Railway Troops. Over the past years, tens of thousands of junior commanders and specialists have been released from the military unit and sent to the troops. Graduates of the military training unit performed their tasks with honor and dignity on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, during the restoration of railways in war and post-war times. The personnel made a great contribution to the development of the country's railway transport during the construction of the Ivdel-Ob, Abakan-Tayshet, Tyumen-Surgut, and Baikal-Amur Mainline railway lines. Hundreds of unit graduates have been awarded government awards for their successes in increasing the combat readiness of military units and military formations. Currently, work continues at the Training Center of the Railway Troops to train squad commanders and specialist soldiers. Training is conducted in 14 specialties, defined by Order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of 2006 No. 480 “On approval of the List of military positions filled by soldiers, sailors, sergeants and foremen, for which military personnel are subject to training in training formations and military units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”