It was still far from the modern Sapsans, then the trains were traveling 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. It was a huge event for that time. I'll tell you the most interesting about the road. In 1855, after the death of the emperor, Railway received the name Nikolaevskaya.
In the 1830s, some skeptics proposed not to lay a rail track in Russia (they say, Russia does not need railways - in severe snowy winters it will simply be carried over), but to arrange special tracts for steam locomotives on wheels with wide rims (the so-called land steamers). The idea did not catch on, and in 1837 a full-fledged railway construction was launched: in October, traffic was opened on the road from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.
In the 30-40s of the 19th century, the issue 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 different kinds technical innovations, signed a decree on the construction of the first Russian railway St. Petersburg - Moscow.
According to a well-known legend, the path from St. Petersburg to Moscow ran in a straight line because the emperor, wishing to demonstrate how he sees the future highway, drew a line between the two cities along a ruler. According to the same legend, along the way, there is a bend that supposedly appeared in the place where on the map Nicholas 1 accidentally circled his own finger. In reality, as usual, the situation was different. Most of the members of the committee for the construction of the railway believed that it was necessary to lead it to Novgorod. The sovereign did not share this opinion. To resolve the protracted disputes, he summoned an engineer, the author of the project, Pavel Melnikov. The expert came to the conclusion that the construction of the railway according to the direct option is more profitable. "It would be a great mistake and an incalculable loss in the general state economy to doom future generations to pay more than 80 miles, for a whole century or more, until a direct calculation forced to build another, shortest road from St. Petersburg to Moscow", - quotes the architect from a short historical sketch from 1901. The sovereign was pleased that the engineer shared his views on the future of the road and said: "Lead the road straight." These words did not mean at all that it was necessary to follow the path in a straight line: the emperor meant that it was not necessary to keep to the direction of Novgorod.
In the place of the mentioned bend - in the area of the Mstinsky Most station - the line was also absolutely straight, but due to the peculiarities of the landscape, the railway workers had to bend the track (later, by the way, when the railway equipment became more advanced, the bypass was dismantled).
Work on the construction of the road began on May 27, 1843 simultaneously from two sides - from St. Petersburg to Bologoye and from Moscow to Bologoye.
At the beginning of 1842, the post of Minister of War was occupied by Peter Kleinmichel. Government buildings under him were erected quickly, but they cost the budget a lot of money, and the people - human sacrifices. The road was built by artels, which often consisted of serfs from the Vitebsk and Vilna provinces. They were directly dependent on each other: if one of the workers fell ill, the cost of his treatment was deducted from the earnings of the entire artel. According to the testimony of contemporaries, dozens of builders died from exhausting labor, typhus epidemics and fever, especially in open places blown through by the winds. According to various estimates, up to 40 thousand people worked at the construction site.
It is characteristic that it was during the construction of the Nikolaev railway that for the first time in Russia a track gauge of 1,524 millimeters began to be used. Historians attribute this to the fact that consultants from America worked on the construction, and above all George Washington Whistler, an American railway 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 Russian engineers Pavel Melnikov and Nikolai Kraft proposed exactly this width. True, they brought the idea, most likely, 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 the choice of the track gauge - a gauge different from the European one would make it difficult for the alleged enemy to supply troops in the event of an invasion of Russian territory. True, the researchers did not find historical confirmation of this version.
34 stations were built on the Petersburg - Moscow line. The buildings in the capital cities (present-day Moskovsky and Leningradsky railway stations) were designed by the architect Konstantin Ton. By the way, Konstantin Ton - the court architect author 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 eyewitnesses of the era, Ton was a true German: extremely unsmiling, he did not like all sorts of hype and idle talk, he was a man of action. In 1847, he set about building the station of the Nikolaev railway in St. Petersburg and Moscow, which was entrusted to him. By the way, the first railway station in Russia - Tsarskoselsky - was also built according to his project.
The architect decided to complete the entire 651 kilometer of the road as a single ensemble. For this, in particular, the ends of the road had to be "looped" with similar buildings. Even today they seem to be almost the same: two-story, with identical towers. The tone used motives of the town halls of Western European cities, where the clock tower indicates the direction of the main entrance. True, meticulous connoisseurs of architecture note that there are still differences in the stations. So, 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 tower of the city duma. By the way, the ensemble in Moscow on Kalanchevskaya Square remained unfinished. According to Ton'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).
