Trans Siberian Railroad

[Julius Vogel]

One of the many WW1 WI/PODs is that somehow the Straits remain open or are forced open, thus allowing Russia to trade via the Black Sea, which could help assuage economic and social pressures. Anyway, one alternative to this option is the TS Railroad, which was newly built at the start of the War.

Now, IOTL I understand that the railway wasn't as helpful as it perhaps was later, in WW2, for reasons of capacity and of course the capacity of a railroad will likely never be equal to modern shipping. I would also expect that Russia's capacity, pre war, to massively upgrade the newly built railroad was probably rather limited. But is this true? Could have Russia mustered the will, capability to justify a substantial upgrade to the line (by any route), by either the start, or early in WW1? If so, would that help much?

 

[Gurroruo]

I believe the Russians were either in the process of building a second track for the Trans Siberian or were planning to when the war started.

 

[Julius Vogel]

So let's say that the double track was in place by 1914 - anyone have thoughts on whether or not this would improve the financial, industrial or otherwise position of Russia enough to stave off 1917?

 

[BooNZ]

So let's say that the double track was in place by 1914 - anyone have thoughts on whether or not this would improve the financial, industrial or otherwise position of Russia enough to stave off 1917?

More bang for your rouble to build/ upgrade the rail and port infrastructure to/ on the Murman Coast - it was recommended/ suggested by Witte to Nicky's father in the early 1890s, but was only under construction in 1914.

 

[abc123]

More bang for your rouble to build/ upgrade the rail and port infrastructure to/ on the Murman Coast - it was recommended/ suggested by Witte to Nicky's father in the early 1890s, but was only under construction in 1914.

Indeed.....

 

[LordKalvert]

The Russians finish double tracking the railway in 1916 too late t odo much good.

The bigger bang for the buck would be to stockpile the supplies before hand- especially the cheap bulky ones. This was Vannovski's suggestion in 1897. Witte convinced Nicholas that it wasn't needed. The project would have cost 130,000,000 rubles over five years

Sukhomlinov makes more modest suggestions later.

Not only does it get the supplies in, but greatly relieves the strain on the railways. Moving 10,000,000 tons of coal from the Ukraine to the Baltic was very taxing. That the supplies would be a lot cheaper ordered in peacetime is another big bonus

As for Murmansk, which various officers discussed in 1894 as a cheaper alternative to Libau and would allow for some raiding on English and German shipping, it was rejected as it couldn't provide support to the Army and protect the capital. If you want supplies, the cheap route would have been to develop Archangel

 

[vl100butch]

the Russians realized early on that they didn't have the managerial expertise to run that railroad...that's why a unit of American railway personnel deployed in 1917....Russian Railway Service Corps...interesting reading if you go back to the source documents (as I did many years ago at LSU)

 

[Simon]

Could have Russia mustered the will, capability to justify a substantial upgrade to the line (by any route), by either the start, or early in WW1? If so, would that help much?

Sure, you just have to give them a reason, and the best one I can think of is money. Siberia is a treasure house of natural resources with the most obvious one for this purpose being gold. The current Olimpiada gold mine is located about 250 miles north of Krasnoyarsk and is one of the largest in Russia and apparently in the top ten of global producers. Have indicators of it found and central government would certainly be interested in sending out some prospecting teams for a potentially large find. The trans-Siberian railway already goes to Krasnoyarsk and the Yenisey river potentially helps you move north but a large discovery would probably require, and help fund, an expansion and upgrade of the railway line from Europe to Krasnoyarsk. Four lines with two going in each direction allows for express and stopping trains, easier overtaking, make sure it's built solidly, and throw in a spur northwards to the mine itself if possible. At that point I could see the argument being made from a military security point of view that the rest of the line eastwards to Vladivostok and the Pacific should likewise be upgraded considering the recent memories of the Russo-Japanese war.