Tynda (Biased Notes)

THE BREAKING POINT

"The government would be happy if

we didn't died, but simply disappeared."

M. B. Shultz, the major of Tynda

PERESTROIKA.You might remember the confusion it brought with it.Yep!Those were the great times!A fresh breath of freedom.The newspapers were always sold out.Everyone was discussing various revealing materials in the store lines, in the public transportation, at work and at home.

The "rebuilt" communists could not wait to get rid of the "stagnation" past, and they were pouring dirt onto everything that was somehow related to the "stagnation period."They even tried to badmouth BAM, but it did not work.

A group of very influential ministry representatives traveled to Tynda.There were articles in the media talking about how some high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Railways were trying to determine BAM's fate.Some were talking about dismantling BAM, but after serious discussions, the issue was abandoned.However, BAM practically had ended.They did not want to finish the construction.Even today most of BAM is a one-track railroad.

Year 1986

• Four 16-story apartment buildings have been completed, as well as the railroad station building, a newspaper house, a public bathhouse and a health rehabilitation center for BAM builders
• Tynda is visited by a youth group from India
• New store "Melody" greets its new customers

Year 1988

• Cosmonauts and space research specialists are guests of Tynda
• Representatives of "Bamtransstroi" and three Japanese companies sign a business cooperation treaty

Year 1989

• Congress of frontline squads representatives takes place
• International seminar on problems of economic cooperation in the Asian-Pacific region takes place
• Tynda greets a passenger train with some honorary passengers:Baikal - Amur railroad is fully operational

The city continued to grow: new housing kept appearing, the road was in operation.But the tires had begun to spin.The always-perfect supply chain began to break.BAM residents, having not been accustomed to lack of products, were at a loss about what's happening with the country.

That was only the beginning.The beginning of the end.The end of BAM, the end of Tynda as of young, growing city with a bright future.

You shouldn't consider this a requiem.The city is alive.It has not become deserted or "dead."Thanks to the municipal management and to Mark Shultz in particular for the clean tidy city streets.Even when you compare Tynda to a regional capital, there are lots less disruptions in hot water supply and electricity.When you turn on the sink faucet, the water flows.The city lives but the life is hard.