The 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 tsarist train of 9 wagons departed 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 the next day arrived in the city, having covered the journey in 21 hours 45 minutes. Thus, the travel time due to the "piece of iron" was reduced by three times.
The trains of that time were significantly different from those of today. Firewood was used as fuel. Because of this, each passenger train consisted of a steam locomotive and a tender - a special car designed to carry the fuel supply for the locomotive. 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. Trains moved at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour and were not initially equipped with cabins for drivers (they were equipped with trains only in the 1860s). From the first years of operation of the railway, the means of regulating the movement of trains was telegraph communication.
Safety on the first railways was ensured by sound signals: bells, whistles, musical organ organs. Hand flags, red and green discs, semaphores were used as visual signals. Originally, all switches on the railroad were hand-translated. By the way, the first domestic system for switching points and signaling, developed by a scientist, an expert in the field of signaling Yakov Gordeenko, was applied in 1885 at the Sablino station. Its development won an award at the 1900 Paris World Exhibition.
When the fiction writer Akunin told LiveJournal a long time ago that nothing had really been invented in Russia, I wrote to him that even railway switches had been invented in Russia, but he did not react, captured by the idea that Russia had given nothing to the world.
Nikolaev railway (until 1855 - Petersburg-Moscow, since 1923 renamed October) - built in mid XIX century to ensure rail links between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The movement was opened in 1851. The Nikolaev railway became the first two-track state-owned railway in the 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 in late XVIII century on industrial enterprises and at large construction sites. The first railway with steam locomotive traction was opened in 1834 at the Demidovs' Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant. It used the first Russian steam locomotives made by the Cherepanovs father and son.
The emergence of public railways 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, in comparison with other types of communication, had the advantage of significantly increasing the speed of delivery of goods and passengers, reducing the cost transport services, greater comfort of passengers in relation to other land transport. In 1826, the Ministry 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 keeping them in winter time... In 1830, professor of St. Petersburg University Shcheglov in his article substantiated the construction of the cast-iron road St. Petersburg - Tver for the shortest connection between the capital and the Volga basin. A few years later, in 1835, the Austrian engineer and entrepreneur Gerstner at personal meeting with Emperor Nicholas I, he proposed to build a railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow, before that, having built a small experimental road to study its work in winter conditions. On this issue, a commission was created, 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 showed the possibility of year-round use of railways in the Russian climate.
The construction of the railway began in 1843. The line was built with a double track, under the 1524 mm (5 ft) gauge, which later became standard on Russian railways. The Tsarskoye Selo road that existed at that time had a track gauge of 1829 mm (6 feet), and the Warsaw-Vienna road under construction - 1435 mm, as in some European countries.
The northern directorate supervised the construction from Chudovo, and the southern one from Vyshny Volochok; later from Tver. Directorates were divided into sections of 50-60 km, and those, in turn, at a distance of 10-12 km. Big bridges, railway stations and large stations stood out as independent construction sites. All sections were headed by railway engineers. All objects of the line were built by a contract method. Work contracts were concluded directly with the Main Directorate of Railways and Public Buildings. According to the contracts, the contractors were not subordinate to the heads of departments, who could not control the contractors in matters of labor and payment of workers.
Contractors hired both serfs and state peasants for work. Contracts between the contractor and the landowner were concluded without the legal participation of serfs. They had to give part of the money they earned to the landowner as rent. The state peasant entered into an agreement on his own, but due to mass illiteracy, he often could not read it and took the agent's word for it. Most of the builders were recruited for the period from May 1 (13) to November 1 (13), but there was also daily employment. Sometimes the work was carried out in winter as well. The workers lived in huts or dugouts, less often in barracks. The working day lasted all daylight hours, in the middle of the day there was a two-hour break for lunch and rest. On earthworks, production rates reached 9.2 m³ of soil per day, along with its movement over a certain distance. The contracts did not provide for 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 wage deductions (illness, fine, absenteeism, failure to meet the quota), the workers were responsible for each other with 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 meals.
