The construction of Trans-Sibierian Railway through the lens of US photographer

The Great Siberian Way, as the Trans-Siberian Railway across Eurasia is historically called, connects Moscow and St. Petersburg with the largest industrial cities of eastern Siberian and Russia’s Far East. / A group of railway officials

In 1894-1896, artist and photographer William Henry Jackson was commissioned by the World Transport Committee to travel the length of the under-construction railway, leaving behind more than 25,000 still images. / Such carts are used by contractors during construction of the railway in Eastern Siberia

The Trans-Siberian Railway is featured in the "Guinness Book of Records" in three categories: total length (5777,51 miles), number of stations, and construction time. Start point: Moscow, Yaroslavl Station. End point: Vladivostok. / Railway workers’ huts. Eastern Siberia

Officially, construction began on May 19, 1891 (May 31 according to the old Julian calendar; the Gregorian calendar was adopted in the USSR in 1918) in the vicinity of Vladivostok (9,100 km from Moscow). The laying of the foundation was attended by Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Nikolai II. / Construction of the railway in Siberia

In actual fact, construction began before that, in early March 1891, with the building of the Miass-Chelyabinsk section in the southern Urals. / Miass station

At the beginning of the 20th century, the railway line provided a reliable transport service that linked the European and Asian parts of Russia. / Colonel Vladimir Petrovich Trusov

There was nothing in the world that could match this section in terms of the cost, scale, and difficulty of its construction. Nevertheless, it was completed in just two years and put into operation a year ahead of schedule. / A group of coachmen

The Trans-Siberian Railway did not simply link Siberia and the Far East with the rest of Russia: it created a string of new towns and settlements in the most remote parts of the country. / A view of the Ussuri River, the border between Manchuria (an historical region in north-east China) and Siberia

Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway across Russia was officially completed in 1916, during World War I, when the 1,353-mile-long Amur Railway was brought into operation. / A Manchu woman with her children

The cost of building the Trans-Siberian from 1891 to 1913 amounted to 1,455,413,000 rubles (in 1913 prices). The entire project was funded by the Russian treasury, with no foreign loans / A group of Cossack children on the Manchurian border

Capacity of the road was 100,000 cargo wagons per year./ A Manchurian cart

Krasnoyarsk is one of the major stops for travelers on the Trans-Siberian Railway. / Churches in Krasnoyarsk

It would be quite easy to pass a whole day in Krasnoyarsk just strolling around the nature preserve. / Residential and office premises of the governor of Krasnoyarsk

Instead of hard labor, many criminals were sent by the government to work on the railway in Siberia. / Dugouts of hard-labor convicts

Today, the Trans-Siberian Railway is becoming one of the main tourist routes in Russia, along with Lake Baikal, Moscow, St. Petersburg and the "Golden Ring" of historic cities. / A group of convicts working on the construction of the railway

The biggest cities along the railway are Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Moscow. The new system for buying tickets makes it possible to take a hop-on-hop-off tour and spend a few days in each of these cities. / A Cossack riding a horse from Moscow to Chita (6,200 km)