Trans-Siberian Railway
West Meets East

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

In this course, we will examine the creation of the world’s longest rail network – the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR). Our review will include an understanding of the vast territory and difficult terrain of Siberia – the land mass extending from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific coast. This will include its land, mountains, lakes, rivers, wildlife, native peoples, immigrants etc. Also, Siberia’s role as a place of exile will be discussed as will be the use of convicts to help construct the TSR. The root concept for a Siberian railway, to open up the region to development and for strategic purposes and the role of Tsar Alexander III and his son and heir, Nicholas II, in the implementation, design, construction, opening and operation of the TSR will be highlighted. The breakdown of the TSR into six sections and the features of those six sections will be reviewed as will be the lengths of each, obstacles to be overcome, towns and cities encountered etc.

Of special interest will be the many significant bridges, made mostly of steel, over Siberia’s many wide rivers and the need for specially-designed piers, capable of breaking-up ice flows during Siberia’s long, cold winters will be examined. Also, the use of train ferries, built in Great Britain, knocked-down and transported to Lake Baikal (where they were reassembled) will be highlighted as will be the need for multiple tunnels and bridges for the Circum-Baikal line that would eliminate the need for train ferries. The role the TSR played in fomenting the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) will be discussed as will be the deficiencies of the original construction highlighted by the extensive use of the TSR during the war to move troops and supplies to the Far East. Experiences before and after WWII as a passenger on the TSR, as well as in modern times will be especially informative as will be improvements planned for the TSR.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Understand/appreciate that the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR)was first known as the “Great Siberian Railway”;
• Understand/appreciate that Tsar Alexander III was a/k/a “The Father of the Trans-Sibeerian”;
• Understand/appreciate that the first stone of the TSR was laid on May 31, 1891 in Vladivostok with the participation of Tsarevich Nikolai Aleksandrovich (who later became Emperor Nicholas II);
• Understand/appreciate that it was decided to build the railway line in three stages and to complete the construction within 10 years;
• Understand/appreciate future plans to connect the Russian Federation with Japan vis the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate how the TSR links European Russia with its Far Eastern territories and Pacific rim nations;
• Understand/appreciate that between Moscow and Vladivostok via Siberia, seven time zones covering 5,772 miles are traversed;
• Understand/appreciate that the Russian rail network grew from 1K miles, in 1860, to 45K miles by 1917;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR remains the world’s longest single railway journey, taking about a week to complete the journey;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR was built in six sections, between 1891 and 1916, with significant delays caused by unforgiving winters and inhospitable terrain;
• Understand/appreciate that thousands of soldiers, prisoners and peasant migrants from Western Russia and Ukraine labored on these rails;
• Understand/appreciate that the Baikal region, in particular, proved challenging, forcing workers to tunnel through mountains and erect bridges over gaping canyons;
• Understand/appreciate that nearly the entire length of the TSR was built through thinly-populated areas under harsh conditions, which included many rivers, lakes and districts that were either extremely waterlogged or filled with permafrost;
• Understand/appreciate that Count Sergei Witte was a forceful empire-building outsider, bent on the rapid industrialization of Russia and distrusted by conservatives, who persuaded Alexander III to make his son and heir Chairman of the Siberian Railway Committee, which had been set-up to overcome the usual bureaucratic delays and obstacles;
• Understand/appreciate that, appointed finance minister in 1892, Witte paid for the TSR  by raising loans, increasing taxes and simply printing rubles;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR would play a significant role in transporting manpower, artillery, and supplies during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the Russian Revolution of 1917, and WWII;
• Understand/appreciate the circumstances surrounding the “Battle of Lake Baikal” in May 1918 during the Russian Civil War;
• Understand/appreciate the celebration, in 2016, of the centenary of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate a journey on the modern-day TSR during the winter;
• Understand/appreciate that the main route of the TSR begins in Moscow and runs through southern Siberia to Vladivostok. A second primary route is the Trans-Manchurian Railway (TMR), which coincides with the TSR east of Chita as far as Tarskaya, about 621 miles east of Lake Baikal. This is the shortest and the oldest railway route to Vladivostok;
• Understand/appreciate “Moscow-plus” time;
• Understand/appreciate Russian time zones;