The largest number of workers were excavators, who were annually involved in construction up to 40,000 people. The soil was moved by workers on wheelbarrows or horses on carts. In addition, according to the project of P. P. Melnikov, 465 "land carriages" were made on rail under horse traction. For them, 10 thousand rails were made with a length of 3.7 to 5.6 meters. For the mechanization of the work, 4 steam pile drivers and 4 steam excavators on rail were purchased from the USA. All equipment was handed over to contractors for temporary use free of charge. The excavators were used from July 1 (13), 1845 to December 15 (27), 1847 between Lykoshino and Berezaika at the excavation construction. The excavator, when working without breakdowns, produced up to 1000 m³ of soil in 12 hours, the average output was 500 m³. In 1848, excavators were bought by Demidov and used in the Urals for overburden operations.
170 years ago, one of the largest construction projects in the history of Russia began - the railway between the northern and southern capitals... In April 1843, prospecting expeditions went into deep forests and impenetrable swamps to outline the route of the future highway. At the request of the king, it had to be as straight as possible, regardless of the terrain. Who would have thought how this whim would turn out in the 21st century? The oldest line, built in a feudal, serf country, turned out to be almost the only one suitable for organizing high-speed traffic, due to the absence of bends (in other countries, special routes are being built for this purpose).
The history of construction is very interesting, you can read it, in particular,. In general, everything was very typical: they had to borrow money for construction, incl. and abroad, in the same place they had to buy rails, steam locomotives, carriages, engineers were discharged from America. Contractors at the construction site shamelessly stole, the conditions for the digging workers were hard labor, people died like flies from scurvy, typhus, dysentery. Everyone, probably, from childhood knows the lines from N.A. Nekrasov:
Straight path: narrow embankments,
Posts, rails, bridges.
A on sides-then all bones russians...
How many there are! Vanechka, do you know?
Be that as it may, by the end of 1851 the road was built and started up, naming it in honor of the emperor "Nikolaevskaya". He became the pride of the then Russia. Around 1862, a special photo album was made, on which you can see this highway almost in its original form. Here are just some pictures from it (by Joseph Goffert). Rate the quality!
Famous Verebyinsky Bridge: 
A high resolution
Because of the huge ravine, it was necessary to build a bridge with a steep slope, it was a very unpleasant section of the route: the trains had to be dragged uphill with two steam locomotives, and on the descent they were often so accelerated that they overshot the station. In 1876, the road workers surrendered and decided to build a large bypass (17 km long), because of which the ideal straight line of the road on the map was violated. Then there was a joke that Tsar Nicholas got his finger under the pencil when he drew the track along the ruler. Only in 2001 was it possible to restore the bridge in its original place and, accordingly, the straightness of the road.
By the way, there is a scene on the pedestal of the monument to Nicholas I in St. Petersburg where he is depicted at the Verebyinsky Bridge (photo from Vika):
Depot in Tver: 
Train station 4 class Burga: 
A high resolution
Bridge over the Slavyanka river. Train as part of a G series steam locomotive: 
On June 8, 1843, one of the largest construction projects of the 19th century began - the construction of the Nikolaev railway, which connected two capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg. This road was renamed Oktyabrskaya in 1923. The construction of the highway has become a turning point in the railway history of Russia.
Start of construction
Nikolaevskaya road was built with the aim of connecting Moscow and St.Petersburg by rail - two largest cities Russian Empire... The road passed through the territory of many provinces - for example, the Novgorod and Tver provinces were also connected thanks to the construction of a new road. New road was built according to the latest technical innovations - it was double-track, there were no such roads in Russia at that time.
Since its foundation in 1703, St. Petersburg has become the largest city in the Russian Empire in terms of population, becoming the most important center of trade. The increasing needs of the growing population in the 18th century lead to the creation of various routes of communication between the capital and the rest of the country: navigable canals connecting the basin Baltic Sea with Volga pool and pool Of the White Sea; the metropolitan highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg; Moscow highway with gravel surface.
But this was not enough for the growing city. Therefore, in 1830, professor of St. Petersburg University Shcheglov proposed and substantiated the construction of a cast-iron railway St. Petersburg - Tver for the shortest connection between the capital and the Volga basin. Later, in 1835, the Austrian Gerstner, engineer and entrepreneur, proposed the construction of a railway from Moscow to St. Petersburg. A commission was formed, which rejected the Austrian's proposal, but recommended that he build a small experimental railway to study its work in winter conditions.
