On this date in 1904, the Trans-Siberian Railway opened. 10 facts about it:
It’s the longest passenger train journey in the world at 9,288 km, or 5772 miles, travelling from from Moscow to Vladivostok. This crosses eight time zones, 497 bridges and 16 major rivers. It goes through 15 tunnels, 87 major cities, 3 countries and 2 continents. That said, the longest train journey in the world is a freight route, the 13,000-kilometer-long Yiwu–Madrid freight train.
On a high-speed train, a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway takes seven days, or eight days at regular speed without disembarking. Tourists tend to get off and spend a day or two at some of the locations.
There are over 850 stations along the line, most of which are small and only used by the locals. The largest station on the line is Novosibirsk. Another stop is Slyudyanka, which has the distinction of being the only railway station in the world to be constructed entirely from marble.
The railway took 25 years to build using some 100,000 workers, mostly prisoners exiled for their dissidence against the Tsar, using hand tools, even to dig the tunnels through solid rock. Conditions were harsh, especially considering that temperatures along parts of the route can fall to -62 degrees in winter.
During the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1922 the Bolsheviks used the railway for propaganda purposes. Special propaganda trains, known as agitpoezdy, emblazoned with slogans and flags, were sent along the route to deliver the revolutionary message to the people.
Needless to say, it’s run by the Russian government via the state-owned company Russian Railways.
It’s so big and important to the Russian economy that it has its own army. The Railway Troops were established in 1851, making it it the oldest force of its kind. As with any armed force, the primary responsibility of the Railway Troops is defending the nation, which they do by building, maintaining and protecting the railway.
European and Chinese trains can’t use it because the track gauge (1,520 mm) is different. Most of the world’s railways (55%) use 1,435 mm. 1,520 mm is the second most used at 15% but this is largely because Russia is such a large country and has a lot of railways.
The Trans-Siberian travels along the world’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Baikal, for 207 kilometres. In the early years passengers and cargo crossed Baikal on ferries in the summertime and train tracks were laid across the lake’s ice during winter. The highest point is at Yablonovy pass at an altitude of 1070m situated in the Yablonoi Mountains, in Transbaikal, Siberia.
It’s likely any number of babies have been born on this thing. I didn’t find any numbers on this but one baby born on this train was the dancer Rudolf Nureyev when his mother, Farida, was travelling to see his father in Vladivostok.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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