• Understand/appreciate that Irkutsk is the capital of Eastern Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate the geography of Lake Baikal;
• Understand/appreciate the completion of the Canadian-Pacific Railroad (CPR) in 1885;
• Understand/appreciate the background of the need, funding, development, land grants etc. for the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate up to 40K men were involved with constructing the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the ancillary roads, ferries, rail lines etc. that were incorporated into the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the progress of the CPR across the great plains and Rocky Mountains;
• Understand/appreciate the speed at which track was laid for the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the difficult terrain encountered on the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the three mountain ranges that comprise the continental divide;
• Understand/appreciate the origins of the Columbia River;
• Understand/appreciate the rolling stock and locomotives of the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the water obstacles encountered and overcome in building the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the breakdown of stock ownership by nation of the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the finances of the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate extension of the CPR to connect with other rail lines;
• Understand/appreciate enlargement of the CPR’s main line;
• Understand/appreciate the increase in grain traffic that required the CPR’s expansion;
• Understand/appreciate the difficult rock cuts required for the CPR’s expansion;
• Understand/appreciate the effects of weather on constructing the CPR and its extensions;
• Understand/appreciate the significance of the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) and its relationship to the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate unrealized plans for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR);
• Understand/appreciate the original and current route/s of the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate the famine in Russia in the early 1890s and its effects on constructing the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that on the May 19, 1891 at Vladivostok, His Imperial Highness, the Grand Duke Tsesarevich, with his own hands tilled a wheelbarrow with earth and emptied it on the embankment of the future Ussuri line of the TSR, and then laid the first stone for the construction of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate a comparison of the TSR to the CPR;
• Understand/appreciate that at first, it was proposed only to construct railways to connect the water systems of Western and Eastern Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate objections to the scheme, the chief one being that communication between European Russia and Siberia would only be possible during about four-and-a-half months, while the waterways were open, and that during that short period slow communication only would be possible;
• Understand/appreciate that hen the commission of engineers came to consider the project of a continuous rail line, they found it a difficult matter to decide on the starting point. They had three proposals before them;
• Understand/appreciate they chose to extend the Oofa-Zalatavost line to Miass, and to build a line by way of Tukalinisk, Kainsk, Nijni-Oodinsk, Irkutsk, etc.;
• Understand/appreciate that the Lake Baikal region is known as the “Switzerland of Siberia”;
• Understand/appreciate Vladivostok was Russia’s principal port on the Pacific, capable of accommodating the whole Russian Pacific fleet, and would serve as the eastern termini of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that Miass, the western termini, was a small town in the center of one of the richest mining districts of the world, situated on the eastern slopes of the Urals;
• Understand/appreciate the strategic importance of Vladivostok to the Russian Empire;
• Understand/appreciate  that the whole line was divided into six sections, the names of which, proceeding from west to east, wre, 1, the Western line, 2, the Central line, 3, the Baikal line, 4, the Trans-Baikal line, 5, the Srjetensk-Graffsky line, 6, the Graffsky-Vladivostok line;
• Understand/appreciate 6, the Graffsky-Vladivostok line were often classed together as the Ussuri section and was of the greatest strategic importance;
• Understand/appreciate the topography, water obstacles etc. of each section;
• Understand/appreciate the significant steel bridges built over the many wide rivers in Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate sub-sections of each of the six sections and their characteristics;
• Understand/appreciate the use of native materials in constructing the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the use of an icebreaking train ferry to cross 40-mile-wide Lake Baikal prior to the completion of the Circum-Baikal line;
• Understand/appreciate the length and costs associated with each section;
• Understand/appreciate gold mining/processing in Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate principle commodities produced and traded in Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate maintenance and repair facilities on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the successful use of convict labor to construct the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the ‘Black Earth” country of Western Siberia and the evolution of towns along the TSR in this section;
• Understand/appreciate that technical schools for the education of engineers were opened in three of the large towns along the line;
• Understand/appreciate infrastructure and facilities for immigrants to Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate improvements of the navigability of rivers that intersected the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate progress of the work on the TSR over the years of its construction;
• Understand/appreciate the opening of lines along the TSR when completed;
• Understand/appreciate that Irkutsk was the largest city in Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate rolling stock and locomotives on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate financing of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate how the TSR stimulated foreign trade;
• Understand/appreciate the importance of the trade in tea with China and the role of the TSR in that trade;
• Understand/appreciate the speed of passenger and freight trains on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the strategic use of the TSR in transporting troops;
• Understand/appreciate a comparison of then existing sea-routes to the Far East with the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the importance of the TSR in connecting the western and eastern halves of the Russian Empire;
• Understand/appreciate the preference for embankments over pile trestles for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the use of navigable rivers to transport construction materials for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the use of wooden bridges on some water crossings of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the initial use of a single track for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the importance of Vladivostok’s “Golden Horn Bay”;
• Understand/appreciate how foreigners controlled the commerce of Vladivostok;
• Understand/appreciate the geological surveys for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the placement of stations along the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the architectural significance of the TSR’s stations;
• Understand/appreciate the Siberian river system;
• Understand/appreciate the historical significance of the town of Ekaterinburg;
• Understand/appreciate the breakdown of the TSR’s workforce by trade, ethnicity etc.;
