Built in 1937, this children's railway was created to give families something to do while transporting them from one side of Yerevan to the other. Utilised within the now former Soviet Union decades later, and still active even after its breakup (a significant rarity given the total collapse of funding within the republics which led to catastrophic collapse). Though to this day, it remains nothing more than another set of buildings and chunks of metal that are to be slowly devoured by spreading nature. Tucked away to the side of Yerevan, by a small river that runs through the deep crack in the Earth, swallowed up by trees. Abandoned, it sits totally idle, but surprisingly with a ton of life that seems to be attracted to it. For a location that is considered abandoned, I found photographs performing shoots with models, families still bringing their children here to play and board the remaining carriages as it's a rare opportunity for a child here to have. Armenia's train and underground culture are rather small, considered quite ambitious for the size of the city and nation.
I found people that would be exercising within the area, going for runs that had them following the decayed tracks off into the horizon of woodland, I found groups of people that oddly enjoyed a soak in the spring that had been formed at some point by the river, next to the tracks. A clear structure that had been formed many decades prior. A couple sat by the river a little more down, burning away at some wood as they camped at the spot. Rather strange sights, but it makes sense given the limited green around the city. A hidden woodland that had peace to it. Here and there seating areas remained, clearly from the Soviet era as families were given more leisure to ensure they enjoyed their time in the spot. A park was found nearby, also completely abandoned. Ignored in time. Though with some signs that there may be intention to revive it later down the line. The theme park rides now overgrown, reclaimed by nature. A sad sight, full of imagination of memories I never had. That could never belong to me.
Armenia is full of such places. Forgotten in time. With tons of potential to be beautiful spaces that give the city the vibrance it needs for families and individuals of all ages. These are ghosts. Relics of a bygone era. To step through them feels like a step back in time, though without the entirety of their former glory. Armenia is suddenly a rapidly changing nation, however. As it pursues the same interests as the rest of the world to revive itself and become a place with improved quality of life. That said, one thing remains: its past reminds of an era that it simply cannot match. The locations stand out as reminders of what it once could do, and how it can yet again do things right.
Anyway, let's get into the actual post!
At the entrance to this railway is an incredibly old building, with wooden flooring that is slowly decaying here and there. It was clear that this was a place in which you would buy your tickets to enter, where the general operations majority of workers would have been situated. Now, the doors are locked, though with broken windows you could enter with a little climb through if you really wanted to do so. Within the middle of the building is a balcony, it overlooks the station itself and holds a lot of beauty to it, you could easily imagine parents sitting there on a sunny day, enjoying a coffee and watching as their children had fun in the space. Though you could also imagine how dangerous it may have once been; I assume there were plenty of rules and observers around to ensure nothing went wrong. The building had an upper floor which looked beautiful, though I couldn't figure out a way up there. It appeared as if one of these stairways up would have been found within the rooms that have had their access locked.
Running through the space is also a body of water, a river that has been heavily controlled, with a little stream that is found on the other side of the rail that still has its natural formation visible in comparison. The sound of water is quite nice, particularly around all the green that is found. Remember how I said Yerevan isn't much of a natural city? This makes the area the most green of all places, even compared to the few parks the city has. The green is the first thing to notice, a surprise at how this natural area is both so tucked away, but vast and seemingly in your face. An area you wouldn't notice without stumbling into it by accident, or knowing about it prior. In my case, I was told about it when I first arrived in Armenia, but sort of forgot about it. Another instant thing to notice is the nature in the space, not just in the plants and trees, but the fact that it is riddled with lizards running around the space, with large sums of crows flying around clearly looking for lunch. Nature clearly actually dominates this space, and it gives the whole railway a more mystical appeal to it. As if you have stumbled deep into the future in which nature finally took over.
From the main building, you overlook the few trains that remain in the space. They're left still. Nothing protecting them. Nothing to stop you from merely boarding them and having a bit of fun, and that's generally the main appeal of the place to this day, oddly with many families still attending it and letting their children roam around the rusted trains; only one is closed off with a lock, and annoying it appears to be the most interesting one. The rest are free for you to have your fun with, and it makes for quite a fun space for a photoshoot! I was surprised at how some of these trains had survived over the years, not crumbling with their wooden frames. Some look as if all they need is a little bit of care to be up and running again, others have had their interiors completely removed, floor rotten, frames exposed.
Others were coated in graffiti, as to no surprise this space would be quite appealing for artists to come and practice their crafts without putting in a lot of damage to public spaces, or really bothering anyone in the process. You can see this in the very first image of the post.
Walking around, you can feel the atmosphere of general Yerevan shift. There are many old and historical places around Armenia, but each of them have their own emotion within. Certain feelings that invoke an imagination, one that roams freely over the idea of a former empire that has been lost. The ways in which things certainly changed for the worse in the nation. How the enjoyment of Armenia's citizens was something the government once gave active pursuit, and now is dwindling with the impression that the present has few things left to enjoy, most of which are merely roaming through the past and reminiscing. I find that much of the places here rely on the past to be entertainment, to look back and reflect at a completely different ideology, and to realise that the capitalist way in many of these nations actually resulted in a lot of negative changes. Funnily, as a capitalist from a western nation that never saw communism, it makes you realise that the communist mindset here actually did have some neat ideas that capitalism could and should pursue.
I walked along the tracks and continued on into the nothingness in the horizon. The trees gave an odd circular shape around the tracks that sort of gave this tunnel-like feeling to it all. There was nothing ahead other than the signs of former seating areas. A few bridges over the stream led to a main road. A man stood by the stream and seemed to be fishing. The little spring was located here, and the camping group found solace in the silence of this space. Not to forget the old seating places in which families would have had lunch at as their children played in the area. It was much like roaming through a ghost town, to feel the sadness in the isolation this space now had. And in many ways, to realise the history. The tracks remained in pretty good shape, you could almost imagine a Yerevan returning to its roots, to realise its potential and reviving such projects throughout the city. You question why it doesn't. What it has to lose by not pursuing its past a little more.
I walked throughout the trains, over the tracks. Entering the trains and buildings I could. It made me realise how much of Armenia is like this: old, forgotten, and heavily decayed despite its beauty. It makes one question the idea of time. How something in the past can be so lively and enjoyed, and then very quickly abandoned and forgotten in time. How quickly our societies shift and pursue different interests. And how soon it can be in which you too join this inevitable fate. I think travelling is special in reminding us of this mortality, the realisation that there is only the present, and that the present really is something that is lost. In constant motion, as an idea that constantly leads to a changing unknown that awaits ahead. To walk down a street one day is to walk down a different street a week later. The idea that our cultures constantly are forever changing. It should, realistically, make us more aware of how special this all is.
And as a photographer, it gives the realisation that these moments are really worth capturing, to etch them into time forever. So long as that they are seen and kept safe.
If you ever find yourself in Yerevan, find this spot. Take a bit of appreciation for the ways in which the past did things better than the present. Realise how finite everything is. Understand the fragility of time and what's surrounding you in that moment. Look at the rust, the weathered wood. The rundown architecture that crumbles from the walls. Understand it's not much different from yourself.
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