After that, different options the creation of a railway connection between St. Petersburg and Moscow, but all were rejected, until in March 1841 Nicholas I ordered the creation of a commission to draw up a project of a railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, which was headed by A. Kh. Benkendorf. Despite the fact that the project presented by the commission in September 1841 was not approved by the committee of ministers, the emperor nevertheless advocated the construction of the highway.
Who built the road
At the end of April 1843, the route was mapped, approved and accepted by the management. In parallel with the tracing, a study was carried out of two possible routes for the construction of the road: the direct St. Petersburg - Moscow and the route St. Petersburg - Novgorod - Vyshny Volochek - Moscow. The route with a call to Novgorod was 30 kilometers longer and cost 17.5% more than the direct route. This option had the advantage of large volumes of freight. The opinions of senior government officials who were part of the Special Interdepartmental Committee on the route were divided. This contradiction was resolved by the opinion of Nicholas I, who sided with the direct route.
The construction of the highway began on June 8, 1843. The line was divided into two directorates, demarcated in the Bologoye region: North and South, headed by P. P. Melnikov and N. O. Kraft, respectively. Each directorate was divided into sections of 50-60 kilometers, and those, in turn, at a distance of 10-12 kilometers. Railway stations and large bridges were assigned to separate independent construction sites. All objects were built on contracts, which were concluded directly with the Main Directorate of Railways and Public Buildings.
Contractors hired workers from both serfs and state peasants. At the same time, the working conditions were terrible. State contracts entered into contracts themselves, but due to the fact that most of them could not read, they had to take the agents at their word. Serfs, on the other hand, did not have the right to legal participation in the conclusion of an agreement, which was signed by landowners and contractors. The peasants had to live in huts and dugouts, and from the money they earned, they received only a part, since they had to pay the landlords a quitrent. The working day lasted from dawn to dusk with a two-hour break for lunch and rest. For illness, failure to appear, non-fulfillment of the norm, the workers had to pay fines on the principle of mutual responsibility, that is, everyone suffered for the guilt of one. In total, builders could earn from 17 to 35 rubles per season, depending on the work performed.
Most of the workers were excavators, of whom about 40 thousand people were involved in construction every year. They took out the soil in wheelbarrows or horses on carts. Also, 465 horse-drawn "earth carriages" designed by P. P. Melnikov, four steam headframes and four steam excavators on a rail track were involved in the excavation work. In parallel with the earthworks, the construction of buildings and structures was carried out.
The construction of the railway, initially estimated at 43 million rubles, cost the state 67 million, which is almost one third of the annual budget of the Russian Empire in 1842.
Opening movement
From 14 to 16 August 1851, before the official opening of the movement, two battalions of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments, two squadrons of the Life Guards of the Cavalier and Horse Regiments and a division of the Guards artillery were transported to Moscow on the Nikolaev railway in nine trains. Two days later, on August 18, 1851, the tsarist train left for Moscow, which spent a total of 19 hours on the way.
The official opening of the railway took place on November 1, 1851, it was marked by the launch of a "nationwide train", which consisted of six cars.
Further destiny
After the death of the emperor, the railway was named "Nikolaevskaya". It was sold into the ownership of the Main Society of Russian Railways for a period until 1952, but was bought out in 1894. At the same time, the Port, Novotorzhskaya and Rzhevsko-Vyazemskaya lines were added to it.
Over time, the number of cars on the train increased - by late XIX century, there were already 11 carriages in passenger trains, and 50 in freight trains.
Unusual road
The railway track gauge in Russia is slightly wider than is customary in Europe. Previously, the railway between Moscow and St. Petersburg had a curved bend between Okulovka and Malaya Vishera. According to legend, Emperor Nicholas I himself drew a straight line from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and the reason for the bend was a pencil that went around the emperor's finger. Although the real reason lies in the height difference, which prevented low-power steam locomotives from pulling the train. Therefore, the bend was created. It is also interesting that all mail trains were initially guarded by a convoy that followed on horseback along the entire railway.
