A halt was called at this juncture. The outposts of steel were three in number, Orenburg, Tioumen on the Asiatic side of the Urals and connected with Ekaterinburg, and Zlatoost. A decision was necessary to determine which of these three railheads should be the jumping-off point for the long toil through Siberia. Three surveys were made, and as a result of prolonged consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of the respective routes from every point of view, among the most important of which was the question of cost, Zlatoost was selected as the most favourable starting-point. From that point the location was by way of Tcheliabinsk-Kourgan-Petropavlovsk-Omsk-Tomsk-Krasnoiarsk to Nijneoudinsk, as this offered the shortest length of line, traversed the most densely populated and most fertile country, and at the same time could be built far cheaper than either of the alternative routes.
It was recognised that the line would entail the expenditure of a huge sum of money, no matter how cheaply it was constructed, and that there could be no hope of any return upon the investment for many years to come owing to the unsettled character of the country. Accordingly it was decided to avoid all pretentious engineering exploits—in fact, to build the line upon pioneer principles. A five-foot gauge was adopted to harmonise with European Russia, and in order to cut the cost of construction down to the lowest possible figure the lightest material was employed, the rails, for instance, only weighing 54 pounds per yard. It was realised that the paramount condition was to open up the land and its resources without delay, and to overhaul the line as traffic increased, thereby bringing it gradually into conformity with the generally accepted standards of a modern railway.
As the project was of such far-reaching significance to the Russian Empire it was resolved that it should be carried out as a national undertaking. Every ounce of material required was to be fashioned in Russian workshops—there was only one important departure from this decision, and that was the construction of the huge ice-breaking ferries on Lake Baikal, which, being beyond the capacity of the Russian builders, were designed and constructed at the Elswick works of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company, Limited—and that it should be built by Russian labour under Russian engineers with Russian money. It was an Imperial enterprise from end to end.
To govern the work of construction a national committee was established, composed of interested ministers, under the presidency of the Grand Duke Heritier, the present Tsar, who upon his ascent to the throne retained his seat upon this commission. Indeed, the Emperor has displayed the greatest interest in this undertaking from its inception, and, in fact, inaugurated the work by laying the stone commemorating the turning of the first sod at Vladivostok on May 18, 1891, during his visit to the East.
Owing to the gigantic character of the work it was divided into several distinct sections comprised as follows—
| MILES | ||
| 1. | The Western Siberian Railway from Tcheliabinsk to Obi | 885·14 |
| 2. | The Central Siberian Railway from Obi to Irkutsk, subdivided into two parts, the first from Obi to Krasnoiarsk, and the second from Krasnoiarsk to Irkutsk | 1143·75 |
| 3. | The Baikal Railway from Irkutsk to Myssovaia | 192 |
| 4. | The Trans-Baikal Railway from Myssovaia to Stretensk | 690·4 |
| 5. | The Amur Railway from Stretensk to Khabarovsk | 1383·75 |
| 6. | The Ossouri Railway from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok | 476·8 |
This was the manner in which the 4,771 miles of line constituting the link between the Urals and the eastern seaboard of the Pacific was split up. The difficulties that were likely to be encountered were realised only too well. Though great engineering achievements were not to be permitted from lack of funds, it was recognised that in certain places heavy initial expenditure could not be avoided. The rivers which flow northwards to the Arctic sea, and thus cut across the direction of the railway at right angles, were to be feared the most, owing to their great widths, velocity, and the ice-packs with which they were obstructed during the early spring. Here metal only could be employed, and as the waterways to be crossed were numerous, it was seen that the expenditure under this heading would have to be enormous. There was another factor which had to be taken into consideration. These waterways during the summer season are the great highroads of communication through the country, and consequently it was imperative that the rails should be carried at a sufficient height above the waterways as to offer no obstruction to steamboat navigation.
As a matter of fact, it may be conceded that the huge bridges across such rivers as the Irtych, Obi and Yenisei constitute the outstanding features of the work. They were built massively, and although their erection in many cases taxed the skill of the engineers to a superlative degree, owing to the difficult conditions prevailing, their successful completion is a striking tribute to the men responsible for their consummation. The fact that these waterways were frozen during the winter, harassed the engineers in one, while it was a distinct boon in another, direction. Rails could be laid upon the ice, over which the construction trains could proceed from bank to bank, hauling the requisite supplies and provisions for the workmen, whereas in the summer such work had to be effected by ferries and boats demanding transhipment at the banks, whereby considerable time was lost, as well as incurring the liability of damage to the material handled.
Work was commenced on the various sections as soon as it was possible to gather the requisite material and men on the spot. Owing to the extreme difficulty attending access to the middle parts of the country, these sections were not taken in hand until some two or three years after the earth and rock had commenced to fly at the extreme ends. As already mentioned, construction actually commenced first at Vladivostok, but some months later, on July 7, 1892, the engineers commenced to drive the steel highway eastwards from the European terminus at Tcheliabinsk, to which point the line had been carried forward from Zlatoost.
The country entered after the Urals were left behind was the fringe of a vast steppe covered with tall bush, which continues until the Obi is gained. Then the character of the country changes with startling suddenness, desert giving way to dense forests, where heavy clearing was necessary to secure the right-of-way. The timber, however, was of slight use for building purposes, and this deficiency, together with that of stone, proved a serious drawback. Timber had to be hauled from long distances and pressed into service for spanning the smaller waterways, creeks and streams, there being over 260 temporary structures of this type upon this division. Difficulty was also experienced in securing material for ballasting the line, and in some instances it was necessary to haul the material for this purpose 20 miles across country.