• Understand/appreciate the construction of bridge piers during the Siberian winter;
• Understand/appreciate testing of the TSR’s steel bridges;
• Understand/appreciate the significance of the Cassini treaty in that it really meant a Russian administration of the affairs of Northern China, and that it made the actual eastern terminus, not Vladivostok, but Port Arthur;
• Understand/appreciate the strategic importance of Port Arthur;
• Understand/appreciate fares and timetables of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the use of Howe truss bridges over the smaller waterways and steel bridges across the large rivers;
• Understand/appreciate the competitive cost of moving freight via the TSR as compared to ships;
• Understand/appreciate the various “Spheres of Interest” of the Western powers in China;
• Understand/appreciate the various mines in Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate the Marine Department of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER);
• Understand/appreciate locomotives built in the U.S. for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the total costs of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the freezing of Siberian rivers and lakes and the laying of tracks on the ice;
• Understand/appreciate Siberia’s history as a land of exile;
• Understand/appreciate the important role of Finance Minister Witte in constructing the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the creation of the Russo-Chinese Bank and its role in constructing the TSR:
• Understand/appreciate the problem of permafrost in constructing the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the indigenous peoples of Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate the railway systems of Asia;
• Understand/appreciate lighting on TSR trains;
• Understand/appreciate the critical role played by the TSR in the Russo-Japanese War;
• Understand/appreciate how the construction of the TSR contributed to the rising of tensions between Russia and Japan and the TSR’s geo-political significance;
• Understand/appreciate the deficiencies in the design/construction of the TSR highlighted by the Russo-Japanese War and measures taken to correct the shortcomings in the aftermath of the war;
• Understand/appreciate the impressions of an American railroad man on the design/construction of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate similarities and differences between the TSR and the American Transcontinental Railroad;
• Understand/appreciate the problem created by the initial use of 54 lb./yd. rail as being too light for TSR service and its replacement with 65 lb./yd. rail;
• Understand/appreciate how/why the Russian railway system, including the TSR, used a 5’-0” gauge track;
• Understand/appreciate why the Lake Baikal area was known as the “Switzerland of Siberia”;
• Understand/appreciate the insufficient ballasting of the initial TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the use of masonry for all culverts and piers;
• Understand/appreciate the use of split softwood trees as sleepers and their deficiencies;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR had sidings that were not of sufficient length;
• Understand/appreciate the movement of troops in large numbers via the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the cause, contributing factors, battles etc. of the Russo-Japanese War and the geo-political consequences of the Russian defeat;
• Understand/appreciate the role of the CER in the Russo-Japanese War;
• Understand/appreciate the siege of Port Arthur and the decisive Battle of Tsushima;
• Understand/appreciate that the Russo-Turkish war of 1878-79 caused an almost entire suspension of railway building in Russia;
• Understand/appreciate the various rail lines in European Russia that preceded the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the consolidation of private railways by the Russian state;
• Understand/appreciate a comparison of the Russian railway system to other European countries;
• Understand/appreciate that in 1857, an American named Collins first proposed a railway from Amur to the village of Tehita;
• Understand/appreciate the speeds of both freight and passenger trains on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the commercial goods transported on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that in 1900 a special commission was formed for the purpose of laying out lots for Siberian colonists;
• Understand/appreciate Russia’s  increase in trade with Japan as a result of the opening of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that at Harbin, in Manchuria, the TSR divided, with one line extending east to Vladivostok and the other south to Port Arthur;
• Understand/appreciate that the part of the TSR in Chinese territory, about 1,600 miles, was called the “Chinese Eastern Railway” (CER);
• Understand/appreciate what was known as the TSR, proper, extended from Moscow to Irkutsk, Siberia, which is 45 miles west of Lake Baikal, and 2,672 miles from Moscow;
• Understand/appreciate that it’s owing to the CER that the Russian city of Harbin was established in the late 19th century to house those who built and maintained the CER, the construction of which began in 1897;
• Understand/appreciate that Russia’s defeat in its war with Japan (1904-05) had an impact on the future prospects of the CER;
• Understand/appreciate that, according to the Treaty of Portsmouth (1905), a large part of the southern branch of the CER, which had fallen to the Japanese, was officially transferred to Japan, putting an end to the Russian Government’s plans to use the CER to trade in the markets of the Asia-Pacific region;
• Understand/appreciate that to finance the CER, the Russo-Chinese bank was organized with its headquarters in St. Petersburg;
• Understand/appreciate that Vladivostok, Russia’s Far Eastern port city on the Pacific, was founded in 1860 by military officers tasked with creating a new city on Golden Horn Bay;
• Understand/appreciate that “Vladivostok” means “Ruler of the East”;
• Understand/appreciate that the flag of the CER was a combination of Chinese and Russian flags and changed several times corresponding to political changes;
• Understand/appreciate the use of Cossacks to guard the TSR during the Russo-Japanese War;
• Understand/appreciate that Russia acquired the Ussuri Krai in 1860 under the terms of the Treaty of Peking, concluded in that year with the Qing Dynasty of China;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR bridge across the Volga was completed in 1880;
• Understand/appreciate that in 1898, the TSR reached Irkutsk and in 1900, a line east of Lake Baikal to Sretensk was completed;
• Understand/appreciate that on March 20, 1898, the first Moscow to Omsk express service began, a/k/a the “State Train”;
• Understand/appreciate a comparison of distances on the TSR with the U.S.;
• Understand/appreciate the evolution of railway construction in Russia, which began in 1836 with a 6’-0” gauge experimental line connecting St. Petersburg with Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk;
• Understand/appreciate the geography/topography/geology of Lake Baikal – the “Holy Sea of Siberia”;
• Understand/appreciate the precedent for using a single track for the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that in 1904, only about 7% of all main-line mileage was double-tracked;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR was built entirely by Russian engineers, although many of the rails and some of the rolling stock came from the U.S.;
• Understand/appreciate how the completion of the Circum-Baikal line decreased the time of travel between Moscow and Vladivostok;
• Understand/appreciate the diversity of stations along the TSR and inclusion of a church at every station;
• Understand/appreciate that east of Lake Baikal the TSR rose gradually to the crest of the Yablonol mountains, there reaching its highest elevation; 3,412-feet, and thence descended the Pacific slope to the valley of the Amur;

