Nikolaevskaya Railway (until 1855 - St. Petersburg-Moscow, since 1923 renamed Oktyabrskaya) - built in the mid-19th century to provide railway communication between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The movement was opened in 1851. The Nikolaevskaya road became the first double-track state-owned railway in Russian Empire and laid the foundation for the creation of a national railway network in the state. The length of the road was 645 km (604 versts).
In Russia, the operation of railways began at the end of the 18th century. industrial enterprises and on large construction sites. The first railway with steam locomotive traction was opened in 1834 at the Nizhny Tagil metallurgical plant of the Demidovs. It used the first Russian steam locomotives, manufactured by the father and son Cherepanovs.
The emergence of railways common use was due to the development of industry and trade. The world's first public steam railway was built in England in 1825. The railways of that time, compared to other types of communications, had the advantage of significantly increasing the speed of delivery of goods and passengers, reducing the cost of transport services, and providing greater passenger comfort compared to other land transport. In 1826, the Department of Railways for the first time discussed a number of proposals for the construction of railways in Russia and rejected them, noting the difficulty of maintaining them in winter time. In 1830, Shcheglov, a professor at St. Petersburg University, in his article substantiated the construction of a cast-iron road St. Petersburg - Tver for the shortest connection of the capital with the Volga basin. A few years later, in 1835, the Austrian engineer and entrepreneur Gerstner, in a personal meeting with Emperor Nicholas I, proposed building a railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow, having first built a small experimental road to study its operation in winter conditions. A commission was created on this issue, which allowed Gerstner to build a small Tsarskoye Selo road. In 1837 it was put into operation and became the first public railway in Russia. The road demonstrated the possibility of year-round use of railways in the Russian climate.
Construction railway started in 1843. The line was built as a double-track line on a 1524 mm (5 ft) gauge, which later became standard on Russian railways. The Tsarskoye Selo road that existed at that time had a gauge of 1829 mm (6 feet), and the Warsaw-Vienna road that was under construction had a gauge of 1435 mm, as in some European countries.
The northern directorate supervised the construction from Chudovo, and the southern directorate from Vyshny Volochok; later from Tver. Directorates were divided into sections of 50-60 km, and those, in turn, were divided into sections of 10-12 km. Large bridges, train stations and large stations stood out as independent construction sites. All sections were headed by railway engineers. All line facilities were built by contract. Contracts for the work were concluded directly with the General Directorate of Communications and Public Buildings. According to the contracts, contractors were not subordinate to department heads, who could not control the contractors in matters of labor and workers' compensation.
Contractors hired both serfs and state-owned peasants for the work. Contracts between the contractor and the landowner were concluded without the legal participation of the serfs. They had to give part of the money they earned to the landowner as quitrent. The state peasant concluded the contract on his own, but due to mass illiteracy, he often could not read it and took the agent’s word for it. Most builders were recruited for the period from May 1 (13) to November 1 (13), but there was also daily hiring. Sometimes work was carried out in winter. The workers lived in huts or dugouts, less often in barracks. The working day lasted throughout the daylight hours; in the middle of the day there was a two-hour break for lunch and rest. On earthworks and production rates reached 9.2 m³ of soil per day, along with its movement over a certain distance. The contracts did not provide wages, it was determined on the spot for each artel, depending on its specialty. In case of illness, the employee was deducted daily 15 kopecks for food and 5 kopecks for the infirmary. In all cases of deductions of wages (illness, fine, absenteeism, failure to fulfill the norm), the workers were responsible for each other in mutual responsibility - the money was deducted from the earnings of the entire artel. A worker, depending on the work performed, could earn from 17 to 35 rubles per season with free food.
The largest number of workers were excavators, of whom up to 40,000 people were involved in construction annually. The soil was moved by workers in wheelbarrows or horses on carts. In addition, according to the project of P. P. Melnikov, 465 “dug wagons” were made on rails under horse traction. 10 thousand rails with a length of 3.7 to 5.6 meters were manufactured for them. To mechanize the work, 4 steam pile drivers and 4 rail-mounted steam excavators were purchased from the USA. All equipment was transferred to contractors free of charge for temporary use. Excavators were used from July 1 (13), 1845 to December 15 (27), 1847 between Lykoshino and Berezaika to construct an excavation. The excavator, when operating without breakdowns, produced up to 1000 m³ of soil in 12 hours, average output was 500 m³. In 1848, excavators were purchased by Demidov and used in the Urals for stripping operations.
