Itäoja

63.7501N 24.5288E Sievi

 

The two-storey Itäoja cabin was built in the early 1920s. The ground floor accommodated 25 workers. The foreman had a kitchen and a bedroom of his own. There was room for 25 men also on the upper floor. In addition, a room for six people had been reserved for locomotive crew and foremen. The cabin hostess served food to the lumberjacks from a so-called life hatch. The stable was intended for 40 horses. In the area, there was also a sauna, a locomotive shed for one locomotive, and a place where locomotives got water and wood. The locomotive shed was destroyed in a fire. The relatively large Itäoja cabin needed a cabin host to maintain order, and one such was Paksu-Jaakko, still remembered for his strong sermons. The Itäoja cabin has been moved to Raahe, where it serves as a veteran cottage. So-called Haara (junction) was located near Itäoja: here the railroad diverged into two, one route leading to Lestijärvi and the other to Sievi. The fastest loaded train came from Haara to Eskola in less than an hour.