It is worth noting that the track, built in the 19th century, is now one of the few suitable for running high-speed trains due to its straightness. But such a quality for centuries was achieved at a difficult price. The construction of the Nikolaev railway, of course, marked new Age in the railway business in the country. But the needs of the great city led to great losses, and at that time few people thought about it.
Ekaterina Balaeva
The construction of the first railway in Russia is an epoch-making phenomenon. What did the people of Nikolayev's Russia believe in and what were they afraid of when a grandiose structure was erected before his eyes, connecting the capitals? By the 174th anniversary of the launch of the movement on the Nikolaev railway, let us recall the legends surrounding it.
The famous "finger of the emperor".
Perhaps one of the most famous legends connected with the Nikolaev (and currently - Oktyabrskaya) railway, there is a legend about a strange bend of the main line in the area of the stations Verebye and Oksochi - the so-called Verebyinsky bypass. According to legend, when planning the route of the road, Emperor Nicholas I drew a straight line on the map between Moscow and St. Petersburg. And in the place where the Verebyinsky bypass was built (which was nevertheless straightened several years ago), an unusual bend for a straight track turned out, because the emperor's pencil went around his finger. The executive builders did not dare to disobey the highest plan and built it exactly according to the scheme. The people called this place - "the finger of the emperor".
This legend, though beautiful, does not stand up to criticism. Engineer Melnikov, one of the authors of the project of the Petersburg-Moscow railway, wrote in his writings that in that place there was a significant difference in the profile, which made it difficult to move trains with low-power steam locomotives at that time that had low tractive effort. To overcome the rise, it was necessary either to grab an additional locomotive, or to uncouple the train into several parts. In order to eliminate the inconvenience, a bypass of the Vereby ravine was built, thanks to which the longitudinal profile of the track became slightly more gentle.
Devilish notion
It is full of rumors that for a long time they did not even dare to take the first train, let alone go. An incomprehensible, huge colossus, unknown as moving at a terrible speed, roaring furiously and blowing out puffs of smoke, not otherwise, it was controlled evil spirits: the devils set the wheels in motion, and their leader led the train. To check and calm the population, the first to be put on the train were ... prisoners. And only then, after making sure that the train was going exactly along the laid track and was able to stop independently, the first "official" passengers got on it, with the emperor at the head.
An interesting fact - not only poorly educated peasants reacted with distrust to the novelty of Nicholas I. Educated people who understand the structure of the steam locomotive were also those who saw in new technology only negative sides... For example, Herzen, publicly stated that the steel highway is needed only so that Moscow would quickly find out for a couple of days what other books the government had banned.
Russian riding
The general laughter caused comic story, passed from mouth to mouth, about how the sovereign-emperor first rolled on the new railway. An unknown joker invented that the tsar-father, unable to resist until the end of construction, ordered his horse-drawn carriage to be put on the track with wheels. It goes without saying that the horses remained in harness. In a similar way, Emperor Nicholas I allegedly got from St. Petersburg to the next station and disembarked at it. "Good business!" - allegedly said the pleased sovereign, but on the way back he still drove along the pavement.
Frightened Nicholas I
Another legend about the incident that happened to Nicholas I during a study trip along a new steel highway. As soon as the road was built, the sovereign immediately rode along its entire length from St. Petersburg to Moscow, in order to accept the job. But having reached the Verebyinsky bridge, the train stopped to attach the second locomotive in order to overcome the long ascent. Seeing the handsome bridge himself (and he, like today, was very long and high, with a length of 590 meters with a support height of 53 meters), the king-father, allegedly, was terrified to ride on top, not trusting the reliability of the structure. He immediately ordered an empty train to be driven across the Verebyinsky bridge, and he and his retinue crossed the bottom, although he was convinced of the strength of the bridge, after which he continued on his way.
The first version of the Verebyinsky Bridge was designed by the architect Zhuravsky D.I. By the way, it is the Verebyinsky bridge that is depicted on one of the four bas-reliefs on the monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square in St. Petersburg. And it is not without reason that the scene is depicted where Emperor Nicholas I with the entire commission does not ride the train, but for some reason is at the bottom of the Verebynsky ravine, looking at an empty train passing over the bridge.