: Nibelungs - Näffzer. Source: Vol. XXI (1897): Nibelungs - Näffzer, p. 102-106 ( · index)
Nikolaevskaya railway.- Following the opening of traffic on the first of the Russian railways. roads, Tsarskoye Selo, it was started to discuss the issue of connecting railways. dear St. Petersburg and Moscow. In the committee established on this issue, there was a disagreement regarding the direction of the route: some found it more expedient to build the railway through Novgorod, others were in favor of a more direct direction. Emperor Nicholas I ordered the road to be built in a straight direction, because he did not find any good reason lead it to Novgorod, which will not lose the benefits it now enjoys. Construction of railway the road was started in two sections at the same time: between St. Petersburg and Chudov and between Vyshny Volochok and Tver; it was carried out at the expense of the treasury. Steam locomotive traffic, first for service and then for the public, began in 1846 from St. Petersburg to Kolpin and on the connecting branch to the Alexander Plant on the Neva. In 1849, traffic was opened between St. Petersburg and Chudov and between Vysh. Volochkoy and Tver. The official opening of traffic throughout the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway. dor. took place on November 1, 1851. In 1868, N. zhel. dor., with all connecting branches, rolling stock and the Aleksandrovsky Mechanical Plant, was transferred to the Main Society of the Russian Federation. railways, for a period of 1952. From January 1. 1894 N. zhel. dor. bought by the government and taken back into state administration. K N. zhel. dor. the following railway lines were annexed in 1894: Putilovskaya, or Portovaya, branch, carried out by a private company in the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg, throughout the 31st century; Novotorzhskaya, 128 century, built by a private company and opened to traffic (from Ostashkovo station) to the city of Torzhok in 1870, and to Rzhev in 1874; Rzhevo-Vyazemskaya, 116 century, built with government funds and from the time of opening (in 1888) was under the temporary management of the Novotorzhskaya railway. dor. In 1895, the Borovichi railway was annexed. dor., from st. Uglovka (N. railway road) to the town of Borovichi, built in 1877, for 27 years. Thus, currently N. yellow. dor. consists of the main line between the two capitals (609 century) and named side lines; the total length of the entire road is 911 in. home line N. yellow dor., Petersburg - Moscow, begins in St. Petersburg at an altitude of 4.7 fathoms. above level Baltic Sea and the first 26 ver. runs along a completely flat surface. Behind the station Kolpino begins with slightly undulating terrain, which the road, gradually rising, passes through excavations and embankments. At 118 c. - bridge across the river Volkhov, with an adjustable part for the passage of ships (the opening of the bridge is 130.5 fathoms, the height above the river level is 10.75 fathoms). Further the road crosses the so-called Valdai Mountains; The terrain here is undulating, the road passes through deep excavations and on high embankments. Bridge over the river Mst on 177 ver. (hole 173 fathoms, height 19 fathoms). Having risen to a height of 92.8 fathoms, near the station. Torbino (201st century), the line crosses mountainous terrain and passes among numerous lakes. From Art. Higher Volochok (341 century) there are extensive, partly peat bogs along the way. Starting from 388 ver. the path begins to gradually descend into the river valley. Volga; on 438 ver. crosses the river Tvertsa (bridge hole 86.6 fathoms), and at 449 ver. - Volga (bridge hole 84.2 fathoms). At 469 - 498 centuries. The road crosses a deep river valley. Shoshi, through which a dam was built, 8 meters long, with a height of up to 5 fathoms, and a bridge (hole 53.2 fathoms). Further the line rises and near the station. Kryukova (566 century) reaches its highest point - 106.4 fathoms; then, with an almost continuous slope, it descends to Moscow, where it ends within the city, at an altitude of 72.1 fathoms. All named bridges are iron, on stone abutments; Initially, the bridges were wooden, rebuilt during the management of the line by the Main Society of Russian Railways. expensive When rebuilding the bridges, one of them, the longest (about 1 ver., with a height of 27 fathoms) across the Verebyinsky stream (185 century) was replaced by an embankment, for which it was necessary to lengthen the path itself by 5 centuries. The N. line crosses 4 provinces: St. Petersburg (56 3/4 century), Novgorod (256 1/4 century), Tver (180 century) and Moscow (116 century), touching, in addition to both capitals, the following urban settlements: for the 24th century. village Kolpina (state-owned mechanical engineers), on the 152nd century. village Malovishersky, at 341 c. Vyshny Volochok (paper spinning and weaving factories, glass and sawmills), at 452 c. Tver (pier on the Volga, extensive paper factories and a large mechanical plant under construction) and at 525 c. Klin (there are many factories in the vicinity). There are 37 stations along the line, 16 stops, 18 platforms. More