• Understand/appreciate that the TSR crossed four great rivers; the Old, Yenisei, Lena and Amur, over their upper waters at about the point where they began to be easily navigable, thus facilitating communication throughout the entire length of their valleys - of special importance in aiding the movement of cereals, which comprises 50% of the total exports of Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate that he locomotives used in the TSR were, for the most part, wood-burning;
• Understand/appreciate passenger accommodations on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the history of the conquest and settlement of Siberia by Russia;
• Understand/appreciate the various stages the TSR was completed between 1891 and 1916;
• Understand/appreciate the cost-effectiveness of traveling on the TSR to the Far East;
• Understand/appreciate the scheme to construct an “All-Rail Route” from London to New York in the early 20th century via subaqueous tunnels under the English Channel and Bering Strait and the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the geology, difficulties, cost etc. of constructing the subaqueous tunnels;
• Understand/appreciate the history of plans to build a tunnel under the English Channel dating back to the time of Napoleon;
• Understand/appreciate the dampening effect of the Russo-Japanese War on a Bering Strait tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the use of the two islands in the middle of the Bering Strait for a tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the proposed route and distances involved;
• Understand/appreciate the British reluctance to construct an English Channel tunnel for strategic reasons;
• Understand/appreciate the design/construction of the Simplon Tunnel as an example of what could be achieved;
• Understand/appreciate the need for drainage in a subaqueous tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the traffic expected on the route;
• Understand/appreciate the movement of both passengers and freight on the route;
• Understand/appreciate the unsuccessful “Council City and Solomon River Railroad,” which operated from 1903 to 1907;
• Understand/appreciate the speeds and travel time involved for the route;
• Understand/appreciate plans to revive the scheme by the building of a Bering Strait tunnel;
• Understand/appreciate the enormous difficulties imposed by the nature of the country, which included steppes, rivers, lakes, mountains and desert in building the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate as far back as 1851 a governor of Eastern Siberia had suggested the building of a transcontinental railway;
• Understand/appreciate that between 1872 and 1874, during the reign of Alexander II, surveyors sent out by the Russian Government covered three possible routes for future railway lines designed to open up Siberian territory;
• Understand/appreciate that a mining railway between Ekaterinburg and Perm was completed in 1878, thus crossing the Ural Mountains and entering Siberia;
• Understand/appreciate that by 1886, the Tsar Alexander III was exasperated with the lack of progress;
• Understand/appreciate by 1892 the Siberian town of Cheliabinsk had been reached and the building of the TSR began in earnest;
• Understand/appreciate the major rivers encountered and overcome with bridges;
• Understand/appreciate that embankment were essential in certain parts because of the liability of floods in the plains of the steppes;
• Understand/appreciate the average height of embankments was not more than 5-feet;
• Understand/appreciate there was no native stone thus, the engineers had to build all the minor bridges in the form of timber trestles;
• Understand/appreciate the necessary timber had to be brought to the site of operations from immense distances since the local dwarf trees were useless;
• Understand/appreciate there were no roads for the carriage of heavy material;
• Understand/appreciate for the Mid-Siberian section of TSR alone, 574 bridges had to be built;
• Understand/appreciate there was little good fresh water, and it was frozen solid for the greater part of the year;
• Understand/appreciate Artesian wells afforded a certain mitigation of the fresh water problem, although the water thus obtained was exceedingly hard, and had, in six places, to be treated chemically before it was of any use;
• Understand/appreciate the water from artesian wells, though it came from a great depth and was subjected to considerable natural pressure, never came near the surface thus, the railway builders had therefore to bring powerful and heavy pumping machinery to each well;
• Understand/appreciate that the steppes have a short, hot summer, succeeded by a long and very cold winter and severe wind conditions;
• Understand/appreciate the four great bridges designed by Professor N.A. Bieleloubski;
• Understand/appreciate that on October 27, 1896, the West Siberian section, of 883 miles, was opened throughout, and the first regular train from Cheliabinsk steamed into Obi;
• Understand/appreciate the unusual size and height of TSR locomotives;
• Understand/appreciate construction of the West Siberian line of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the endless Siberian woods known as the “taiga”;
