Originally one of three suggested routes the Orenburg-Tashkent road was the more desirable because the more direct. Alternative schemes in favour of connecting the Trans-Siberian with the Central Asian railway on one hand and the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian railway on the other were submitted to the commission appointed to select the route. Prudence and sentiment, as well as the absence of any physical difficulties in the way of prompt construction, tempered the resolution of the tribunal in favour of the old post-track. It was begun at once and pushed to completion within four years—a feat impossible to accomplish in the case of either of the two rival schemes. The former of these, costly, elaborate and ambitious, sought to connect Tashkent with Semipalatinsk, the head of the steamboat service on the Irtish river, 2000 miles away, viâ Aulie-ata, Verni and Kopal. Passing between the two lakes Issyk and Balkash alternative routes were suggested for its direction from Semipalatinsk: the one securing a connection with the Trans-Siberian system at Omsk, the other seeking to pass along the post-road to Barnaul, terminating at Obi where the Trans-Siberian railway bridges the Obi river. The supporters of the scheme, which aimed at uniting the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian railway, proposed to carry the line beyond Uralsk to Kungrad, a fishing village in close proximity to the efflux of the Amu Daria and the Aral sea. From Kungrad, passing east of Khiva, the line would have traversed the Black Sands following a straight line and breaking into the Central Asian system at Charjui, opposite which, at Farab, a line to Termes viâ Kelif has been projected; and where, too, an iron girder bridge, resting on nineteen granite piers, spans the Amu Daria. It is useless at this date to weigh the balance between the several schemes; one of which, the Orenburg-Tashkent route, has become an accomplished fact to provide, doubtless in the near future, matter for immediate concern.
From Orenburg, of which the population is 80,000, the line 4 versts[1] from the station crosses the Ural river by an iron bridge, 160 sagenes[2] in length, running from there south to Iletsk, formerly the fortress Iletskaya Zashchita and at present a sub-district town of the Orenburg government with a population of 12,000.
ON THE ROAD IN ASIA
From Iletsk a short branch line, rather more than three versts in length, proceeds to the Iletsk salt mines. Running eastwards and crossing the Ilek river from the right to the left bank by an iron bridge 105 sagenes in length it reaches Aktiubinsk, a district town in Turhai province. At this stage the railway traverses the main watershed of the Ural, Temir, Kubele and Embi rivers, arriving at the Kum Asu pass across the Mugodjarski range. The passage of the line through the mountains, extending 26 versts and a veritable triumph of engineering, imposed a severe test upon the constructive ability of the railway staff. Beyond the range the line turns southward following the valleys of the Bolshoi, Mali Karagandi and Kuljur rivers until, 600 versts from Orenburg, it arrives at Lake Tchelkar. The line now runs across the Bolshiye and Maliye Barsuki sands, where there is abundance of underground fresh water, to the northern extremity of the Sari Tchegonak inlet on the Aral sea, where it descends to sea-level moving along the north-eastern shore. The military depôt at Kazalinsk—sometimes called Fort No. 1—now approaches. This point founded in 1854 has lost its exclusive military character, ranking merely among the district centres of the Syr Daria province. Thirty-six versts from Kazalinsk, at the next station Mai Libash situated in a locality quite suitable for colonisation, a branch line, 4 versts in length, links up the important waterway of the Syr Daria with the Orenburg-Tashkent system, extending the facilities of the railway to shipping which may be delayed through stress of bad weather in the gulf or through inadequacy of the draught over the bar at the mouth of the river.