remarkable stations are Tosna (50th century), Lyuban (78th century), Chudovo (111th century; match factories), Volkhovskaya (118th century; Sosninka pier, Volkhov shipping company ), Okulovka (234 century - factories for stationery and for making bags), Uglovka (251 century; lime factories), Valdayka (269 century). , commodity flour mills), Bologoe (299 century; intersection with the Rybinsk railway; significant trade center), Spirovo (372 century), Ostashkovskaya (renamed Novotorzhskaya, in 413 century), Zavidovo (497 century - extensive supply of timber materials to Moscow from the pier along the Shosha River, 3 ver. from the station), Reshetnikovo, Khimki ( country place). Development of these new shopping centers entailed the decline of others that previously existed; Thus, there was once significant trade with. Mednogo (in the 30th century from Tver) moved to Novotorzhskaya station, trade with. Vydropuzhsk (at the intersection of the Petersburg-Moscow highway with the Tvertsa river) - to Spirovskaya. Currently, the N. line is connected to nine railways and has, in addition to the named side lines, 16 small branches, namely:
| Branches | Start of branch | Length in miles | Year discoveries movement |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Which station? | How many miles from St. Petersburg |
All branches |
In number belonging N. d. |
||
| Connecting: | |||||
| 1. From St. Petersburg-Warsaw railway. d. | Petersburg | 3 | 4,4 | 4,4 | 1853 |
| 2. From the Baltic railway. d. | Tosno | 50 | 0,8 | 0,2 | 1870 |
| 3. From Novgorodskaya (narrow-gauge line of the Rybinsk railway) | Miracle | 111 | - | - | - |
| 4. From Rybinskaya railway. d. | Bologoe | 300 | 0,6 | 0,3 | 1870 |
| 5. From the Moscow-Yaroslavl railway. d. | Moscow | 609 | 3,1 | 1,4 | 1871 |
| 6. From the Moscow-Brest railway. d. | » | - | 6,5 | 0,1 | 1870 |
| 7. From the Moscow-Kursk railway. d. | » | - | 3,4 | 0,3 | 1866 |
| 8. From the Moscow-Kazan railway. d. | » | - | 6,5 | 0,4 | 1863 |
| 9. From the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod railway. d. | » | - | 3,4 | 0, 3 | 1866 |
| Lateral: | |||||
| 1. To the warehouses of St. Petersburg. total | Petersburg | 1 | 0,5 | - | 1875 |
| 2. To the storerooms of St. Petersburg. city. Duma | » | 2 | 0,9 | - | 1867 |
| 3. To the mortuary chapel in St. Petersburg. city. Duma | » | 2 | 0,3 | - | 1872 |
| 4. To the Kalashnikov pier | » | 3 | 3,8 | 3,3 | 1871 |
| 5. To the Nevsky mechanics. and horn. factories | » | 4 | 2,3 | - | 1871 |
| 6. To the Glukhozersky plant | » | 4 | 0,5 | - | 1880 |
| 7. To Alexandrovsky fur. factory | » | 6 | 1,8 | 1,8 | 1845 |
| 8. To the Kalinkinsky brewery. head | » | 6 | 1,2 | - | 1881 |
| 9. Steelmaking to Obukhovsky. head | Obukhovskaya near the station. | 10 | 2,9 | - | 1886 |
| 10. To the peat plant. (closed) | Miracle near the station. | 103 | 0,7 | 0,7 | 1865 |
| 11. To the timber warehouses | V.-Volochok. | 337 | 1,1 | 1,1 | 1877 |
| 12. To Butin's timber warehouses | Spirovo | 373 | 0,2 | - | 1873 |
| 13. To the forest pier on the Volga | Tver | 450 | 1,3 | - | 1870 |
| 14. To the Morozov manufactory | » | 452 | 0,6 | - | 1869 |
| 15. To the pier on the river. Volga | » | 453 | 4,9 | 4,9 | 1864 |
| 16. To the Kumanin factory | Zavidovo | 499 | 0,5 | - | 1875 |
The length of all connecting and lateral branches is 48.8 in. belongs to the N. Railway of the 19.4 century, other railways. 18.2 century, various institutions and individuals 11.2 c. The length of sidings at stations, including park ones (48.1 in.), on the N. line is 385.6 in. (in 1868 there were 130.3 of them; 255.3 of them were built by the Main General Russian Railway), of which at the stations: St. Petersburg 66.1 of them, and together with the marshalling yard 114.2 of them. , Moscow - 63.1 century, Bologoe - 13.1 century; Tver - 19.6 century. The route of the St. Petersburg - Moscow line in two pairs of rails, or in 1218; the length of the entire rail track on the N. line is 1603.6 in.
Construction cost. Expenses for the construction of the Nikolaevskaya railway. dor. by the time of its opening, it extended to 64,664,751 rubles, which was 1 ver. main route (604.2 century) 107 thousand rubles. By the time the road was transferred to the Main General. grew up zhel. dor. the cost of the construction reached 80,096,324 rubles, or 133 thousand rubles. a mile away. This amount was made up of the following items:
This amount also includes the costs of min. Finnish for foreign orders of rolling stock, rails and other accessories, which amounted (1843-53) 5124 thousand rubles. When transferring the road to the Main Society in 1868, the government, among other conditions, undertook to give the company a non-repayable loan of 12,532 thousand rubles. for a major reconstruction of the line, and the rolling stock was to be increased by 61 freight and 24 passenger locomotives and by 2,000 freight cars. The main company not only carried out these works, but brought the line into a state corresponding to its current needs, for which in the period 1868-94. spent 52,216 thousand rubles; the current cost of the N. line is 132,312 thousand rubles, which is 217 thousand rubles. at 1 in. ways.
