How are railroads built? How to build a railway bypassing Ukraine

This is a story about how the first railway and a real steam locomotive were built in one Kingdom.

The action takes place in the middle of the 19th century. Here you will find horse-drawn carriages, antique clothes, dignified trips to the opera, an exhibition of the first photographs and, of course, an exciting story about the construction of the first steam locomotives, stations and railways.

Explanations of technical points are partly woven into the fabric of the story, partly taken out in separate text inserts and explanatory illustrations. From them you will learn about the action of steam, the principles of operation of a steam locomotive, the manufacture of wheel sets, the functions of individual mechanisms of a steam locomotive - for example, a boiler, a connecting rod, an automatic air brake, a safety valve.

This is an exciting journey filled with humor, adventure, historical flavor and curious technical details.

About the series

"Technical Tales" is a series of informative books that answer the favorite children's question: "How and what is it made of?"

These are both informative books about the construction of buildings and vehicles, and funny fictional stories about adventures. What is a carburetor, why some planes have one wing, and some have two, what types of foundations are there, how the motorcycle control panel is arranged - the child will learn about all this while reading.

"Technical tales" are so informative that they could well be called reference books, but presented in such a fascinating way that they are perceived as stories. Each book describes in detail the transport device, the assembly process, technical details. All illustrations are drawn in detail, the texts are simple and easy to understand.

Books will develop curiosity, form an interest in technical sciences and help you have fun and useful time.

How to read this book

Read an entertaining story that will take you back 180 years. Follow the career of young engineer Max Rezner and his love story. Study technical texts and look at diagrams that explain the operation of a steam locomotive and a railroad. Discuss the book with the whole family, let the children tell everything they have learned to their friends.

book chips

A new book in the series of beloved "Technical Tales"

Detailed technical illustrations

Will take you to the era of factories, steam engines, the first photographs, crinolines and great discoveries

All about the construction of the railway adored by children!

Even adults will love it

Who is this book for?

For all lovers of railways, trains, technology, mechanisms and history from 5 years

For curious dads

Expand description Collapse Description

As in all times, the construction of railways was a strategically important aspect of the life of every country. This is a really serious area of ​​construction, which includes not only the design plans for the future railway and the implementation of construction work, but also, directly, the very commissioning of the railway track.

Engineers and workers

The main point in the construction of railways is the accuracy and coherence of the actions of the workers who were entrusted with this process. A significant role is played in the construction of railways by employees of the engineering and technical department staff, who should be just experts in their field and know all the nuances of this process in order to minimize the occurrence of unforeseen situations. The construction of railways does not tolerate blots and mistakes, and even more so, low-quality materials, the use of which can lead to breakdowns on the railway, and as a result, the lost lives of people. It is necessary to coordinate all the points that relate to the construction of railways in a particular region, district, to clearly assess the possibility of carrying out construction work in the indicated place.

The construction of railways implies, first of all, the availability of professional personnel who are able to bring any railway project to life. They are required to have special knowledge and skills in this area. In addition to the necessary package of permits, the construction of railways requires the use of resources of special equipment, such as lifting and earth-moving machines, transport and specialized machines that have both road and rail tracks. In addition, it is imperative to have a repair and mechanical workshop and a special storage room in reserve for troubleshooting that may appear during the construction of the railway. Only under the condition that all these points are fulfilled, the work on the construction of railways can be carried out with high quality and within a certain time frame.

Material Requirements

Railway construction can only be done with high quality specialized materials such as geotextiles. Geotextile material, in recent years, has been widely used in the construction of railways. It can perform the function of reinforcing the soil structure, which has a low bearing capacity, strengthen retaining walls and steep slopes, and perform the function of a technological layer. Geotextiles can also be used as a filtering layer in a drainage structure and used as an effective protective layer against metal corrosion.

Geotextile material in the construction of railways is used to stabilize under the ballast layers of the railway, and also significantly improves the operational characteristics of the railway track. Geofabrics have the property of strength, reinforcing unstable soils and can significantly reduce both the construction time of railways and significantly reduce the cost of building a railway.

