At Colesbukta bay
Colesbukta was originally a whaling station. The 19th century saw coal mining attempts in the bay itself and after the World War II the establishment of the settlement of Colesbukta, a more suitable port for the nearby Russian mine of Grumant. A narrow-gauge railway of about 6km connected the two settlements, clearly Spitsbergen’s longest surface railway, much of which was sheltered in a wooden construction against winter snowdrift, and parts of which are still visible above the coast.
Together with Grumantbyen, Colesbukta closed with the end of coal mining, but until 1988 did serve as a Russian base for exploratory coal drilling.
In Grumantbyen itself, there are just few buildings left, most of the crumbling, and one can only guess where most of the others stood.
(Spitsbergen guide by Andreas Umbreit)
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We hiked from Longyearbyen to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg for three days on foot and enjoyed tundra-like desolated landscape quite heavily; this is what Svalbard is about at the end of summer in the areas free of permanent ice.
This shot is taken above Colesbukta bay that we reached after quite exhausting 14-hours long hike; from this place, we still had to walk for one more hour to reach Rusanovodden hut where we stayed overnight.
At Colesbukta bay
Colesbukta was originally a whaling station. The 19th century saw coal mining attempts in the bay itself and after the World War II the establishment of the settlement of Colesbukta, a more suitable port for the nearby Russian mine of Grumant. A narrow-gauge railway of about 6km connected the two settlements, clearly Spitsbergen’s longest surface railway, much of which was sheltered in a wooden construction against winter snowdrift, and parts of which are still visible above the coast.
Together with Grumantbyen, Colesbukta closed with the end of coal mining, but until 1988 did serve as a Russian base for exploratory coal drilling.
In Grumantbyen itself, there are just few buildings left, most of the crumbling, and one can only guess where most of the others stood.
(Spitsbergen guide by Andreas Umbreit)
-----
We hiked from Longyearbyen to the Russian settlement of Barentsburg for three days on foot and enjoyed tundra-like desolated landscape quite heavily; this is what Svalbard is about at the end of summer in the areas free of permanent ice.
This shot is taken above Colesbukta bay that we reached after quite exhausting 14-hours long hike; from this place, we still had to walk for one more hour to reach Rusanovodden hut where we stayed overnight.