Reckless Abandon

Railroad of Death

Abandoned Salekhard-Igara Railroad The Salekhard-Igarka Railway, referred to variously as 501 Railroad, Railroad of Death, Road of Death, and Dead Road, was a project of the Soviet Gulag system that took place from 1949 to 1953. It was part of a grand design of Joseph Stalin to span a railroad across northern Siberia to reach the Soviet Union’s easternmost territories. The connection from Igarka to Salekhard measured 806 miles (1,297 km) in length. The project was built mostly with prisoner labor, particularly that of political prisoners, and thousands perished. The purpose of the railway was threefold: to facilitate export of nickel from neighboring Norilsk; to provide work for thousands of post-war prisoners; and to connect the deep-water seaports of Igarka and Salekhard with the western Russian railway network. With Soviet industry relocated to western Siberia during World War II, it was seen as a strategic advantage to use the northward-flowing river systems to deliver supplies to Arctic Ocean ports. Salekhard was on the Ob River, downstream from Novosibirsk and Omsk, and Igarka was on the Yenisei, which flowed north from Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, and even Lake Baikal. More on source

The Ghost Town of Varosha, Cyprus The area of Famagusta known as Varosha has a rich history of prosperity despite of long-standing conflicts in the region. In the 1970s, however, the Turkish invaded and claimed the tourist territory as their own. They erected fences with warnings and forbade the return of any residents. After decades of disuse the structures have fallen into a serious state of disrepair and are in many cases no longer habitable by anyone save the sea turtles which call some beach-side structures home. source

Facade of the Lier Sykehus asylum.

Treat me, I’m mad!

Come, be with me.

Who hid in the attic?

Bath time in Lier.