Job Requirements

Building railroads is an exciting but very difficult process. This work excludes the possibility of even the smallest error or error - only in this case the railway will be built in accordance with all norms and standards. Equally important is the quality of reinforced concrete structures and welded metal structures, as well as railway equipment, which form the basis of railway construction. You should not save on building materials for the railway and purchase the necessary structures only from specialized manufacturing plants that have a narrow railway specialization.

From the correct combination of these points - the clarity of the actions of workers and engineers, the coherence of the work process, the high quality of the necessary materials that are needed for the construction of railways - depends on the suitability and durability of the railway. At stake is not only the reputation of the engineering bureau and the contractor, but most importantly, the human lives of people who will use the services of railway transport and the railway.

Education of engineers

Today, it can be said that a large number of railway design engineers come from railway modeling schools. Every child in childhood, not just a boy, dreamed of his own railway. The construction of railways in the children's version has always been and is a popular and very exciting activity. Most of the boys, and even some of the girls, attend modeling school, which instills in them many skills and abilities. Such circles and schools, which teach children and teenagers how to build railways in a reduced format, perform several very important functions that allow the child to develop himself comprehensively. Children experience the world from an adult perspective. They carefully study all the smallest details of the railway, learn attentiveness and responsibility, and also develop perseverance and logic. Children from the past transfer these skills and abilities to the adult present and become excellent and inventive design engineers who are responsible for their work, and most importantly, they love it and are devoted to their vocation.

It is safe to say that most of the parents in their childhood spent more than one hour building railways, which were almost the most expensive of all the gifts offered. The construction of railways allows you to develop the imagination, and even the child's attitude to the world and society, through the distribution of roles in this process.

History of road construction in Russia

If we turn to the history of the construction of railways in Russia, we will see that the railway was really the most important for the country. It connected large shopping centers to each other, it was simply impossible and difficult to get to and deliver the goods by simple road transport, which, moreover, was not a cheap pleasure. Therefore, the construction of railways has always been a priority for each of the developed countries of the world.

The first railway line that was laid in Russia was about two kilometers long and was based on horse traction. Then the next railway track was built in the Urals, which was already based on steam traction. These short railway tracks were laid out of necessity to transport products from the factories of the Urals. The very first full-fledged operating railway is a route that connected several settlements - St. Petersburg, Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovskoye. The total mileage was only 26 kilometers.

Initially, the construction of railways was carried out, which satisfied the strategic interest of the Russian Empire. Then the railways were built to supply raw materials to factories and factories, after that the railway served for military purposes - the transportation of military equipment, and only much later, approximately, after the 1917 revolution, the railway was open to consumers and everyone. At that time, it was the fastest and most affordable transport for the population of the country. The construction of railways took place where people did not even dream of seeing it.

The construction of railways made it possible to establish basic strategic and commercial ties not only in the middle of the country, but also beyond its borders. The construction of railways began to be actively implemented with the massive development of trade and market relations between countries and regions of the country. Rail transport is the most accessible and popular transport. Every year the need for the construction of new railways increases.

Therefore, the construction of railways is not only a priority in construction, but also a fairly profitable area.

Having slightly opened one more page of history, we will be able to plunge into 1935, when the idea of ​​building a railway for children arose. The first children's railway was built in Tbilisi. But this is not exactly a children's toy road - this is a full-fledged railway project, which was supposed to become an analogue of a real railway. After the first railway line, they began to build such roads throughout the Soviet Union.

The history of the children's railway in Kyiv

So, let's take a closer look at the history of the Children's Railways of the city of Kyiv.

Initially, it was assumed that the construction of a railway for children would have a total length of rails of three kilometers. In addition, this project included the construction of several railway stations, the necessary depot, a water tower and two bridges with a tunnel. That is, the plans of the engineers and the project management were to create a real railway track for children with all the necessary facilities.