• Understand/appreciate that on the Obi-Krasnoyarsk line a large number of bridges and culverts had to be built, six of these bridges were built of timber on a masonry foundation;
• Understand/appreciate the River Tom was overcome with six steel spans, each of 280-feet, across the 1,680-foot-wide waterway;
• Understand/appreciate TSR bridge designers had to make full allowance for the expansion and contraction of the girders under climatic extremes and to reinforce the piers against floating ice;
• Understand/appreciate that for the reinforcement of the piers triangular buttresses pointing upstream, on which the ice broke and divided rather than piling up and causing serious damage to the structure as a whole, was used;
• Understand/appreciate the spanning of the Yenisei River;
• Understand/appreciate that by 1898, most of the Mid-Siberian line was completed;
• Understand/appreciate the design/construction/specifications etc. of the icebreaking ferry BAIKAL;
• Understand/appreciate the initial use of a “floating” railway for the Baikal section;
• Understand/appreciate the train ferry ANGARA, launched in 1900;
• Understand/appreciate as an alternate to the ferries, in order to carry the line across frozen Lake Baikal in the depth of winter, TSR engineers laid the railed and sleepered track on the surface of the ice itself, using exceptionally long sleepers to distribute the weight of passing rolling stock as evenly as possible;
• Understand/appreciate the Trans-Baikal section of the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the spanning of the Selenga River;
• Understand/appreciate that the first through service between Russia and the Far East involved the crossing of Manchuria,  with  service inaugurated on January 13, 1903;
• Understand/appreciate that the final link in the all-Russian route joined the East Siberian section of the TSR to the Ussuri line running northwards from Vladivostok;
• Understand/appreciate that the Ussuri line, 721-miles-long, was open for traffic by November 9, 1901;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR brought Japan within less than three weeks of England;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR made it possible to travel around the world within a space of thirty-three days;
• Understand/appreciate the experiences and impressions of a traveler on the TSR in the late 1930s, before WWII;
• Understand/appreciate the history of the International Sleeping Car Co. and its contribution to TSR rolling stock;
• Understand/appreciate that before WWI, there were two Trans-Siberian services, one in which the cars were provided by the International Sleeping Car Co., and one conducted by the Russian Government;
• Understand/appreciate that prior to the Russian Revolution, there was a “Church Car” on TSR trains;
• Understand/appreciate that the “Manchurian Express” -  running from Harbin to Chang Choun, a distance of 147 miles, on the CER, was inaugurated in 1906;
• Understand/appreciate the route of the “Orient Express”;
• Understand/appreciate the use of the CPR, Pacific liners and the TSR to link east with west;
• Understand/appreciate that the CER, besides being a bone of contention for a number of years between Russia and Japan, was afflicted by train bandits and wreckers;
• Understand/appreciate that after 1905, most of the southern branch (from Changchun to Dalian) of the CER became the Japan-run “South Manchuria Railway.”;
• Understand/appreciate similarities and differences between Russian and British locomotives;
• Understand/appreciate the electrification of the Russian railway network;
• Understand/appreciate the Russian railway system was divided into 22 divisions;
• Understand/appreciate that an engineer with a good record in Soviet Russia was sometimes rewarded by having his engine named after him;
• Understand/appreciate the “October Express,” running between Leningrad and Moscow, was considered one of the best Russian trains;
• Understand/appreciate the dividing of TSR trains into “Hard” and “Soft” coaches;
• Understand/appreciate the various wheel arrangements of Soviet locomotives;
• Understand/appreciate the Ural Mountains form the traditional boundary between Europe and Asia;
• Understand/appreciate the geography/topography of the Ural Mountains;
• Understand/appreciate the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family on July 16, 1918 in Ekaterinburg;
• Understand/appreciate the geography/topography of the steppes;
• Understand/appreciate the history of “Banishment to Siberia”;
• Understand/appreciate the junction of the TSR with the Turksib Railway;
• Understand/appreciate why Irkutsk was considered to be the “Finest City in Siberia”;
• Understand/appreciate that long before the TSR came into existence, it was imagined by Jules Verne; but he laid its then imaginary course farther south and called it the “Grand Trans-Asiatic Railway”;
• Understand/appreciate the background of the design/construction/operation of the “Bagdad Express” (a/k/a “Taurus Express”);
• Understand/appreciate the difficulties encountered by the CER in the Gobi Desert;
• Understand/appreciate experience and impressions of a LIFE magazine writer after traveling on the TSR immediately after WWII;
