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Life “3 nos” in the middle of the mountains and forests of the road patrol

Thursday, April 7, 2022 00:30 AM (GMT+7)

Few people expect that, until now, the patrol workers in the mountains of Lang Son still have to live in a situation without electricity, water, and no phone signal.

Nearly 30 years of working with the tunnel

In the last days of March, present at Pac Khanh tunnel (Van Thuy commune) – the longest mountain tunnel on the Hanoi – Dong Dang railway line with nearly 1,100m long, Traffic Newspaper reporter saw the lives of the workers. railway tunnel guard.

Life

Mr. Tran Quoc Duong, the patrol guard of Pac Khanh tunnel as a safety signal, took the train through the tunnel

We decided to stop the car right on QL1A, walk along the trail. The small dirt road is only about 50-60cm wide, zigzagging between the fields on the back of the mountain, sometimes going down through the small cobblestone ravine, sometimes climbing steeply.

Just like that, it takes about 400 – 500m to see the railway, see the small yellow guardhouse that stands out in the middle of the forest.

We were picked up by Mr. Tran Quoc Duong, a guard at the north end of Pac Khanh tunnel (Mai Pha Tunnel Supply and Demand, Ha Lang Railway Joint Stock Company).

Mr. Duong said, each department has only one staff to patrol from the middle of the tunnel back out. There are two employees on both sides of the tunnel.

“Every time you go to the board, you’ll be alone, you can see the mountains, you’ll see the tunnel when you look in,” said Mr. Duong and shared that every day, when he went to class, he had to check the books and then check the tunnel (walking along the road). railway in the tunnel, to the middle of the tunnel and then back out).

The process of going in and out must check the technical status of the railway, the condition of the tunnel to see if there are any problems that can affect train safety, in order to take timely remedial measures.

Before and after each train must enter the same inspection. On average, there are about 10 trains every day.

When there is a train, he must enter the specified position, make a signal for safety, and take the train into the tunnel. To catch the train, you also have to “watch” because Ban Thi station only predicts which train will be available in the next 4 hours and the expected time to run through the tunnel.

Coming to the scheduled time, he had to “wait” for the train, hear the train whistle from afar to know the train was coming, but couldn’t see it because the railway section before entering the tunnel was curved, hidden behind the hill.

He said that he has worked for 29 years with the job of guarding the railway tunnels in this area, Mr. Duong shared: Day by day, the work has become a skill and a responsibility.

The most difficult is the working and living conditions in the mountains. Only 2-3 years ago, this place was still “3 nos”: No electricity, no water, no phone signal.

No electricity, had to light kerosene lamps, dark and dim at night. The only source of water is rain water, so sometimes we have to go to people’s houses to ask for water and carry it back.

Cell phone signal is intermittent. If you want to use it, you have to go to “detect” the wave, go to a position where there is a wave and then stand still and make a call. The only way to communicate smoothly is only a railway phone connected to Ban Thi station.

“Now one less “no”. Two years ago, the company pulled the power line back. The company is also planning to bring water from the slot to the brothers to save their hard work, “said Mr. Duong.

Familiar with insects and snakes

Life

Hoang Trung Duc, the Na Tong cellar guard, takes care of the small garden next to the attic

Saying goodbye to Mr. Duong, we “crossed” the tunnel again, experiencing the work of the patrol workers. Step low, step high on the sleepers, the deeper you go, the darker it gets. In the cellar there was no light, no light, everything was pitch black.

Tran Trong Doan, Captain of Safety Technical Management Team 3 (Ha Lang Railway Joint Stock Company) said that in the past, patrol officers were only equipped with 4-sided signal lights. lit with kerosene. The light is weak but the ambient shine is wider. Recently, the company retrofitted the flashlight.

The tunnels on this route were built in 1970, have been in operation for more than 50 years, but have not been repaired, the walls and shell of the tunnels are leaking and leaking a lot due to groundwater in the mountains.

The air in the tunnel is humid, so railway supplies and accessories are quickly degraded and damaged. Therefore, the guard patrolling the basement when going to check must be very attentive.

Stretching our eyes and groping in the tunnel for more than 1km, we finally got out of the tunnel, the road had to continue along the railway ahead to Bac Thuy station (Bac Thuy commune, Chi Lang district) with 7-8km left. again.

After traveling about 4km, we reached the 113m-long Na Tong tunnel, which is also a long tunnel with patrol staff. In the distance, you can only see a small guardhouse crammed between the railroad tracks, a few rooftops scattered below, schools and gardens. Right next to the guardhouse, there is a plot of land of only 2-3m2, growing a few cabbages, spinach, guava leaves…

Hoang Trung Duc, a cellar patrolman, said that the brothers only dared to plant a few trees to eat more with instant noodles because there was no water here.

Although the company has pulled the water line from people’s houses, but it is not enough to water the plants. The main meals you eat at home, go to the board at lunch or at night, just temporarily cover up with instant noodles.

“It’s very sad here at night, snakes often crawl into the guardhouse. Mosquitoes and insects abound, every time you turn on the light, it’s black. Therefore, we did not dare to turn on the lights in the attic, only turned on the lights outside,” Duc confided.

All for train safety

Life

Ly Ngoc Thu patrolled the road to check the technical status of the railway

If the Pac Khanh and Na Tong tunnels are in the middle of the forest, far from the people, the Bac Thuy station is right in the center of the commune. Mr. Dong Tien Dung, Head of Supply and Demand of Bac Thuy Tunnel, said that now the roads, electricity and water in this area are much more convenient. But about 10 years ago, it was very difficult.

Electricity is available but weak, the ceiling fan turned on the loudest number is only enough wind to wave. Domestic water depends on rainwater tanks, well water and even spring water at the foot of the bridge. The market meets once every 5 days, so food and vegetables are difficult…

Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh, Bac Thuy Bridge Week said: “A team works 12 hours, just me and the bridge. In addition to inspecting and overcoming railway techniques on the bridge, we also have to clear the grass and clean up the rocks at both ends of the bridge. Periodically climbing to check the bridge piers, going down to the stream to check the bridge abutments. Only in this way can problems or failures be detected in time.”

Like Mr. Khanh, but carrying out railway inspections along the route, Mr. Ly Ngoc Thu, a road patroller of Bac Thuy Street, confided that he has been working as a road patrol for 8 years, going up to 8 hours a day to go 21km a week both going and returning, It is easy to multiply to tens of thousands of kilometers on foot.

“The responsibility to ensure safety is very high because if the train derailed or crashed in the middle of the forest, on one side of the mountain, on the other side, it would be a disaster. Therefore, regardless of rain, sunshine, cold wind…we have to try,” said Mr. Thu.

Hard work is like that, high responsibility is like that, but the salary is low. As Mr. Duong shared, after only a few years of retirement, his monthly income is only about 6 million VND. Or like Mr. Dung, with the addition of the chief supplier’s responsibility coefficient, it is only 7-8 million VND. Young people, low workers, working for a few years, wages are even lower.

“The brothers are not afraid of hard work and difficulties, just sad because the salary is too low, while the family and children study, just hope their income is improved…”, Mr. Dung expressed.

Bac Thuy pass area extends over 14km (from Km122 – Km136). This is a railway with a high slope (17‰). To the north of Bac Thuy station (Km 124+900) there is a refuge road (slope 25‰) to prevent the train from drifting steeply. On the Bac Thuy pass, there are 8 railway tunnels and 10 bridges. In which, Bac Thuy bridge is the longest with 296.8m and 41m high above the stream bed. The railway on the bridge is a curve with a radius of 400m…

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at Blogtuan.info – Source: 24h.com.vn – Read the original article here

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