Directly, the construction of the railway could not do without rolling stock, which included a steam locomotive, a diesel locomotive, an electric locomotive and nine trailers of various types, which were made of wood. The most interesting thing is that this project plan also included the construction of a specially equipped children's highway, a small children's river port, which would become part of the children's railway. But due to some circumstances, the construction of the railway for children and adolescents was not successful.

The second stage of the construction of the children's railway surfaced in the post-war period. Approximately, in 1950, the project of building a railway for children was again actively discussed. But the very direction of the railway tracks was chosen, rather unsuccessfully - the railway was supposed to pass through the territory of Babi Yar, which was categorically impossible to carry out due to the events of the war years that took place on this territory. The dispute over the location of the railroad tracks dragged on for two long years. But in 1952, finally, permission to build a children's railway was received and approved.

Like the construction of full-size and purpose railroads, the children's railroad was supposed to be a full-fledged copy of a conventional railroad. The first mileage of the children's railway was 1.9 kilometers. In addition, according to the project plan, a railway station was built, called "Technical", as well as the main railway track, the presence of a bypass track, a dead end, which included a viewing ditch. All the details that were taken into account during the construction of the railway were natural and valid. It was a real railway, only for the use of children.

When Malaya South-Western celebrated its anniversary, the children's railway increased its mileage - it was increased to three kilometers. At the same time. Mostremonttunnel built a special throughput viaduct, which was laid through the ravine. A hundred meters long and almost twenty meters high - it was almost the grandest engineering building.

Further construction of the railway for children was marked by the appearance of several new railway stations - Komsomolskaya and Pionerskaya. Unfortunately, at that time, there was no necessary turning track at the Komsomolskaya station, so the locomotive had to follow the tender forward. Also, the construction of the railway included the installation of a mandatory semaphore with compensators and a remote drive, which was activated with the help of a station attendant.

The railway track was equipped with all the necessary details - special markings that did not deviate from the standards, picket and kilometer poles, an indicator of the slope and radius of the curve, a sign that announced the starting line and the final line of the braking distance. At the heart of the construction of the railway was laid the electric train movement system.

In 1950, a specially manufactured diesel locomotive, TU1-001 series, was added to the railway construction project. A little later, a diesel locomotive TU2-021 was added to it. Until that moment, trains on the children's railway used wooden wagons, but now they have been reconstructed and completely new all-metal wagons have appeared, which were stronger and more durable.

But in 1960, the construction of the children's railway was again threatened with closure - it was necessary to transfer this railway line due to active construction work in the Voleikiv region. It was proposed to move the road to the VDNKh area, but the local authorities prevented this, since about 1,500 units of green spaces would have to be destroyed. Long disputes about the transfer of the railway track ended with the fact that the construction of the railway remained in its original place, only in a slightly shortened version.

In subsequent years, the Komsomolskaya station was completely disbanded - it took a place for the construction of a hospital complex. Now the total mileage of the railway was about 2.8 kilometers. Already by 1986, the project for the construction of a railway for children was further curtailed - it was marked by the elimination of the small ring of train traffic.

Around the same time, the rolling stock of the train was updated - new PV51 trailers were manufactured. But they were of lower quality than the previous ones, and could not last long. The same fate befell the new diesel locomotives TU7A and TU7A-3197, which ended up with a factory defect in the diesel system, which led to its downtime on the siding.

The years that followed brought the children's railroad project to the brink of shutting down because there wasn't enough money to keep it going. The staff of this rolling stock was reduced. This project did not have a bright future ahead - as it turned out, the interests of the authorities changed over time. Diesel locomotives are now at the service of foreign tourists. In view of the fact that the Pionerskaya station burned to the ground as a result of a fire, and the locomotive was unexpectedly scrapped, the children's railway construction project was on the verge of complete destruction, as it was already unprofitable for the city. In addition, there were not isolated cases of safety violations - the children tried to ride on the footboard of the car while the train was moving, which was strictly prohibited.

At the moment, the railway for children has been restored, a reserve locomotive has been put into operation, which now has a bright red locomotive color and it follows the city on exclusively holidays and solemn days.

