Professor Walter's History Lessons

Russia's Ghost Railway

Often referred to as the "Railroad of Death," "Road of Death," or "Death Road," the Salekhard-Igarka Railway is an abandoned 806 mile (1,297 km) project in the Russian Tundra. The construction of the railway began in the summer of 1949 with the 501st Labor Camp working eastward from Salekhard and the 503rd Labor Camp working westward from Igarka. The plans called for a single railway with 29 stations.

An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 laborers were put to work on the project and tens of thousands died. These deaths were even more unfortunate because they were entirely unnecessary: the demand for rail transport was already met by existing routes. The unofficial purpose behind the project was an attempt to keep political prisoners busy. One way in which this was made evident was the fact that the requirements called for everything to be built by hand. There were little to no machines brought in to assist with the work. Additionally, the food rations were meager and the shelters inadequate. Further contributing to the deplorable conditions was the rule that if a prisoner could not meet the impossibly high work-quotas, their food rations were cut, weakening them more, thus making it so that they had no chance of meeting the quotas, thus resulting in further ration cuts. And so the cycle continued until death.

The futility of the effort was even more apparent in winter, when the -60 C temperatures and blizzards wiped out laborers, and the frost heaves destroyed the rails. The summers brought millions of mosquitoes, gnats, and parasites as the tracks were pushed through swampland.  Construction finally ended in 1953 upon Stalin's death. A total of 434 miles (699 km) were completed, but the bulk collapsed shortly thereafter from frost heaves and poor construction.

Remnants of the Ghost Railway can be seen today in places where the work was literally left in progress at the time the project ended. Ghost Trains, quietly rust on warped tracks, where they will never reach their intended destination, filled with the phantoms of those who lost their lives to cruelty and folly.

-Professor Walter

The unexpected risk of high efficiency traffic lights

There is a large effort across the United States to replace traditional light bulbs with LED lights.  LED lights last longer, use less power, and are more efficient.  Some of the areas where they have become prevalent include flashlights, vehicle lights, and traffic lights.  Unfortunately, while these new innovations do perform as expected, there are benefits to the traditional lights that are often overlooked.

In 2009 Wisconsin had deployed some of these newer traffic lights.  In December, as the winter came on full, the value of inefficiency became apparent.  Traditional lights draw more power than they release in light.  The remaining power is released as heat.  With the new efficient lights, there is no heat release.  As such, the ice and snow that falls during a storm builds up on the lights obscuring the glow.  Without the heat to melt it the traffic lights vanish in the storm.  City workers have had to resort to climbing up and scraping the ice during the storms to keep the roads safe. 

While the new lights have saved thousands in electricity bills, thee benefit of the inefficiency of the older bulbs was never considered and the lack of heat created it's own problems.  A final solution is still pending.

-Professor Walter

The Dust Bowl

In the time between the 1900s and 1930 the westward expansion of The United States of America was magnificent.  This time was an unusually wet period and farming took advantage of all the potential of the "fertile plains".  The rapid growth also spread many practices that would later have a very negative impact to the environment.

One of the practices that would later prove to be catastrophic was the lack of concern for erosion.  When the fields were plowed they were left bare until it was time to plant new crops.  They burned the left over plant material to clear the land for new crops, depriving the soil of nutrients.  Finally automation took hold and larger and larger open farms were created.  All was well and prosperous for the farmers until, 1934.

In 1934 a severe drought hit the great plains and the folly of their ways became evident.  As the soil dried up, new crops would not grow, and large open fields of dry dirt were now vulnerable to the winds which progressed across the plains without stop.  The winds swept in and stripped the fertile topsoil away and blew the dirt for hundreds of miles.  Homes, cars, cattle, people were all buried.  In 1934 a two day dust storm was so severe that the dust clouds reached Washington D.C. on the east coast.

The result of the dust bowl for the people was the largest exodus in a short period of time in American History.  The farmers, and their families fled the storms for better lives out west.

Not everyone would survive the journey.  Keep in mind that this event occurred during The Great Depression, and there were no resources for charities or jobs for the displaced.

While the disaster was brought on by the drought, it was exacerbated by the poor farming practices of the time.  The extensive wet period was taken advantage of and the farming techniques assumed that the weather was normal.  The large expanses of barren land became a recipe for disaster.  There were no plants to hold the moisture when the rains stopped, and the dry top soil blew away.  Poor planning and lack of understanding of the risks were key factors in the outcome.

One of FDR's first actions when taking office in 1933 was to work on soil conservation laws.  Crops had to be rotated, no more open fields, and lines of trees had to be planted to form wind breaks.  Farmers were reluctant to change, and the government paid them $1 an acre to implement the new procedures.  Education programs began and by 1938 the efforts reduced the amount of soil in the air by 65%.  In 1939, the drought finally ended, however the soil was no longer as productive, and much of it was abandoned.  

Today we live in the United States with practices that keep the soil productive, and should prevent a new dust bowl.  However there is a real risk the the dust bowl may occur again in other parts of the world, where soil conservation is not practiced.

-Professor (Uncle) Walter