THE GREAT SIBERIAN RAILWAY. 255 



In 1891 aud 1892. as has already been mentioned, the work of laying the two extreme 

 sections, the West Siberian and the South Ussurisk, was commenced; and in 1893 work was 

 begun on the Central Siberian section from the Obi to Krasnoyarsk. The South Ussurisk sec- 

 tion will most probably be terminated in 1894, and the other two in 1891 In 1895 the 

 Xorlh Ussurisk section will be commenced and in 1896 the rest of the Central Siberian railroad 

 from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk will be begun, the first section of which will he finished in 1898; 

 and the second, in 1900. In 1899 work will be commenced on the Transbaikal aud Amour 

 sections, aud in 1900 the Baikal circuit will be begun: these will probably be finished In 1904. 

 The whole line across Siberia, 7,112 versts long, will tlierefore be terminated in 12 years, 

 counting from 1893. 



Considering the sparseness of the population of the country through which the Baikal 

 circuit, Transbaikal, Amour and Khabarovka sections pass, in consequence of which it will he 

 necessary to send workmen mostly fi'om European Russia, and also on account of the terms 

 allowed for laying the Khabarovka, Transhaikal and Amour sections, when planning out the 

 Siberian railway it was decided that navvies, masons and other special workmen, and also 

 rails, fastenings and roUiug stock, iron parts of bridges et cetera, would be sent a^ follows: for the 

 Khabarovka section by sea to \^ladivostok, and then further on by the Ussuri railway; for the Trans- 

 baikal section, also partly by sea to Vladivostok, then by rail to Khabarovka and then by the 

 Amour aud Shilka rivers as far as Sreteusk,and partly by rail to Irkutsk and then by the Angara 

 river and lake Baikal to Mysovsk pier; for the Baikal circuit section, by rail to Irkutsk: and for 

 the Amour section, partly from the east by the same route as that used for the Transbaikal 

 section, and partly from the west, by rail to Irkutsk, by water from Irkutsk to Mysovsk and 

 then by the Transbaikal line to Sretensk. In general the object in view was to establish as 

 quick as possible an uninterrupted steam communication between European Russia and 

 Vladivostok through the whole of Siberia and to take temporary advantage of the water 

 roads. These circumstances determined the system of gradation to be observed in laying the 

 track in its separate sections. Thus the first stage of the work consists in laying the line to 

 Irkutsk and finishing that already begun from Vladivostok to Grafsk; the second stage 

 consists of the sections between the rivers necessary for the establishment of steam commu- 

 nication through the whole of Siberia, partly by railroad and partly by water; finally, the 

 remaining sections which join up the works of the first and second stages into one continuous 

 railroad arc relegated to the third stage. As regards however the carrying out of the details 

 of the plan of building the Siberian railway from Cheliabinsk to Vladivostok, it must be 

 observed tliat the order of building the Western and Central Siberian sections from Cheliabinsk 

 to Irkutsk can be fixed upon with the greatest certainty as they have been subject to more 

 detailed investigation, this part of Siberia being nearer and more accessible from European 

 Russia, more densely populated and its climatic and topographical conditions more favourable^ 

 The plan of carrying out the Grafsk-Khabarovka section may also be regarded as quite 

 clear, as it closely resembles the Ussurisk line. 



With reference to the Baikal-Circuit, Transbaikal and Amour sections, it is neces- 

 sary to mention that the proposed dates of the termination of these lines may be liable to 

 change on account of the totally different conditions under which they must be built, compared 



