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Votkinsk Newspaper “Leninsky Put’” about Water Transport in Udmurtia in the 1950-s
Authors: Nicholas W. Mitiukov, Anatoly N. Loshkarev, Olga A. Nelzina
Number of views: 205
In this work, the publications of the newspaper of the city of Votkinsk “Leninsky Put’” of 1950-1960, dedicated to the river transport of the city, were selected. This is the decade of the heyday of the work of the Office of Small Rivers under the Council of Ministers of the Udmurt ASSR, which is practically not reflected in archival documents. Thanks to the newspaper, it becomes possible to clarify a number of facts about the biography of the Votkinsk courts that are absent in other sources. So the steamboats of the Votkinsk timber industry enterprise “Azin” and “Oktiabr’”, according to newspaper information, were reliably operated until 1960. Perhaps, “Oktiabr’” in 1959 was taken to the reserve for technical reasons and was not used more actively. The boat “Volna” of the Votkinsk operational office in 1960 was transferred to the disposal of the Votkinsk club of young sailors. This fact was also not reflected in office's documents.
During the indicated period, three farms of the Votkinsk pond had their own fleet: plant No. 235, Votkinsk timber industry enterprise and Votkinsk operational office. There is practically no information about the fleet of the defense plant No. 235 in the newspaper's publications. The timber industry fleet is mainly mentioned in the light of the fulfillment of the logging plan, with both critical and approving assessments. But in publications about the Votkinsk operational office, critical notes prevail. The appearance of new ships of the office, as a rule, on the pages of the newspaper remains unreported, which may indicate the low popularity of this type of transport among the town dwellers. But the appearance in 1957 of the large (by the standards of Votkinsk) motor ship “Pobeda” leads to a significant increase in the popularity of the office. The boat becomes the object of literary sketches and photo sketches. In general, the newspaper “Leninsky Put’” is a valuable source on the water transport of Votkinsk, which makes it possible to significantly supplement and expand the understanding of the work of Votkinsk river workers.