• Understand/appreciate that in 1946, the TSR express left Vladivostok for Moscow every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 250 stops and 12 days later, it arrived in the Soviet capital;
• Understand/appreciate impressions of post-WWII Vladivostok;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR covers one-quarter of the earth’s circumference;
• Understand/appreciate that prior to WWII the quickest but most vulnerable route between Vladivostok and Moscow cut across Japanese-held Manchuria but in 1938, the Soviets double-tracked the far eastern section from Lake Baikal to Khabarovsk, making it an all-Siberian line;
• Understand/appreciate that after WWII, many men demobilized from the Far Eastern Army settled in the booming Siberian cities;
• Understand/appreciate the demands placed on the TSR post-WWII;
• Understand/appreciate the dangerous practice of passengers riding atop TSR rolling stock;
• Understand/appreciate impressions of post-WWII Moscow;
• Understand/appreciate experiences and impressions account of a contemporary traveler on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate that the TSR is featured in the Guinness Book of Records for three categories: total length; number of stations, and construction time;
• Understand/appreciate a tourist traveling on the TSR from Moscow to Vladivostok will cross seven time zones;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR passes through twelve regions, five territories, two republics, one autonomous region and one Okrug area, as well as eighty-seven towns and cities;
• Understand/appreciate the biggest cities along the TSR are Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow;
• Understand/appreciate that Novosibirsk is the largest city in Siberia and the third-largest city in Russia;
• Understand/appreciate Yaroslavl Station in Moscow;
• Understand/appreciate Novosibirsk’s train station;
• Understand/appreciate passenger accommodations and amenities on a TSR train;
• Understand/appreciate the changing scenery along the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the National Railway Museum in York’s plans for a major exhibition: “Trans-Siberian: The World’s Longest Railway,” celebrating the TSR’s completion in 1916 and British participation;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR, which played a vital role in linking Siberia more closely with an increasingly industrialized European Russia, measures 5,772 miles (9,290 km) in length and encompasses the world’s longest railway line and has branch lines that connect with Mongolia, China and North Korea;
• Understand/appreciate that by 1900, the TSR was taking on passengers, but western observers continued to hold it in contempt thus,  to counter that POV and to demonstrate its equality among European railways, the Russian government commissioned the operator of the Orient Express to come up with an attractive display for the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris;
• Understand/appreciate that the Easter egg of 1900, presented to the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, celebrated the epic achievement of the TSR and was showcased at the Paris World’s Fair of 1900;
• Understand/appreciate artist Pavel Pyasetsky’s moving diorama simulating travel on a TSR train;
• Understand/appreciate displays of TSR artifacts planned for display at the new exhibition;
• Understand/appreciate “Moscow-Plus” time;
• Understand/appreciate that the Russian railway network is long enough to circumnavigate the globe more than 2x;
• Understand/appreciate the significant role played by the Russian railway network, inclusive of the TSR, in Russian history;
• Understand/appreciate contributors to the new exhibition;
• Understand/appreciate that in Eastern Siberia, the TSR was partly intended to further Russia’s imperial ambitions in the Far East;
• Understand/appreciate the Russian Railway Museum in St. Petersburg;
• Understand/appreciate the delay until 2022 of the opening of the “Trans-Siberian: The World’s Longest Railway” exhibition due to the CV-19 pandemic;
• Understand/appreciate plans for refitting, improving etc. the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the attention the TSR has received as a result of the pandemic as a n alternate means of moving goods and people;
• Understand/appreciate plans to increase the speed of passenger and freight trains on the TSR;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR’s efforts to minimize delays and damage to cargo;
• Understand/appreciate that, with a view to exporting coal, oil, and timber along the line to Asia, double-tracking of the Baikal-Amur main line is expected to be complete by the end of 2024;
• Understand/appreciate that the Baikalsky tunnel, the second-longest railway tunnel in Russia with a total length of under 7 km, has been constructed in the mountains two hours from Severobaykalsk, in the Republic of Buryatia;
• Understand/appreciate the TSR’s expanding cooperation with Pacific rim countries;
• Understand/appreciate efforts to protect Lake Baikal from environmental damage, and;
• Understand/appreciate the legacy of the TSR.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the conception, design, construction, geo-political impacts, operation, organization, improvements etc. of the world’s longest railway.