As you can see, the construction of railways includes not only the modeling and construction of a real railway, but the efforts of the same once young railway workers made it possible to bring to life a unique railway construction project specifically for children. This is a truly unique and very useful project that gave children joy and unforgettable experiences.

Like any construction of railways, this project required great dedication from the project managers and workers who were directly involved in its implementation. Thanks to these enthusiasts, we can now enjoy his work.

findings

To summarize, the construction of railways is a necessary and unique process. Many children are still passionate about railway modeling, in the hope that someday they will take the place of the leading designers and engineers of the railway.

Classification of types of railway construction

Railroad construction is

Construction of new railways;

Construction of second tracks;

Railway electrification;

Reconstruction (reconstruction) of existing railways;

Reorganization of stations and nodes.

Newly built railways are divided into:

Universal

Specialized.

Construction of new railways

Universal railways are intended both for the transportation of passengers and cargo for various purposes (oil, coal, timber, engineering products, building structures, etc.). Most of the railways already built and newly built are just like that.

According to their capacity, purpose and mechanical equipment, railways are divided into:

pioneer,

connecting,

unloading;

built immediately to design capacity or with the expectation of its phased increase;

having diesel or electric locomotive traction.

In addition, railways can be divided into those built for normal gauge (1520 mm), European (1435 mm) and narrow (760 mm).

Pioneer railways are built mainly for the development of developing areas. Their carrying capacity is relatively small - up to 1 million tons of cargo per year.

However, when designing them, one should take into account the subsequent increase in cargo turnover - the possibility of opening additional separate points, an increase in the useful length of receiving and departure routes; the parameters of the substructure of the track (subgrade, culverts) must comply with the design standards for category I and II railways. On difficult sections, the pioneer railway can be laid along long-term detours.

Connecting railways are designed to reduce the length of the run of goods, reduce the time spent by passengers on the road. The power of such a road, as a rule, should correspond to the power of the lines it connects. How connecting roads were built: Astrakhan-Guriev, Beineu-Kungrad and others.

In some cases, instead of strengthening the capacity of the existing railway, it is advisable to build another line in the same direction, but along a different route - unloading. When transferring individual highways to high-speed passenger trains, freight flows from them are switched to other lines newly built for this purpose or to existing ones that need to be further reconstructed. So, one of the purposes of the Baikal-Amur Mainline was, in essence, the unloading of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Freight traffic from the St. Petersburg-Moscow railway was transferred to the Sankovskoye direction.

Railways can be built immediately to full capacity, if the productivity of the enterprise for whose cargo transportation they are intended is known in advance. Commercial railways owned by private owners (investors) are immediately put into permanent operation completely finished (“turnkey”) so that in the future there will be no problems with their strengthening.

The capacity of newly built railways can be increased in stages.

At the first stage, the line is rented in the volume of the launch complex, the minimum required for the opening of permanent train traffic (the volume and cost of the work performed is 70-80% of the design). The purpose of such a line (in general, a pioneer one) is the transportation of goods for the construction of enterprises, the development of an uninhabited area, etc. In the future, as the readiness of enterprises, the completion of the construction of cities and towns, its capacity is brought to the design one.

Depending on the project cargo turnover, the line can be built under locomotive or electric traction.

As a rule, universal railways are initially built single-track. However, in some cases, if it is necessary to ensure a large freight turnover, the railway can be built immediately for two tracks with simultaneous electrification.

Narrow-gauge railways have not been built in recent years. Existing roads in some directions are being transferred to a normal gauge everywhere. So, in the 60s. During the development of virgin lands in Kazakhstan, narrow-gauge roads were initially built, but almost immediately they were transferred to a normal gauge of 1520 mm. For a long time, the Chudovo-Novgorod narrow-gauge railway was in operation.

Separate logging lines are still in operation. Narrow gauge is used on children's railways. However, there are already significant difficulties here - the rolling stock, the elements of the superstructure of the track (rails, switches) are worn out, and new structures are not produced by industry.