Rolling stock N. railway consisted of:
The cost of rolling stock in 1894: steam locomotives - 9369 thousand rubles, cars - 12600 thousand rubles. There are 17,931 seats in passenger cars; the lifting capacity of freight cars is 6539 thousand pd. In addition, in 1894, on the lines of Borovichskaya, Novotorzhskaya and Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya there were 22 steam locomotives, 46 passenger cars (for 1617 seats) and 393 freight cars; the lifting capacity of the latter is 261 thousand pd.
Heating on N. zhel. dor. predominantly woody; mineral is used only in some areas. In 1894, the following was used to heat steam locomotives, carriages, workshops and buildings:
| On the lines | Kam. coal | Cox | Peat | Drov | Wooden coal |
Other woody heating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| poods | cube soot | poods | cube soot | |||
| St. Petersburg - Moscow (together with Portovaya) | 1200517 | 75978 | 16940 | 102723 | 14960 | 1200 |
| Novotorzhskaya | 3670 | 78 | - | 3347 | 1669 | 364 |
| Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya | - | - | - | 1899 | - | 268 |
| Borovichskaya | 1655 | 3833 | - | 590 | 310 | 100 |
Staff. N. yellow dor. in 1895 he was on the St. Petersburg line. - Moscow out of 15,641 people who received allowances of about 6 million rubles. per year, on other lines - from 1509 people, with an annual salary of 400 thousand rubles. For 1 mile of the way there are:
The movement is huge along the St. Petersburg - Moscow line and weak along other branches, compared with the movement on Russian railways. dor. in general - explained; why is the number of employees so large on the main line and so small on other branches of N. zhel. roads.
Passenger and freight traffic along the St. Petersburg - Moscow line. From 1846 to 1851, i.e. from the time of the opening of traffic in individual sections to its opening along the entire line, 450 thousand passengers were carried, 28 thousand pd. luggage and goods high speed and 651 thousand p.d. other cargo; then it was transported:
| Passengers | Baggage and goods big speed |
Cargoes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| thousand people | thousand poods | ||
| 1852 | 730 | 241 | 10252 |
| 1860 | 1226 | 436 | 24984 |
| 1870 | 1498 | 896 | 67666 |
| 1880 | 1656 | 1064 | 156910 |
| 1890 | 1970 | 1364 | 163854 |
| 1893 | 2023 | 1732 | 187528 |
| 1894 | 2263 | 2274 | 313034 |
| 1895 | 2843 | 260469 | |
The number of round-trip trains was: in 1852, 4 passenger and 8 freight per day, in 1869 - 9 passenger and 26 freight, in 1892 - 22 through passenger and 12 local, 60 freight trains daily. The speed of passenger trains when the road was opened was 22 and 48 hours for the entire journey (604 in.), at present (609 in.) - 12 1/2 hours. for express and 20 hours for ordinary trains. Of the 45,704 thousand passengers who traveled along the St. Petersburg - Moscow line for 26 years (1869-94) there were:
Passenger traffic is most developed at the stations:
Carrying out Ryb.-Bologovskaya and Novotorzhskaya railways. dor. diverted passenger traffic from the station. Tver and increased traffic at the station. Bologoe and Novotorzhskaya.
Products over 26 years (1869-94) the following were transported: luggage and high-speed goods 28,866 thousand pd., their mileage - 10,246 million pood-versts; low speed - 3843980 thousand p.d., their mileage is 1353958 million pounds. Of the low-speed goods, 2,283,469 thousand pd were transported towards St. Petersburg, and 1,560,511 thousand pd towards Moscow. In terms of commodity movement, the ones that work the most are:
Loads of thousands of pounds.
Increase in freight traffic at the station. Bologoe, Tosno, Novotorzhskaya and Uglovka came from the construction of side railways to these stations: Ryb.-Bologovskaya, connecting with Baltiyskaya, Novotorzhskaya and Borovichskaya. Transit cargo passed through these stations in 1894:
Transit cargo to St. Petersburg goes mainly along the Port Branch - approx. 9 million p.d. upon dispatch and ok. 16 million p.d. arrived from the N. line; in Moscow by dispatch: from Moscow-Kaz. 60 million p.d. and Moscow-Kursk approx. 20 million pd.; the one who arrives has priority. to Moscow-Nizheg. 6 1/2 million p.d. and to Moscow-Kaz. over 7 million pd. From Tver, cargo transits from the pier along the river. Volga.