Course Introduction

The course includes an in-depth slideshow (PowerPoint) presentation and the viewing of documentary films.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:

Trans-Siberian Railway: West Meets East (printable handout in PDF, 16 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)
Trans-Siberian Railway: West Meets East (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 53 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

Archival/Documentary Film:

TITLE: Trans-Siberian by Private Train
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NtdmNVNosA
DURATION: 35:22
TITLE: The Red Express: Trans-Siberian Railway
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQy-HvEtZTo
DURATION: 48:24

Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Course Summary

Perhaps nowhere else on earth has a thin ribbon of steel done more to change the history of a nation and, in turn, the world. Imperial Russia was divided in two, with the Ural Mountains forming the natural divide. West of the Urals was “European Russia” and to the East was Siberia – a vast, foreboding land of exile, criminals, wild animals and extreme weather conditions. Even so, its land was well-watered and rich in cultivatable farmland and mineral deposits. Without a railway, Siberia’s isolation would have remained undisturbed, but with the coming of the TSR, Siberia’s resources and native people were able to participate in the modern world, then and now.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Railway

https://archive.org/details/guidetogreatsibe00russuoft/page/n7/mode/2up

https://archive.org/details/strangesiberiaal00taftuoft

Films

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eOtSEkLVtw&t=3s
(What’s the Longest Train in the World? – 05:12)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYajGew2YR8
(The Trans-Siberian Railroad - 1:11:37)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2d7kJPimyE
(The BAM: Russia's Unknown Trans-Siberian Train - 34:56)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.