Specialized Newly built railways can be designed (and appropriately equipped) for the transportation of one (general) type of cargo (coal, oil, timber). On such lines, heavy, specialized rolling stock of great length is used in circulation. Weight loads on the track reach up to 30 tons per axle. The ego determines the increased power of the upper structure. Increased requirements are imposed on subgrade soils, methods of its compaction and structures. Such lines can be built under two tracks at once. There are significant features in the design of stations and nodes (especially those designed to receive goods from suppliers and transfer them to consumers).

For fifty years now, the Trans-Siberian Railway has been the longest railway line in the world. Moreover, the road is still under construction. A tourist can travel all the way from Moscow to Beijing without leaving the train - and it will not be just a journey, but a story filled with amazing adventures and beautiful views.

The Trans-Siberian Railway became the first Eurasian transcontinental railway. Surprisingly, it was completed back in 1904: the Trans-Siberian first connected Moscow and Vladivostok, and then Russia, China and Korea. At the moment, the length of the entire road is 11,024 kilometers.

peacemaker king

During the reign of Alexander III, the Trans-Siberian Railway turned from an economic dream into a reality. The emperor, having gained access to the richest Siberian resources, appointed a special group of ministers and engineers who tirelessly exercised strict control over the project.

Count Witte

Count Witte was appointed head of the committee. The first minister of finance and transport in the country, he ended his career as prime minister. To finance the monumental project, Witte short-sightedly decided to raise taxes, and then ordered an additional issue of government banknotes. Another pebble in the foundation of the already designed temple of the Russian revolution.

Fight with nature

Workers often had to fight off bandits and wild animals - including tigers and bears. Despite unbearable working conditions and constant danger to life, an incredible railway was built: through the steppes, swamps, forests and over water, it stretches across the whole of Eurasia.

Construction of 1903

About 90 thousand workers and builders were brought to the construction site from all over Russia. Not everyone came voluntarily: sometimes people simply had no choice. Most of the workers were well aware of their dangerous situation: cold, robbers, wild animals - the chances of returning home from the construction site of the Trans-Siberian Railway were 50/50

War check

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, the Trans-Siberian was used as the country's main transport channel. With such a load, the shortcomings of the highway became obvious. Many bridges in key places were built of wood rather than iron and steel - savings.

First renovation

In 1860, the length of the future giant was only one and a half thousand kilometers; already by 1920 it exceeded 72 thousand kilometers. At the same time, the first repair work began, during which the main problems of the Trans-Siberian Railway were eliminated. The electrification of the highway began in 1929, and it was completed only in 2002.

From Russia to China

Now the Trans-Siberian Railway connects hundreds of cities, towns and villages, crossing a record seven time zones. Traveling from end to end will take as much as 8 days - and it is unlikely that you will be able to forget such an adventure for the rest of your life.

Baikal line

In 1991, the construction of a branch on the Baikal-Amur Mainline was completed, providing easy access to the lake. This route is extremely popular with travelers - the surrounding nature is especially good in summer.

Harbin

A century ago, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway turned provincial Harbin into the economic leader of the region. This city is still the northernmost largest metropolis in China. The flow of tourists is not scarce all year round, and the locals make good money even during an extremely harsh winter.

First grade

Trans-Siberian trains immediately won the recognition of representatives of the ruling elite of the Russian Empire. Special high-class carriages were equipped with marble bathrooms, music rooms, libraries and even sports equipment. Anyone can now repeat the experience of their ancestors, who know a lot about a worthy journey: everyone is allowed to go to the luxurious Golden Eagle - there would be money.

Next year will be 110 years since the founding of railway transport in Kazakhstan. On the eve of this date, together with the National Company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy JSC, we decided to tell you about how the construction of the Kazakhstani railway began. In no case do we pretend that this will be a chronicle of the history of the railway, for this historians have yet to write weighty volumes. We will show you interesting photos and tell you some interesting stories.

