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Only a dozen people live in this Russian village at the end of the railroad — here's what their life is like Friday Nov 13, 2015 at 4:03 PM Hollis Johnson Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters For many Russians living in remote communities, life couldn't exist without the railroad. In the impossibly small village of Kalach in the Sverdlovsk Oblast, only a dozen or so residents call the forested town home and their numbers are dwindling. Kalach is the terminus of the local narrow-gauge railway, the line literally stops there. The town used to house several hundred citizens, mostly in the forestry trade, at its peak during the height of the Soviet Union's power. But when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, with it tumbled the country's economy. Now, life there is slow and uneventful as the village has become self-sustaining; trains only come a few times a week for supplies. Keep scrolling to see coverage from Reuters photographer Maxim Zmeyev, who captured how life continues in this minute village nestled in the thick forests of the Urals. Kalach is at the end of a roughly 180 mile long railway extension built in 1898 to transport lumber from the region's dense forests. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Source: Forestry Railways in Russia The train line � itself an extension added onto Russia's larger rail network � begins in Alapayevsk, the nearest large city. Here, the engine driver's assistant walks past Soviet�era engines at the depot. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters This is the office of the railroad depot � Nina Vysotina has worked for the railroad for 42 years. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters The train is the only means of regular transportation for the several villages along the line, carrying supplies and passengers to and from several times per week. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters A major stop for the people of Kalach is the town of Sankin, home to about 600 people. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Their mail is delivered here, as well as their monthly state pensions. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Sankin is tiny, but compared to the size of Kalach it's practically a metropolis. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Here in Sankin, water is drawn from wells � no central supply, just buckets. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Sankin's House of Culture, the local meeting place for residents, is heated by a ramshackle boiler next door. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Inside, villagers Elena, Olga, Galina and Tatiana drink and eat in warmth. Many villagers cannot afford cars, so the trains are their only way to get around. Tickets cost between $0.10 and $0.50. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters While the engines are fitted with plows, snow is often a problem on the tracks. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters A few rely on rail pushcars; a man nicknamed "Barcelona," Alexey Bolotov and Alexey Jakushin often drink vodka as they travel to Kalach by motorized pushcar. Russian railroads employ nearly a million workers. Alexander Kuznetsov often drives this route. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Working on the railroad is a family tradition for Kuznetsov: his father and grandfather were also railwaymen. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters The train cars are heated by wood�fired stoves, often stoked by the passengers themselves. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Most of the villages along the railway line do not have schools, so students must travel by train to attend nearby facilities. Most students' rides take around 40 minutes � enough time to study for a test... Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters ...or skip studying, and sleep. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters The village of Kalach sits in a scrubby clearing in the middle of the dense forest. In winter, the scene is desolate and harsh. Because train travel is infrequent � only a few times a week � and road travel nearly impossible, the village has learned to become self-sustaining. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Here, a villager named Alexander fertilizes the soil with ash in his greenhouse. Most vegetables can be grown here, and the village has a scattering of sheep. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters A handful of goats call Kalach home as well. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Many of the houses in Kalach are abandoned, empty since the village's heyday in the 80s. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Vassa is 86 and suffers from hearing difficulties. Her home, like all in Kalach, only receives electricity for a few hours each night. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Her son Sergei, aged 62, often plays accordion for Vassa to pass the time. There are no telephones here either, and no mobile phone signal at all. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters Here, villager Alexander poses with his gun in his small Kalach home. He is one of 12 residents left in this tiny outpost at the end of the rail line. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters But for all the isolation and harshness of winter, life continues in these villages � a simple and happy existence in the Urals. Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters See Also: These small hunting cabins in the most northernmost part of the United States are inhabited by eskimos and withstand freezing -30 degree temperaturesAn Argentinian village was submerged in floodwaters 30 years ago � and now the ghost town has finally emergedAfter more than 130 years of construction, Barcelona's most popular tourist attraction is finally almost done SEE ALSO: These small hunting cabins in the most northeastern part of the United States are inhabited by eskimos and withstand freezing -30 degree temperatures