Vanhalampi

63.8635N 24.3441E Sievi

The first workers’ cabin at the forest railroad was built in Vanhalampi in the early 1920s. Built from hewn logs, it accommodated 40 men, who slept in single-storey beds. The kitchen-living room and bedroom had been reserved for the foreman. There was a stable for 20 horses in the yard. The main building also housed refugees from Kronstadt, who participated in building the railroad, felling and loading. In their free time, singing and the sound of the balalaika could be heard blaring loudly. The workers’ cabin was used after World War II as well.

Stories

“A dim oil lamp light is glowing from the cabin window. I turn off the railroad and walk up the hill towards the cabin. Erkki said that this Vanhalampi workers’ cabin was the first one built along the railroad. He said that here also lived some of the Russians who had fled from a fortress in the Gulf of Finland. Erkki said he had been frequently involved with the Russians.” (Ojakangas: Linnunkantaja 2009)

“They say that a Russian pedlar had once drowned in Vanhalampi. His ghost had been seen coming from the pond and entering the cabin to dry his wet clothes at the fireplace.” (Interview with Väinö Myllylä around 1990, Eskolan Metsärata)