1. In historical documents, there are several versions about when and where the first rails of the Trans-Siberian Railway were laid. According to one of them, the first railway in the Turkestan region was built in 1880-1881. It was called the Trans-Caspian and connected the ports of the Caspian Sea with Kizyl-Arvat. According to another, the idea of ​​building a railway to connect Turkestan and Siberia arose in 1886. On October 15, 1896, the City Duma of the city of Verny decided to create a commission to determine the benefits from the construction of railway lines. Apparently, all these versions do not exclude each other, but rather complement. Events unfolded in one decade of the end of the 19th century almost simultaneously in different directions of the Turkestan region.

2. In the photo, a railway excavation, the beginning of the 20th century.

Officially, the year of foundation of railway transport in Kazakhstan is considered to be 1904. It was then that the construction of the Orenburg-Tashkent highway with a length of 1668 km began. Cities and industrial centers grew up along the railway line: Aktyubinsk, Uralsk, Turkestan, Kzyl-Orda, Aralsk and others.

9. In 1917, at the height of the First World War, the Altai Railway was put into operation. Destination: Novo-Nikolaevsk - Semipalatinsk. On October 21, 1915, the Semirechensk railway was launched from the Arys station to Alma-Ata. The events of the October Revolution stopped its construction. And only in 1921 the railway line came to the city of Aulie-Ata, in today's Taraz.

In the archive of Bertrand Rubinstein, who headed the Kustanai branch of the road for more than 33 years, there is one photocopy of a unique photograph. A bridge with five locomotives on it. And there are people under the bridge. Here is how Bertrand Iosifovich comments on this photo:

So then the bridges were put into operation. Builders and designers stood under the bridge, who with their own lives guaranteed the high reliability of the structure. As it turns out today, it was built to last. What were the trains then? A toy train and five wagons.

12. There are copies of no less interesting documents in the Rubinstein archive that testify to those ancient times. For example, the stations in Troitsk and Kustanai had to have iconostases, all other stations - icons. Sofas and chairs are oak. Necessarily - boiling water for passengers.

13. In August of this year, Bertrand Rubinstein turned 90 years old. In the former building of the Almaty railway, two friends of Bertrand Iosifovich, labor veterans, honored railway workers Beisen Shermakov and Kaltay Sambetov, compose a congratulatory speech and a telegram to the hero of the day.

14. - Oh, what a memory he has, - says Kaltay Sambetov. - He remembers everything down to the smallest detail. And in general, this man is a legend and an encyclopedia at the same time. We have been friends with him for a long time, so I am going to visit him in Kostanay for his anniversary.

Confirming his words about the memory of a friend, Kaltay Sambetovich shows one of the articles of the Kustanai newspaper, in which Rubinstein shares one more interesting information.

Three years before the October Revolution, a 4.5% bond loan guaranteed by the Russian government for 29 million rubles was issued for the construction of the Troitsk-Kustanai railway, 162 kilometers long. The construction was financed by the Russian-Asian Bank, the Russian Commercial and Industrial Bank, as well as the London banking house KRISP. Kustanai merchants also made their monetary contributions, who had long dreamed of getting a railway access to the Urals.

The newspaper “Kostanay steppe economy” wrote in April 1914: “With the construction of a railway line to Kustanai, our steppe market will inevitably be involved in the whirlpool of world trade, and not only will its conditions change, but its capacity will also increase. 151 miles of steel track were laid in just 8 months. Including the bridge over the river Toguzak. Moreover, the builders strictly met the estimate of 8843 thousand rubles.

15. The First World War and the Revolution prevented the involvement in the maelstrom of world trade. New times have come, and the Soviet government has already taken up the construction of the road. In the first years after the revolution, over 875 km of railway lines were built in Kazakhstan, this is more than a third of the entire length of the pre-revolutionary network. However, this was not enough. The development of the region required the construction of a large railway linking Siberia with Central Asia. First of all, it was necessary to build a line from Semipalatinsk to Lugovaya - the Turkestan-Siberian railway.

On December 3, 1926, the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR decided to launch the construction of Turksib: “Of all the proposed capital works of all-Union significance, it is necessary to consider it necessary this year (at that time the financial year began on October 1) to begin construction of the Semirechensk railway within a five-year period , based on the need to connect Pishpek with the Siberian Railway in Semipalatinsk.