The main line keeps to the Syr Daria, running through the steppe along the post-road to Karmakchi or Fort No. 2. On leaving Karmakchi it diverges from the post-road to wind round a succession of lakes and marshes which lie at a distance of 50 versts from the river. The railway continuing its original direction now runs along the basins of the Syr Daria and the Karauzyak, a tributary which it crosses twice by small bridges, each constructed with two spans 60 sagenes in length. The character of the country from Karmakchi to Perovski, a distance of 138 versts, differs considerably from the region preceding it. The low-lying ground, broken by swamps, is everywhere covered with a thick overgrowth of reeds; while the more elevated parts, watered by ariks, are devoted to the cultivation of crops. The town of Perovski is situated in flat country 1½ versts from the station. From there to Djulek the line returns to the post-road and some distance from the Syr Daria passes between the river and the Ber Kazan lakes to Ber Kazan. At Djulek, the name being adopted from a small adjacent hamlet, it diverges from the post-road to run direct to the village of Skobelevski, one of those curious peasant settlements which located in the uttermost parts of Central Asia preserve in their smallest detail every characteristic of remote Russia. At such a place life savours so strongly of the middle ages that one scarcely heeds the purely modern significance which attaches to the Iron Horse.
Barely 30 versts from Skobelevski and situated close to the Syr Daria there is the station of Tumen Arik, which gives place to Turkestan, beyond which for 120 versts the line runs parallel with the post-road. The station is 2½ versts to the north of the town of Turkestan, one of the most important towns in the Syr Daria province and only 40 versts from the Syr Daria. The next station Ikan is associated with the conquest of Turkestan, a famous battle having been fought about the scene where the station buildings now stand. Twenty versts to the north of the station, close to the post-road, there is a memorial to Ural Cossacks who fell during the fight. Otrar the following station is identified with the tradition, derived from the existence of an enormous mound standing amid the ruins of the old-time city of Otrar, that Timur when his army crossed the Syr Daria ordered each of his soldiers to throw a handful of earth upon the ground at the point where the river was crossed in safety. Beyond Otrar the line runs along the right bank of the Aris river, crossing it at 1570 versts from Orenburg by a bridge of 90 sagenes in three spans of 30 sagenes each. Aris station is placed further along the river bank at a point where at some future date branch lines between it and the town of Verni, as well as to a junction with the Trans-Siberian system, will be laid. After leaving it the railway, still ascending, ultimately crosses the pass of Sari Agatch in the Kizi Kurt range, 267 sagenes above the sea.
The descent from the pass leads to Djilgi valley where the line crosses three bridges; passing over the Keless river by a single span bridge of 25 sagenes, over the Bos-su arik by a bridge of 18 sagenes, and over the Salar river by a bridge of 12 sagenes. Seventy-two versts further the line runs into its terminus at Tashkent which is now classed as a station of the first degree, although commercially it stands only sixth among the stations of the Central Asian railway ranking with Andijan and yielding priority of place to Krasnovodsk, Samarkand, Khokand, Askhabad and Bokhara. It is proposed at Tashkent, which lies 1762 versts from Orenburg, 1747 versts from Krasnovodsk and 905 versts from Merv and where it is evident that the needs of the railway have been carefully studied, to double the track between Orenburg and Tashkent. Large stocks of spare rails and railway plant are held in reserve in sheds, one important feature of this very efficient preparation being the possession of 20 versts of light military railway. The erection of engine-sheds, waggon-sheds, workshops, supply stores and quarters for the staff has followed a most elaborate scale, these buildings being arranged in three groups around the station. The railway medical staff and the subordinate traffic and traction officials occupy the first; the chiefs of the traffic, telegraph and traction departments are in possession of the second; the remaining employés securing accommodation in the third set of buildings placed at the end of the Station Square. Along the opposite face are the spacious workshops where between five and six hundred men find daily employment; in juxtaposition with the general depôt are the railway hospital, where there is accommodation for 10 beds, the main supply stores and a naphtha reservoir with a capacity of 50,000 poods.[3]
The country in the neighbourhood of Tashkent as seen from the railway presents the picture of a bountiful oasis. For 20 versts there is no interruption to a scene of wonderful fertility. Market gardens, smiling vineyards and fruitful orchards, not to mention cotton-fields and corn-lands, cover the landscape. This abundance in a measure is due to careful irrigation and to the excellent system of conserving water which has been introduced. In support of this 113 specific works have been completed, each of which—and the giant total includes water-pipes by the mile and innumerable aqueducts—was a component part of that scheme of irrigation by which life in Central Asia alone can be made possible.