The following low-speed goods were transported:
| Loads | In 1869 | In 1894 |
|---|---|---|
| thousand poods | ||
| Rye | 10270 | 6984 |
| Rye flour | 4382 | 15527 |
| Oats | 6064 | 31849 |
| Wheat | - | 4395 |
| Wheat flour | - | 10345 |
| Other grain goods | 3298 | 2901 |
| Friend. life supplies | 7723 | 18899 |
| Cotton | 1633 | 4504 |
| Forest product | 6244 | 10109 |
| Firewood | 6021 | 19328 |
| Kam. coal and coke | 1181 | 5639 |
| Oil, residues and products thereof | 293 | 12632 |
| Mosquitoes and chemical products | 1621 | 3862 |
| Hay | - | 4148 |
| Stone, lime and other builds. materials | 273 | 15081 |
| Metals are out of business | 3130 | 6103 |
| Other raw and semi-processed goods | 5712 | 6958 |
| Yarn and manuf. product | 1798 | 4490 |
| Machinery and metal products | 10163 | 6884 |
| Brick | - | 4075 |
| Other products | 468 | 3454 |
| Different friend. goods | 1726 | 8714 |
| Total | 72000 | 213034 |
The movement along the side lines in 1894 was:
The main cargoes: along the Port Branch - oats (4923 thousand pd.), oil, its residues and products (3449 thousand pd.), coal(5639 thousand pd.) and firewood (3656 thousand pd.); along the Borovichi line - oil, products and its residues (1036 thousand p.d.); along Novotorzhskaya - wheat (1,697 thousand p.d.) and firewood (2,241 thousand p.d.). Of the side line stations for freight traffic, the ones that work the most are:
Operation results H. Railway:
1) Along the St. Petersburg - Moscow line.
| Years | Gross income | Consumption | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rubles | |||
| 1842-51 | 556 thousand | 1572 thousand | - |
| 1852 | 4419 thousand | 2768 thousand | 1651 thousand |
| 1870 | 16537 thousand | 7130 thousand | 9407 thousand |
| 1880 | 22410 thousand | 10587 thousand | 11823 thousand |
| 1890 | 21844 thousand | 10096 thousand | 11748 thousand |
| 1893 | 25231 thousand | 11288 thousand | 13943 thousand |
| 1894 | 27256 thousand | 11556 thousand | 15700 thousand |
| 1895 | 31500 thousand | 12500 thousand | 19000 thousand |
At 1st century way in 1894 the income was: gross 45,126 p., net 25,994 p. In terms of profitability, the N. line (St. Petersburg - Moscow) ranks first among Russian railways.
2) Along other lines of the N. Railway, in 1894:
At 1st century routes along the side lines account for income: gross 3950 rubles, net 901 rubles.
Wed. “Military-Stat. Collection Vol. IV, Russia" (St. Petersburg, 1871); A.K. Makarov, “N. zhel. dor.” (“Journal of Min. Put. Communications,” 1887); A. A. Golovachev, “History of railway business in Russia” (St. Petersburg, 1881); A. A. Galati, “N. zhel. dor.” (lithographic note, 1896); "Reports of Ch. General grew up zhel. dor. for 1892 and 93"; editions min. put. message: “Stat. Collection." (issue 3 - 17, 19 - 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 37, 39, 40 and 42; edition 1877-96), “List of steam locomotives in 1895 ." (ed. 1896), “List of lines, branches and stations of railways. dor. by 1 Nov. 1894" (ed. 1895), “Statistical. review railway dor. and internal waterways for World Columbus. exhibition of 1893 in Chicago" (ed. 1893).
The oldest state railway in Russia was built in the mid-19th century. to provide railway communication between St. Petersburg and Moscow.
The history of the St. Petersburg-Moscow road began on February 1 (13), 1842, when Emperor Nicholas I signed a decree on the construction of a railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow. To carry out the work, a special Committee was established, which included both official representatives of the authorities (P.A. Kleinmichel, A.H. Benkendorf, A.A. Bobrinsky), and technical managers and creators of the construction project (P.P. Melnikov , N.O. Kraft, K.V. Chevkin).
Design, survey and construction works were carried out over ten years (in 1842-1851) and required large financial investments, original technical solutions, the involvement of many domestic and foreign specialists and a significant number work force. More than 800 thousand workers, mainly serfs, took part in the construction of the road.
Movement on separate areas The St. Petersburg-Moscow railway began already in 1846, and on November 1 (13), 1851, the official opening of the entire line took place. The first “national” train departed for Moscow. “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” wrote then: “November 1 will remain a day forever memorable for Russia: on this day there was... the opening to the public of the railway connecting our two capitals - the head and heart of Russia.”
The first “national” train consisted of a steam locomotive, two soft, three rigid and one baggage car. 192 passengers took off on the first flight. The train left St. Petersburg at 11:15 am. and arrived in Moscow the next day at 9 am. Total time the journey took 21 hours 45 minutes.
In the middle of the 19th century. The St. Petersburg-Moscow railway was the most technically advanced and the longest double-track railway in the world - its length was 604 versts (644 km).
In 1855, the new highway and station in the capital were named in honor of Emperor Nicholas I. After the revolution, in 1923, Nikolaevskaya road was renamed Oktyabrskaya, and the station received its current name - Moskovsky.
NEED FOR MODERNIZATION
In 1851, the country had only three railways: Tsarsko-Selo, Warsaw-Vienna and St. Petersburg-Moscow with a total length of about 1000 miles (for comparison: in 1850, the total length of railways in the North American states was more than 15,000 km).