Painted rails
Another amusing incident also happened during a study trip when checking a newly built road. On one of the runs, the train unexpectedly ... locked up. The reason for this opportunity came from excessive diligence and servility. individuals... The road was built for a long time, almost ten years, during which the laid rails in some sections had time to rust thoroughly. A special case, the visit of the emperor himself is expected, and even with a check, how to show him the rusted economy? After some discussion, we decided to hastily paint them with ordinary paint, but the same overly executive workers painted them not only from the sides, but also from above. As usual, they did not spare the paint, smearing it from the heart, and even at the very last moment. Having driven into the painted area, the imperial staff immediately locked up on that area. I had to disembark passengers from the carriages, to lighten the train, pour sand under the huge wheels and manually push the train further, to an unpainted section.
Railway in folk art
The grandiose structure could not help but enter into folklore... Yes, that folklore, the construction of the Oktyabrskaya highway, even touched on Russian poetry. "Station Berezaika, people, get out!" - and today even those who have never passed through the main passage of the OCT are sentenced, this saying has been remembered so firmly for more than a century and a half.
They say that the new railway in the first time after its construction was truly musical: for the safety of passengers and people living in the station settlements, various sound signals were used on the Nikolaev railway: whistles, bells and ... even musical organ organs. Red and green discs, hand flags, one- and two-winged semaphores, as well as an optical telegraph were used as visual signaling.
Not only happy memories of the construction and the first years of operation of the Petersburg-Moscow railway have survived to this day. With direct candor, Nekrasov spoke about the new object:
Straight path: narrow embankments,
Posts, rails, bridges.
And on the sides, all the bones are Russian ...
How many there are! Do you know?
After reading these lines, you perceive the numbers in a completely different way: the cost of a kilometer of the road was 100,400 rubles, total amount construction costs, by 1851 reached 64 664 751 rubles. Along the entire length of the Nikolaev road, 278 artificial structures were built, including 19 overpasses, 69 stone and cast iron culverts and 184 bridges.
Competition between the stations of the two capitals
There are irrefutable grounds that it is possible to judge the eternal rivalry between Moscow and St. Petersburg from the railway stations. Initially, it all started with the idea of the architect Ton, who decided to build the entire length of the road as a single ensemble, as a vast space. For symmetry, both sides of the highway are bounded by almost identical buildings - Moskovsky and Leningradsky railway stations. Almost the same, because despite the initial similarity, the facade of the Moscow railway station is two windows wider - the capital, after all! But the tower crowning the station opposite is more modest - like a restrained replica of the dominant verticals of Nevsky Prospekt - the tower of the City Duma and the spire of the Admiralty. In Moscow, the station is decorated with baroque lace as a reminder of the St. Petersburg decors of Bartolomeo Rastrelli. In St. Petersburg, between two arches adorning the window openings, a kind of "weight" hung from above, which was characteristic feature precisely Moscow architecture of the 17th century. Such are the imperceptible, and at the same time significant differences between the stations of both capitals.
And, although St. Petersburg has lost its status as a capital for almost 100 years, the distance on the Nikolaevskaya railway is still counted from Znamenskaya Square (Vosstaniya Square).
Moskovsky railway station in St. Petersburg
Leningradsky (Nikolaevsky) railway station in Moscow
Differences in the width of the European and Russian railway tracks
Another legend looks more like a historical anecdote, but, as you know, in every joke there is only a fraction of a joke. When the question of building the road was being decided, they decided not to blindly copy the established European standards, not "to measure by a common yardstick", but to approach this process "creatively". Obviously, the wider the track, the higher the stability of the cars, the higher their carrying capacity, theoretically, it is possible to significantly increase the speed, although very few people thought about this factor in those years. But how much wider it is is a question that, as always, requires the highest approval. Having gathered at the next meeting, the tsar was reported about the dilemma, with the question: "How much wider the track should be made than in Europe?" The emperor, not understanding the question, answered in the usual manner: "What's the big deal ?!" Further, to find out the length of the highest personal belongings, the personal doctor of the emperor was attracted, after which the work began to boil with new strength... Another version of the legend says that the idea was allegedly proposed by the emperor himself, as an effective measure to impede attacks foreign troops... It is worth noting that the measure turned out to be truly effective and the need to replace bogies near the cars significantly slowed down the fascist blitzkrieg at the beginning of the Second World War.