16. Hairdressing salon at Moyun-Kum station of the Turkestan-Siberian road.

In 1926, the construction of a railway began, which was supposed to connect Siberia and Central Asia. The construction of Turksib met the first five-year plan.

Here is what Kudaibergen Dyusenovich Kobzhasarov, one of the founders of the Kazakh railway, says about the construction of Turksib:

I was born in 1928 in village No. 23 of the Zharma district of the Semipalatinsk region. People were constantly dying of hunger, and if it were not for the construction of the railway, we would not be here either. On Turksib they gave bread and clothes, and that was the most important thing! First, the father settled there, and then the rest of the relatives. The work was hard, exhausting, I always wanted to eat. In the end, thanks to the railway, we not only survived, but also became people.

17. Laying the track on Turksib, 1927.

It was necessary to lay 1442 kilometers of rail track. In the autumn of 1927, the first links of the route from Semipalatinsk and Lugovaya were laid.

18. Builders on Turksib, 1928.

In 1928, 17 caterpillar excavators, narrow-gauge diesel locomotives, tipping trolleys, dump trucks, mobile compressors, and rotary hammers purchased abroad appeared on Turksib for the first time. Until that time, all work was carried out almost manually.

In modern dictionaries, such a word as "grabar" no longer exists. And once it was a profession. And the people involved in it were considered a special caste among the workers. They came from the Urals to the construction of Turksib with their own carts and horses. Grabars manually prepared embankments, on which the rails were then laid.

21. A dugout on Chokpar after a snowstorm, 1928.

Alexander Ivanovich Lapshin came to the construction of Turksib in 1928 from the Ural city of Nevyanovsk. Here is what he recalls about the construction of an embankment and a cut between the Mai-Tyube and Aina-Bulak stations: “We worked a little south of the future Aina-Bulak station, in a hilly, completely deserted solonchak steppe. Not a tree, not a bush, not even a blade of grass anywhere! Only rare feather grass. Over the whole yellow wavy sea to the horizon - nothing ... The laying was carried out like this. At the very end of the laid track, a traveling wagon with sleepers was fed. On the sleepers lay special tongs with long handles and sharp spikes instead of "lips". Four pairs of stackers waiting for the trailer picked up the tongs, each pair grabbed the sleeper by the ends, dragged it forward and threw it one by one from the northern end to the southern end of the future link. After removing the last two sleepers from the trailer, other workers rolled the empty trailer back and loaded two rails onto it. At that time, the stackers were leveling the sleepers on the subgrade and laying out the linings. Now a trailer with a pair of rails and four rail carriers was being served. The stackers, again standing in pairs to the right and left of the trailer, took the ends of the rail carriers in their hands, grabbed the right rail with them, carried it (the whole eight - in the leg!) And put it on the sleepers, returned and put the left rail in the same way. The trailer was driven to the train for a new portion of sleepers, and the stackers, after aligning the rails according to the template, four sewed the rails with crutches and four put the lining. After that, everything was repeated again. We looked in amazement at this rhythmic and exceptionally well-coordinated, precise work. Everyone was especially struck by the fact that the sleepers and rails were carried at a quick pace (almost running) and in step, and returned back running and also in step! The entire cycle of laying 12.5 meters of track took less than 2.5 minutes. While we stared with open mouths in surprise, while we exchanged admiring interjections, the stackers went further, and soon a train loaded with laying material and platforms came in their place ... ". And this method was used to lay the highway with a length of 1445 kilometers. Despite the fact that laying was carried out manually, the speed was fantastically high for that time - 1.5 km per day, and on some days they laid even 4 km ( newspaper “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”, article “How Turksib was built”).