This level of development of the railway network did not allow the use of railways for military purposes and significantly reduced the defense power of the state. This was clearly demonstrated by the Crimean War of 1853-1856. The first manager of the Committee for the Movement of Troops by Railroads and Water, M.N. Annenkov, unable to contain his bitterness and frustration, wrote: “We cannot forget that two divisions of grenadiers, who set out from the North-Western Territory with a force of 30,000 people , counted no more than 8,000 in their ranks near Evpatoria, having not previously participated in a single skirmish.”
THE BEGINNING OF THE RAILWAY BOOM
From August 14 to 16, two battalions of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, two squadrons of the Life Guards Cavalry and Horse Regiments and a division of Guards artillery were transported from St. Petersburg to Moscow on 9 trains.
At 4 a.m. on August 18, a royal train consisting of 9 carriages set off for Moscow. The journey, including stops, took 19 hours.<…>In total, about 46 million cubic meters were completed during construction. m of excavation work. 2 large stations in the capitals, 34 stations, 8 large, 182 small and medium bridges, 69 pipes and 19 overpasses were built on the line. The construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway cost 67 million rubles. This road was completely state owned.
The need to dramatically expand the railway network and attract private capital for this became clear after Crimean War... On January 28, 1857, the Main Society of Russian Railways (GORZD) was founded.
The goal of the society was to build within ten years and then maintain for eighty-five years a network of railways, stretching about four thousand miles, so that, after the specified period had passed, the entire network would become the property of the state free of charge. The capital of the company was mixed: Russia accounted for 37.5%, England - 28.3%, the remaining funds were French and Prussian. The government guaranteed the company's shareholders an annual income of 5%. A guaranteed income, regardless of the results of the company's activities, had a detrimental effect on its activities - funds were stolen and squandered.
For 1865-1875 the length of the railway network increased from 3.8 thousand to 19 thousand versts. However, the sharp increase in the length of the railway network has not led to an equally sharp increase in the profitability of the railways.
Of the 37 companies, only 5 during their entire existence did not require additional payments on account of the state guarantee and fulfilled financial obligations without arrears. The government was forced to allocate budget funds to finance construction. Annual multimillion-dollar surcharges on guaranteed capital of private lines for 1871-1881. increased fourfold. By January 1, 1880, the treasury had spent 1,767.6 million rubles on the construction and operation of railways. The companies' debt to the state reached 579.6 million rubles.
AND ETERNAL TONE
On the side facade of the Leningradsky station there is a large bas-relief of a fit and strict man with drawings and tools in his hands. This is the famous Russian architect Konstantin Andreevich Ton. The same one that built the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the Grand Kremlin Palace, Armory Chamber. And he was directly related to the road, which for some reason is still not called, as before, Nikolaevskaya.
Russia owes the appearance of railways to Nicholas I. Your passion for them, as well as your interest in all kinds technical innovations, the king managed to pass it on to his grandson. In turn, Alexander III became the main creator of the “Russian miracle” - the Trans-Siberian Railway, built in just ten years. All the loud disputes (and among the staunch opponents of the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg railway was, by the way, even Herzen, awakened by the Decembrists, who said that it was needed only so that Moscow would find out a couple of days earlier what other books were banned by the government) the Tsar stopped with his characteristic decisiveness with one single word: “Do!”
There is a legend about how the Moscow-St. Petersburg route was planned. It was as if the sovereign-emperor took a ruler and, without further ado, connected the two capitals, and in one place there was even a semicircular mark left - a bend from the royal finger. In fact, there were many disputes about the direction of the route, but in the end they decided to make speed of movement the main goal, and this meant maximum straightness of the route. Before the advent of the railway, the journey between the capitals took three to four days. The first train passed by rail in exactly 24 hours. And the “sovereign finger” was straightened several years ago...
The road, designed by engineers Melnikov (the future Minister of Railways, whose monument was recently erected opposite the Leningradsky Station) and Kraft, was built in seven years: from 1844 to 1851. On August 16, 1851, the august passenger traveled for the first time by rail from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Moreover, it is known for certain that a certain zealous official painted the rails on the rise to the bridge over the Msta River with fresh paint. oil paint, which naturally caused the train to skid, and the track had to be sprinkled with sand.
The country's main railway also required appropriate infrastructure. First of all - train stations. They invited the Tsar's favorite, Konstantin Andreevich Ton. He, according to his employees, never laughed or even smiled. I didn’t like either writing or what is called PR today. Like any meticulous German, he knew his business brilliantly. He was entrusted with the design of stations for new road, fortunately, there was experience - the first station in Russia, Tsarskoselsky, which served for almost a hundred years, was built according to Ton’s design. Architect Ton designed the space of the road - 651 kilometers - as a single ensemble, as a gigantic area in length.
To begin with, both sides needed to be “closed” with symmetrical, as similar buildings as possible. Even today they seem almost identical: two-story, with very similar towers. Yes, yes, not so. The facade of the station in St. Petersburg is two pairs of windows wider - it is the capital after all! But the tower is a little more modest: after all, the Moscow one was the dominant height on the then absolutely deserted Kalanchevskaya Square. Piterskaya is a discreet replica of the main verticals of Nevsky Prospekt - the Admiralty spire and the tower of the City Duma.
Only a very attentive eye will notice the differences in the window decoration. In the Northern capital, the departing passenger was greeted by the so-called “hanging stone”, that is, a weight hanging between two arches - a characteristic technique of Moscow architecture of the 17th century. And in Moscow, the station is unobtrusively decorated with baroque lace - as a reminder of the magical St. Petersburg decor of Bartolomeo Rastrelli. In addition, the St. Petersburg station is decorated with two symmetrical arches. One, on the right, is for arriving crews, the other, on the left, is for those who picked up arriving passengers. There were trains at both stations - right up to the end of the 1960s! - We went under the landing stage.
Meanwhile, the ensemble on Kalanchevskaya Square remained unfinished: Ton designed two buildings symmetrically to the station: one for customs, the other residential for road workers. They managed to build only the first one, and in the place of the second one there is now a metro station lobby.
The intermediate stations - Tver, Bologoye, Okulovka, Uglovka, Lyuban and others - were not designed by Ton himself. This was done by his assistant Roman Zhelyazevich (he also owned the project for the landing stage of the Moscow station), but, of course, the “architect of His Majesty” was involved in bringing the buildings to a single “denominator”. The architects worked conscientiously: almost the entire ensemble is still intact. In some places, the characteristic rectangular station buildings with rounded corners have been rebuilt (as in Bologoe). In some places, while there are new, modern stations, the old ones have been restored and preserved as historical monuments(as in Tver). And in some places - like in Okulovka or Uglovka - they continue, as they did a hundred and fifty years ago, to serve, clerically speaking, for their original purpose - the flow of passengers there is not that great.
It’s interesting that all the stations, with the exception of Moskovsky, are painted the same color - also a monument to the era! Let us remember Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy: “I noticed that yellow is a color that especially flatters the heart of a patriot; To smear a house or an infirmary with wool The Russian hunt is irresistible; The well-intentioned authorities have also seen something in this for a long time, and Chambers, temples, prisons and towers will swarm across the provinces.” And - stations, we will add.
In some places, the station ensembles have not been completely preserved, because the church was an indispensable attribute of the station complex at that time. At the end of the 1970s, the most beautiful temple at the Tver station was torn down - it was in his honor and memory that a cross was erected. And, for example, in Lyuban the temple was restored and now serves as a monument-tomb to the engineer Melnikov, one of the creators of the Nikolaev railway.
ON THE. NEKRASOV. RAILWAY
Vanya (in the coachman’s Armenian jacket).
Dad! who built this road?
Papa (in a coat with a red lining),
Count Pyotr Andreevich Kleinmichel, my dear!
Conversation in the carriage
The path is straight: the embankments are narrow,
Columns, rails, bridges.
And on the sides all the bones are Russian...
How many of them! Vanechka, do you know?
This noble habit of work
It would be a good idea for us to adopt...
Bless the work of the people
And learn to respect a man.
Don’t be shy for your dear fatherland...
The Russian people have endured enough
He also took out this railway -
He will endure whatever God sends!
Will bear everything - and a wide, clear
He will pave the way for himself with his chest.
It’s just a pity to live in this wonderful time
You won't have to - neither me nor you.
The modern Sapsan trains were still a long way off, then trains ran at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, and yet on February 13, 1842, Nicholas I signed a decree on the construction of the St. Petersburg - Moscow railway. Already in 1851, the first train departed from St. Petersburg. For that time it was a grandiose event. I’ll tell you the most interesting things about the road. In 1855, after the death of the emperor, the railway received the name Nikolaevskaya.
In the 1830s, some skeptics proposed not to lay a rail track in Russia (they say that Russia does not need railways - in severe snowy winters it will simply skid), but to build special tracks for steam locomotives on wheels with a wide rim (the so-called overland ones). steamships). The idea did not take root, and in 1837 full-fledged railway construction began: in October, traffic was opened on the road from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.
In the 30-40s of the 19th century, the question of a reliable road connection between St. Petersburg and the central regions of Russia became especially acute. And on February 13, 1842, Nicholas I, known for his interest in various kinds technical innovations, signed a decree on the construction of the first Russian railway line St. Petersburg - Moscow.
According to a well-known legend, the path from St. Petersburg to Moscow ran in a straight line because the emperor, wanting to demonstrate how he saw the future highway, drew a line using a ruler between the two cities. According to the same legend, along the way there is a bend that supposedly appeared in the place where Nicholas 1 accidentally circled his own finger on the map. In reality, as usual, the situation was different. The majority of the members of the committee for the construction of the railway believed that it should be led to Novgorod. The Emperor did not share this opinion. To resolve the protracted disputes, he summoned the engineer, the author of the project, Pavel Melnikov. The expert came to the conclusion that building the railway using the direct option is more profitable. “It would be a big mistake and an incalculable loss in the general state economy to condemn future generations to pay more than 80 miles, over the course of a whole century or more, until direct calculation would force us to build another, shorter road from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” - quotes the architect from a brief historical sketch from 1901. The Emperor was pleased that the engineer shared his views on the future of the road and said: “Drive the road straight.” These words did not mean at all that it was necessary to lead the way in a straight line: the emperor meant that there was no need to stick to the direction of Novgorod.
At the point of the mentioned bend - near the Mstinsky Bridge station - the line was also absolutely straight, but due to the peculiarities of the landscape, the railway workers had to bend the path (later, by the way, when railway technology became more advanced, the bypass was dismantled).
Work on the construction of the road began on May 27, 1843, simultaneously on both sides - from St. Petersburg to Bologoe and from Moscow to Bologoe.
At the beginning of 1842, the post of Minister of War was held by Peter Kleinmichel. State buildings under him were erected quickly, but they cost the budget a lot of money, and the people - human casualties. The road was built by artels, often consisting of serfs from the Vitebsk and Vilna provinces. They were directly dependent on each other: if one of the workers fell ill, the costs of his treatment were deducted from the earnings of the entire artel. According to contemporaries, dozens of builders died from exhausting labor, epidemics of typhus and fever, especially in open places, blown through by the winds. According to various estimates, up to 40 thousand people worked on construction.
It is characteristic that it was during the construction of the Nikolaev railway that for the first time in Russia a track width of 1,524 millimeters began to be used. Historians attribute this to the fact that American consultants worked on the construction, most notably George Washington Whistler, an American railroad engineer. It was he who, having studied the conditions for laying the highway, insisted on a width of 5 feet (such a track was laid in those days, for example, in the southern states). There is a version that it was precisely this width that was proposed by Russian engineers Pavel Melnikov and Nikolai Kraft. True, they most likely brought the idea from the same USA, where they visited on the eve of the start of implementation Russian project. According to rumors, the military aspect also played a role in choosing the gauge - a gauge different from the European one would make it difficult for the supposed enemy to supply troops in the event of an invasion of Russian territory. True, researchers have not found historical evidence for this version.
34 stations were built on the St. Petersburg - Moscow line. The buildings in the capital cities (the current Moskovsky and Leningradsky railway stations) were designed by the architect Konstantin Ton. By the way, Konstantin Ton - the court architect of Nicholas I - was the author of numerous projects in several cities of Russia, but his main brainchild was the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. According to witnesses of the era, Ton was a true German: extremely unsmiling, he really did not like all sorts of noise and idle talk, and was a man of action. In 1847, he began the construction of the Nikolaevskaya Railway station entrusted to him in St. Petersburg and Moscow. By the way, the first station in Russia - Tsarskoselsky - was also built according to his design.
The architect decided to construct the entire 651 kilometer of the road as a single ensemble. For this, in particular, the ends of the road needed to be “circulated” with similar buildings. Even today they seem almost identical: two-story, with identical towers. The tone used motifs from the town halls of Western European cities, where the clock tower indicates the direction of the main entrance. True, meticulous architecture experts note that there are still differences in the stations. Thus, the facade of the station in St. Petersburg is two pairs of windows wider (the capital, after all), while the tower is more restrained and is, as it were, a continuation of the Admiralty spire and the City Duma tower. By the way, the ensemble in Moscow on Kalanchevskaya Square remained unfinished. According to Thon's plan, two buildings were to be built at the station: one for customs (it was built), the other - housing for road workers (now the lobby of the metro station).
First new way Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow was tested by the military - the train with them moved to its destination on August 28, 1851. Two days later, the royal train of 9 carriages set off for Moscow. The official opening of the St. Petersburg-Moscow highway took place on November 13: at 11.15 a train of 6 cars set off, and at 9 am next day arrived in the city, covering the journey in 21 hours and 45 minutes. Thus, the travel time was reduced by three times thanks to the hardware.
Trains of that time were significantly different from modern ones. Firewood was used as fuel. Because of this, each passenger train consisted of a steam locomotive and a tender - a special carriage designed to carry the locomotive's fuel supply. The train had one baggage car and five passenger cars. At first, in winter, special stoves were used to heat travelers, which were metal boxes filled with heated bricks. The trains moved at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour and were initially not equipped with booths for drivers (trains were equipped with them only in the 1860s). From the first years of railway operation, telegraph communication was a means of regulating the movement of trains.
Safety on the first railways was ensured by sound signals: bells, whistles, musical organs. Hand flags, red and green disks, and semaphores were used as visual signals. Initially, all railroad switches were manually switched. By the way, the first domestic system for switching switches and sending signals, developed by scientist and signaling specialist Yakov Gordeenko, was used in 1885 at Sablino station. His development received a prize at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900.
When the novelist Akunin told LiveJournal a long time ago that nothing had really been invented in Russia, I wrote to him that even railway switches were invented in Russia, but he did not react, captured by the idea that Russia had not given anything to the world.