Figure 1.---The Russian rail system begn wuith a special train connecting imperial palaces. Here is the Tsarevitch Alexei in Sevastapol during World War I (1916). You can see the imperial train and colored carpet with vessels in the background. We are not sure why the carpet is not red. A reader has suggested that it is an issue with the colorization algorithum. As in other photos the Tsarevich is wearing a sailor suit, but here there is something unusual, he has a medal. We are not sure why he is barefoot . Seems unusual for a European royal. Put your cursor on the image to see a colorized version.

Russia had unique serious problems of its own. It as relatively land locked. Much of the country was covered by inhospitable Arctic Tundra and unlike many counties, the rivers could not be of much use. Most ran due south rather than east-west and thus could not be used to create a unified economic system. This could not have been more different than say the United States, another large country and in the 20th century a primary competitor. The invention of the railroads helped address a huge problem for Russia. This of course was true for other countries, but nowhere on the scale of Russia. The railroad solved the east-west problem. And notably, the longest rail journey in the world is the east-west oriented Trans-Siberian Railway. And the largely flat terrain of Russia was tailored made into solve Russia's transportation/communication problem. Notably even in the 20th century, Russia's major cities were not connected by improved roads. Something the Germans to their detriment only discovered when they invaded the Soviet Union. The Russian rail system led the country into the modern age. The development of steam locomotives began in Britain (1810s). It took two decades for the technology to reach Russia. The Cherepanovs were father and son inventors who built the first steam locomotive in Russia. The evenbexemplifues the difference between Russia and capitalist Britain. In Britain and Amrrica, these techological advances were commonly driven by market forces. In Russia, the first railway (Tsarskoye Selo Railway) was a toy for the Tsar (1837). By this time real economically valuable rail system was being built in Britain and launched in America. The system was built between Saint-Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, 27 km long and linked the Imperial Palaces at Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk. [Haywood, p. 1.] Nothing more came of it. The next railroad in the TsaristEmoire was opened in Congress Poland (1845). It conncted Warsaw with the expanding Austrian rail system. This involved 328 km of track, using the standard European gauge (1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). Russia would subsequently adopt broad gauge (1,524 mm or 5 ft). Thus the Polish systenm was , physically separated from other Russian railways. Britain at ffirst had a similar problem. Tsarist authorities created the Ministry of Communications (1842). It would manage the construction of Russia's second major railway line, the Moscow–Saint Petersburg Railway (1842-51). The railway linked the Imperial capital Saint-Petersburg and Moscow. The track gauge was 1,524 mm (5 ft) and this broad gage became the Russian standard gauge. Another major line was built from St. Petersburg to Warsaw (1853-62), creating the first rail connection with the rest of Europe. This began an era of substantial rail construction, especially in the 1860s and 90s. Tsar Alexander II gave the Ministry of Communications responsibility for the Department of Railways. Pavel Melnikov, Minister of Communications, played a key role in the expansion of the railway network throughout European Russia. This of course is where the vast mjority of the Tsaist Empire populastion was located. The Trans-Caspian railway connected the Russian rail system to the Capian Sea at Krasnovodsk. The Trans-Aral Railway extended the system into Kazakhstan (1906). Russia lost a war with Japan (1904-05). The Japanese victory was in part because of the inability to supply and support the Far Eastern Army. The Trans-Siberian Railway connecting European Russia to the Russian Far East was finally completed (1916). This connected with the Chinese Eastern Railway in Manchuria. Eventually the southern branch connected with the Chinese rail systems. Tsar Nicholas took a specil interest in the rail system. He not only had a specul trin, but siome specuilines. Rail construction expanded, during World War I, but massive damage occurred as the Germns afvnced in to western areas of the Tsarist Empire, the area of the most dense rail connections. More danage occurred during the Civil War. One report estimates that more than 60 percent of the Russian railway network and more than 80 percent of the lovomotives and carriges were destroyed. Russua connectiins with the outside wirld were orumarily through the Baltic and to a lesser extent the Black Sea. The Germansd blocked the Baltuic abnd thev Ottomans the Black Sea straits. This made the Trans-Siberian Railway a life line, but the capacity of the line was limited. To provide a shorter and morre reliable connection to the Allies, the Russians built a rail line to the ice-free port of Murmansk (1916). The Russuians builgt light and heavy armoured trains. The heavy trains mounted 4.2 inch or 6 inch guns. The light trains were equipped with 76.2mm guns. [Zaloga and Grandsen, p. 24.] Many Russian railway workers were active in the Revolution. The Tashkent Soviet was founded (March 1917). [Sahedeo, p. 190.] Their loyalties bsries invluding both the Menshevik and Bolsheviks. With the Bolsdhevik victory in the Civil War they created Tsektran (Central Administrative Body of Railways) (Septenber 1920), combioning the Commissariat of Transport, the briefly independent railway unions and the ibvolved political departments of the Bolshevik Party. Trotsky commanded thr Red arnmy during the Civil war, commonly aboard his armored train. [Pallas]

Sources

Haywood, Richasrd. Russia Enters the Railway Age, 1842-1855 (1998).

Pallas, Chris (1996). Bolsheviks and Workers Control (Toronto: Black Rose, 1996).

Sahedeo, Jeff. Russian Colonial Society in Tashkent, 1865-1923 (Indiana University Press: 2007).

Zaloga, Steven J. and James Grandsen. Soviet Tanks and Combat Vehicles of World War Two (Arms and Armour Press: 1984).

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