24. The bow of Turksib took place on April 21, 1930, 8 months ahead of schedule. Here is how the Gudok newspaper wrote about it: “April 24, at 22:00, the sliding of the last truss of the bridge across the Kshi-Vizhe was completed. The work went on all night. At dawn, the laying of bridge beams began. An hour later, the bridge deck was ready. The moment of engagement has arrived." On April 28, 1930, at noon, the first silver crutch was hammered in at the rail junction at the Aina-Bulak station. The docking was completed 8 months ahead of schedule.
Turksib became the first line in the region, around which industrial and agricultural enterprises arose. The length of the junctions to the legendary highway was three times its own length. If in 1922 in Kazakhstan the railway network totaled only 2.73 thousand km, then already in 1982 the length of public railways in the territory of the republic exceeded 14 thousand km.

25. Delivery of German tanks for remelting.

During the Great Patriotic War, the construction of railway lines continued, only now everything was subordinated to communication with the front. The Guryev - Kandagach - Orsk road (1936-1944) connected the Emba oil fields with the Urals. The line Akmolinsk - Kartaly (1939-1943) ensured the efficient delivery of coal from Karaganda to the South Urals. The sections Koksu - Tekeli - Taldykurgan and Atasu - Karazhal were built. The length of Kazakhstani roads during this period reached 10 thousand km.

26. In 1950, the Trans-Siberian Railway connected with the Turkestan-Siberian Railway, and the first meridian line was formed that passed through the entire territory of the republic - the Trans-Kazakhstan Railway (Petropavlovsk - Kokchetav - Akmolinsk - Karaganda - Chu). In the same period, intensive construction of railways took place in the northern and central regions of Kazakhstan. In 1955-1961, the Yesil - Arkalyk line (224 km) was created, in 1959 - Kustanai - Tobol, in 1960 - Tobol - Dzhetygara. During the 1950s, the density of the railway network in Kazakhstan doubled. In the 1960s, the Makat - Mangyshlak and Mangyshlak - Uzen sections were laid (the total length is almost 900 km). In 1964, the first section of the track in Kazakhstan (Tselinograd - Karaganda) was electrified. This started the active electrification of Kazakhstani railways.

27. The solemn moment of the opening of the railway line Mointy - Chu, 1953.

For the first time in the practice of railway construction, the construction of the highway was carried out according to a predetermined plan. The work went simultaneously from the north and south towards each other - from Semipalatinsk and from Lugovaya. Timely surveys of the Turksib route made it possible to significantly reduce both the length of the route itself and the cost of its construction. So, thanks to the surveys, the length of the route near Lake Balkhash was reduced by 78 kilometers. 6.5 million rubles were saved on construction and operation. The choice of direction through the ridges of the Zailiysky Alatau turned out to be difficult. So, when designing Turksib, Kyrgyzstan initially considered four options. Two of them turned out to be the most competitive - Chokparsky with the route adjoining the Lugovaya station and Kurdaisky with the adjunction to the Pishpek (Frunze) station. The Chokpar variant turned out to be the most advantageous. The cost of construction was reduced by 23 million rubles.

28. Fastening rails on the road of Friendship.

In 1954, the USSR and the PRC agreed to build the Lanzhou-Urumqi-Alma-Ata railway. The first trains began to run in 1959 on the Aktogay - Druzhba section. But this did not last long, as relations with China deteriorated. And only on September 12, 1990, the railway lines of the USSR and China were docked at the Druzhba-Alashankou border crossing.

29. The Kazakh railway was the largest in the Soviet Union - its length was more than 11 thousand km. Now "Kazakhstan temir joly" continues to develop actively. The length of the main railway lines is already more than 14 thousand km, freight cars - more than 44,000 units, locomotives - more than 1,500 units. Cargo turnover last year amounted to 235.7 billion ton-kilometers. So we can say that what was dreamed of back in the 19th century has come true in full!

There have been many interesting achievements in the history of the Kazakh railway. But we will complete our report with this interesting fact: on February 20, 1986, for the first time in the world, a train of 440 wagons with a total weight of 43.4 thousand tons and a length of 6.5 km was carried along the Tselinnaya railway from Ekibastuz to Sorokovaya station. It was a record worthy of the Guinness Book.

The report uses photographs from the book-album "Turksib - 75 years". The book uses materials provided by the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Central Museum of Railway Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan.