Virtual Reconstruction of Typical Railway Stations of the Great Siberian Railway of the late XIX - early XX Centuries

Borodkin Leonid Doctor of History Professor, Historical Information Science Department, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Lomonosovsky Prospekt str., 27-4,, office 454 lborodkin@mail.ru

Zherebyatyev Denis Igorevich PhD in History Teaching Assistant of Historical Information Science Department, Lomonosov Moscow State University   108811, Russia, Moscow, Atlasova str., 5, sq. 38 dzher@inbox.ru Other publications by this author

The history of the construction and operation of the Trans-Siberian Railway (Transsib) is well known. The Great Siberian Way (as the contemporaries of its construction called the Transsib) is the largest infrastructure project of the Russian Empire.  The longest railway in the world with a length of more than 9 thousand kilometers connected Moscow with Vladivostok, crossing two continents, 8 time zones, 16 large and more than 100 small and shallow rivers. The terrain on a number of sections of the highway was very difficult, dozens of tunnels had to be built. The highest point of the way was at the Yablonovy Pass in Transbaikalia (1019 m above sea level).

The Great Siberian Railway was built in record time, in 1891-1916. This was facilitated by the logistics of the work. At the same time , various sections of the highway were being built: The Ussuri Road (1891-1897), the West Siberian Road (1892-1896), the Middle Siberian Road (1893-1899), the Trans-Baikal Road (1895-1900), the Chinese-Eastern Road (1897-1904), the Circum-Baikal Road (1899-1905), the Amur Road (1906-1916).

The total cost of the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was (at the expense of the state's own funds) about 1.5 billion rubles – this amount is comparable to the total annual expenditure of the empire's budget in the mid-1890s.

The importance of the Great Siberian Way was appreciated extremely highly by both Alexander III, the initiator of an unprecedented infrastructure project of the empire, and Nicholas II. In connection with the completion of construction works and the 25th anniversary of their beginning (May 19, 1891), Nicholas II sent "The Highest Rescript addressed to the Minister of Railways (A.F. Trepov - auth.), on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the start of the construction of the Siberian Railway." In this document, dated May 19, 1916, the Emperor recalls that, starting from that date, he fulfilled the duties assigned to him by Alexander III of the highest leadership of this "matter of paramount importance" as chairman of the committee established by him. "I know very well," Nicholas II writes further, "how much dedication, labor, talent and knowledge were put by the builders of the Great Siberian Way, a lot of hardships fell to their lot in the performance of their task in the harsh and poor population of Siberia. But the benefits that have been brought to the fatherland, especially to its Siberian outskirts, are incalculable," noting the rise in the prosperity of Siberia, "the settlement of its land space with an excess of the agricultural population of European Russia and the opening of an outlet for Siberian natural resources," and expressing heartfelt gratitude to "those modern railway workers of Siberia who are doing their hard service for the motherland on the rails of this region" ^[1].

The builders of the Great Siberian Railway were engaged not only in laying rail tracks. An important task was to create the infrastructure of the highway, including the construction of stations with all the necessary structures and facilities. Thus, 274 artificial structures were erected on the West Siberian Railway, 10 depots and 38 water supply points were built. Along the road, a telegraph line was built on poles installed 20 pieces per verst, On the Sredne-Sibirskaya Road, 71 arrows, 85 semaphores, eight turning circles were installed on the section from Krasnoyarsk to Irkutsk, 146 guard houses, 42 barracks, 13 hospitals were built, 304 crossings were arranged, a telegraph line was drawn ^[2].

Passenger buildings at the mainline stations are of particular interest in this infrastructure. At small stations, these were original wooden buildings that were of interest from an architectural and functional point of view. But more than 100 years have passed since their construction, almost all of them have lost their original appearance, radically rebuilt or built in Soviet times "from scratch". The purpose of this article is to create a virtual reconstruction of passenger buildings (as well as other structures) that stood at small Transsib stations in the late XIX – early XX centuries.

But first let's turn to the description of these buildings, the characteristics of their operational qualities, architectural features and the "social role" in the infrastructure of the Great Siberian Way.

Passenger buildings at mainline stationsAs historians of railway transport of pre-revolutionary Russia note, railway stations and buildings of various station services performed not only their main functions, but also became "the architectural dominant of the settlement, giving it a certain style."

Already at the initial stage of construction of Russian railways, their management structures included the positions of senior architect and architect. Experienced architects and civil engineers were involved in the design and supervision of the construction of technical and civil structures ^{[3, Chapter 18.2]}.

The buildings that were being built at railway stations at that time were divided into classes I to IV according to the totality of the signs of capital and operational qualities. This was caused by the desire to save money and was determined by the service life. Buildings and structures of classes I and II were brick (stone), they were durable (at least 100 years of operation) and especially fire—resistant, and buildings of classes III and IV were wooden. There were also V-class stations on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Most of the pavilions and buildings of intermediate stations were built according to standard designs ^{[3, Chapter 18.2]} (note in parentheses that the intermediate station was intended for crossing and overtaking trains, boarding and disembarking passengers, loading and unloading cargo and luggage, shunting operations, maintenance of access roads).

Projects of industrial or civil buildings on steel roads included not only elements of external design and internal layout, but also details of technical equipment: lighting, water supply, heating, equipment, etc. Thus, a specific corporate identity of these buildings was formed ^{[3, ch. 18.2]}.

At the beginning of the XX century, the architecture of these buildings was dominated by the Art Nouveau style, and in relation to not only stone, but also wooden buildings ^{[3, ch. 18.2]}. As noted in the study on the architecture of railway stations/stations during the construction of the West Siberian Railway, passenger buildings were erected mainly in the "Russian style" at small provincial stations, while some of them were built according to one standard project (for example, for a wooden passenger building of class III). A characteristic feature of this project was its implementation in the traditions of ancient Russian wooden architecture – the Russian terem. A special feature of the appearance was a towering hip tent (a four-pitched structure in which the ridge node is transformed from a line into a point) above the central part, "decorated with a carved comb and a small dormer window."  Wooden buildings at Class IV and V stations are a disappearing type of architecture, "made in a unique interpretation of the Art Nouveau style, in the forms of Russian wooden architecture" ^{[4, c.18, 20, 23, 24]}.

What was the distribution of passenger buildings by class at the mainline stations in the last years of the XIX century? This can be judged, for example, by data on the Central Siberian Railway: there are one passenger buildings of the II-th class (the station at the Krasnoyarsk station), III class - 6, IV class — 4 and V class — 12 ^[5]. 

The description of passenger buildings on the section of the Central Siberian Railway from the Ob to the Yenisei is of interest ^[5]. Thus, the subtitle to this publication ("Views of Siberia and the Great Siberian Railway") notes the presence of 124 types of "the most important railway structures, cities, villages, types of foreigners and picturesque areas adjacent to the railway line, with a description of them compiled by V. A. I. M.". These descriptions give not only an idea of the infrastructure of the stations, the internal structure of passenger stations of various classes, but also recreate in some cases their perception by travelers.

Passenger building at the Ob III class station ^[5]"There is a Class III passenger building at the Ob station, wooden, on a stone foundation, covered with iron.

The cost of its construction is approximately 18,000 rubles. A small garden is laid out around the building, pleasantly caressing the eyes of a traveler tired of the monotonous view of the steppe along the West Siberian Railway. The interior of the building is somewhat cramped, which, in fact, is noticeable in the luggage compartment and in halls 1, 2 and 3 classes. In addition to the passenger and water-lifting buildings, at art. Ob has the following railway buildings: a reservoir building, a locomotive building, workshops and 12 residential buildings, the total cost of the latter together with sheds, storerooms, cowsheds, glaciers, etc. outbuildings are equal to about 80,000 rubles. To provide medical care to the sick on art . A district doctor, a paramedic and a midwife live there."

Passenger building at the Achinsk station of the III class ^[5]"The station 

Achinsk of the III class is located on the 544 verst of the Middle Siberian railway, 2? versts from the railway bridge over the Chulym River and 4? c. from the city of Achinsk, in a picturesque, elevated area covered with coniferous and deciduous forests. Of the station buildings, we will indicate the following: a passenger building of the III class with an area of 60 sq. s. (the cost of construction is 23,500 rubles.), a reservoir building with a tank with a capacity of 4 cubic meters. s., residential buildings for the premises of various railway agents, a forge for the track repair service, etc. A paramedic and a midwife live permanently at the Achinsk station to provide initial assistance to the sick. The amount of cargo sent to Achinsk and followed from it to the railway cannot be called significant due to the weak development of trade in the city and the district. Behind the passenger building of the station there is a small garden and a beautiful gazebo looking out among the young trees growing around. A number of small houses, built by various persons existing at the expense of earnings delivered by the railway, joined the group of station buildings, beyond the boundary of alienation."

Passenger building at the Oyash V class station ^[5]

"The station is located 78 versts from the Ob station in a flat steppe area covered with a small birch forest. The building is wooden, on a stone foundation and plinths, covered with iron, double floors, on beams; the walls inside and ceilings are plastered. The general appearance of the building, thanks to the carved elegant decorations on the sides and on the pediment, is quite attractive. Station Oyash, like many other minor stations, is important only as a stopping point. The time of arrival and departure of trains is a kind of event for an insignificant colony of railway employees: for 5-10 minutes, a live stream bursts into their monotonous monotonous life among the steppes, resounded by the howling of a blizzard — hundreds of new faces will flash before their eyes, hurrying somewhere, preoccupied; the train has left, and again standing alone among the bare steppe silence and boredom reign at the station."

Let's move on to the characteristics of the source base for building a virtual model of station buildings.

Sources for creating a virtual reconstructionThe source base for creating 3D models of typical buildings of Transsib railway stations includes drawings of these buildings published in high quality at the turn of the XIX – XX centuries; photographs of that time, the Soviet period and modern satellite Yandex images, as well as text descriptions of virtual reconstruction objects.

One of the most informative sources is albums of standard and executive drawings of structures of various sections of the Trans–Siberian Railway, such as, for example, an album of reconstruction of mountain sections of the Siberian railway Achinsk – Irkutsk 1906-1912. ^[6] and "Album of types of reconstruction of mountain sections of the Siberian railway between Achinsk and Irkutsk 1906-12" ^[7], allow to restore the original appearance of station buildings.

Let us consider in this plan small railway stations built according to a standard drawing from the album ^[7] along the Siberian railway between Achinsk and Irkutsk. These include Class IV stations: Byronovka (Fig. 1-2), Klyuchi, Kamala, Kamarchaga and others.

  Fig. 1-2.

The current state of the passenger building of the Byronovka station (Taishet region of the present Irkutsk region) (left) ^[8]. View of the IV class Byronovka station at the beginning of the XX century (right) ^[7]Fig. 3. Drawings of a passenger building at a Class IV station and a cellar for storing kerosene ^[6]

It should be noted that the album of standard and executive drawings of structures for the reconstruction of mountain sections of the Siberian Railway also contains plans for the location of tracks and buildings of the main stations (Uyar, Chernorechinskaya, Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk, Taishet, Winter, Ilanskaya, according to the buildings of the IV class station contains a standard layout of tracks and buildings with a brief designation of buildings, drawings and plans of passenger buildings (Fig. 3), passenger and intermediate platforms, residential buildings, outbuildings (glacier, barn, cesspool, etc.).

As the standard layout of the tracks and buildings at the Class IV station shows (Fig. 4), it consisted of the following structures: passenger building; passenger and intermediate platform; locomotive building; small water tower and water-lifting building with adjacent outbuildings; gatehouse and residential building with office space; outbuildings (glacier, cellar for storing kerosene, a shed for firewood and coal, a cesspool and a latrine). Fig. 4. Layout of tracks and buildings at a Class IV station ^[6]

At higher-class stations, the infrastructure also included residential buildings with office premises, a duty room for conductor and locomotive crews, a locomotive building, a school, a canteen and kitchen, a bakery and other buildings.

The album contains a special layout of tracks and buildings relative to each other for each class of stations ^[6]. According to this plan, we can trace the location of the passenger building, the dimensions of the passenger and intermediate platforms, the location of outbuildings and a water tower. As the satellite image of the Kamarchaga station of the Krasnoyarsk Railway shows, historical buildings such as a passenger building, passenger and intermediate platforms, outbuildings and a water tower are located in the same places that are indicated on the layout plan of tracks and buildings at the Class IV station. A similar layout can be traced on the example of the preserved buildings of the Kamala, Klyuchi and Byronovka stations (Fig. 5-13). As a small exception, the location of the water tower can be noted: at some stations, including the Byronovka station, it is located elsewhere.

Figure 5-6. Yandex satellite image of the Kamarchaga station (today the Krasnoyarsk Railway) with the designation of the preserved historical buildings of the station building, water tower and outbuildings (on the left). Kamarchaga station of the beginning of the XX century .(right) ^[7]Figure 7-8. Satellite images of Yandex stations Klyuchi (left) and Byronovka (right) with the designation of preserved historical buildings

Comparison of satellite images of the above-mentioned Class IV railway stations (Fig. 5-10) allows us to conclude that when planning the station, the builders chose the most convenient location in order to harmoniously fit the structures of the railway infrastructure into the landscape; the factor of the station's proximity to reservoirs was taken into account.

The presence of a large number of photos of the Achinsk – Irkutsk section of the early XX century . it allows, using the example of small railway stations such as Klyuchi, Kamala, Byronovka, Kamarchaga, to analyze the appearance of the passenger building and other structures of the station and their spatial placement.

Fig. 9-10. Google satellite image of Kamala station with the designation of preserved historical buildings (left). Passenger building at Kamala station. 1910 (right) ^[7]Fig. 11-12.

Photo of the passenger building of Kamala station before the reconstruction in the 2000s (left). Kamala station after reconstruction in the 2000s (right)The one-story passenger building on a stone foundation was made in the Art Nouveau style in the traditions of Russian wooden architecture with a pediment decorated with wooden carvings, pilasters, beautiful window frames and elegant brackets.

The building had 3 entrances: one entrance from the rear facade, the second - from the side facade, for station staff (station manager, post office staff, telegraph operator), as well as for mail delivery, and the third entrance from the side of the tracks had three doors for passengers from the 1st and 2nd class hall to exit to the passenger platform (apron), separately third class and for station staff.

As the plan shows (Fig. 3), the passenger building was fairly well heated and had 6 furnaces in various halls, in the office of the post office, at the station and telegraph chief and in the ladies' restroom, which was located in the 1st and 2nd class halls for privileged passengers.

Some small decorative elements of the ornament of the station buildings are approximately reflected in the drawings of the album. The appearance of the wooden carving and its exact shape can be found in photographs of the preserved buildings of the Transsib of that period, for example, in a number of photographs of the wooden passenger building of the Kamala station of the early twentieth century. (before its restructuring).

When working with photographic materials of the section of the Middle Siberian Railway of the beginning of the XX century (Fig. 13-16), it can be noted that in some photos of stations there are no separate elements of decorative decoration on the passenger building (Kamala station), construction ladders are attached to the roof of the building to perform work on the roof (Klyuchi station). Most likely, this fact is explained by the fact that the final stage of its construction was not always captured in the photos of the station, and we can sometimes see an intermediate stage, which is no less interesting for researchers (Fig. 14, 16).

Fig. 13-16. Comparison of the appearance of the stations of the IV category of the Transsiba Klyuchi, Kamala, Byronovka, Kamarchaga of the early XX century. ^[7]It should be noted that often the main structure of the station – the passenger building and part of the platform - is captured in the center of the angle of most photos of the Transsib buildings of the early XX century, and it is not possible to see the entire panorama of the station and the environment, some buildings - such as a water tower, residential buildings and courtyards with sheds, storerooms, glaciers and other outbuildings - are not they fell into the lens angle.

It is possible to fully restore its original appearance at the time of construction only with the help of modern three-dimensional modeling technologies. In the next section of this article, we will consider the methodology of virtual reconstruction of the main buildings of a Class IV standard railway station located near the track: a passenger building, a passenger and intermediate platform, a number of outbuildings and a water tower. The virtual reconstruction of the passenger building and the platform was carried out in the SketchUp program based on a drawing of the building from the above album and photos of the stations built at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries: Klyuchi, Kamala, Kamarchaga and Byronovka.

Creating 3 D modelsTo begin with, all available documents were loaded into the program and brought to scale, including drawings and plans of a passenger building, a Yandex satellite plan - using the example of the Klyuchi station.

Fig.17-18. Reconstruction of decorative elements of the passenger building of the Klyuchi station at the beginning of the XX century .in the SketchUp program

In parallel with the process of erecting the main structural elements of the building, windows and doors, drainpipes and chimneys, its decorative elements (elements of columns, medallions, brackets), as well as a unique wooden carved decorative ornament were restored (Fig. 17).

The appearance of the wooden carved elements was reproduced from photographs and completely rendered in Adobe Photoshop (Fig. 18).

As noted above, Class IV stations were typical, so photos of all the above-mentioned stations were imported into the SketchUp program and the shooting points were restored using the MatchPhoto tool in the process of building a 3D model according to the drawing. Due to the fact that the photographs captured the station buildings from different angles, we could examine in detail all their architectural elements (Fig. 19-20).

The use of neural networks when working with visual sources made it possible to reconstruct the lost color of buildings and improve the quality of photographs. MyHeritage ^[9] and the company's neural network were used as neural networks Mail.ru ^[10].

Fig.19-20. The result of the reconstruction of the shooting point using the MatchPhoto tool in the SketchUp programA telegraph office was located at the station for sending correspondence.

Wires were connected to the passenger building through a pole. To reconstruct its appearance, we used the photographs at our disposal from the beginning of the XX century (Fig. 21). There was a mailbox at the entrance to the passenger building. It was created based on more detailed existing analogues.

In addition to the passenger building, the passenger and intermediate platforms were recreated. In the album of standard and executive drawings of structures for the reconstruction of mountain sections of the Siberian Railway, a detailed drawing of it has been preserved, on which you can examine in detail the appearance of the platform, railings, pillars, lanterns, the number of steps, etc. As the photographs of the Siberian Railway of the early XX century show, the appearance of the station, for example, the length of the crossings, the height of the descent and the width could be several differ from the standard drawing - depending on the landscape. Therefore, the dimensions of the passenger and intermediate platform were calculated by us based on a photograph of a specific station, in our case, the Klyuchi station of the early XX century. To calculate the dimensions, the MatchPhoto plugin of the SketchUp program was used. A drawing and satellite plan were imported into the program, and in the process of building a 3D model, photographs of class IV stations of the early XX century were projected, on which the passenger and intermediate platforms were captured in order to verify the appearance, more detailed rendering of elements and reconstruction of the shooting angle. Thus, at first, according to the drawing, the component parts of the platform were drawn - pillars, lanterns, railings, then wooden decking, stairs were built, and then 4 branches of railway tracks were placed according to the satellite plan.

Fig. 21. Virtual reconstruction of the passenger building of the Klyuchi station and the passenger platform in the SketchUp program

According to a similar method, a wooden residential building was reconstructed, which was located near the passenger building. His detailed drawing has been preserved in the album of standard and executive drawings (Fig. 22). This building can be identified in the photo of the Klyuchi station of the early XX century, which depicts the side facade of the building with a porch. Its appearance is recognized by the roof and the number of chimneys. First, a drawing of the building was imported into the SketchUp program, then a Yandex satellite image, after which a photo of the beginning was projected through the Matchphoto plugin during the construction of the 3D model. XX century. (Fig. 23) in order to verify the appearance, more detailed rendering of building elements and reconstruction of the shooting angle.

Fig. 22-23. Drawing of a residential building (left) ^[6]. View of outbuildings and residential building at the Klyuchi station at the beginning of the XX century. ^[7]Small outbuildings and a water tower were also reconstructed (Fig. 24-25).

These buildings were also captured in photographs of the Great Siberian Way of the beginning of the XX century and partially preserved to our time at the Klyuchi, Kamarchaga and other small stations of this class.

Fig. 24-25. Virtual reconstruction of a water tower and an outbuildings in the SketchUp programFig. 26. Virtual reconstruction of the Keys station in the SketchUp program

Fig. 27. 3 D-visualization of the passenger building of the IV class station of the Great Siberian Railway of the early XX century in the Lumion 12 program

The resulting three-dimensional model was imported into the Lumion 12 program, where visualization was performed.

Thanks to the tools of the program, it was possible to work with the materials of buildings in more detail than in the SketchUp program, to achieve a more realistic display of them (Fig. 26-27).

In order for users to get acquainted in detail with the created virtual reconstruction, several software products were selected for publishing the results on the Internet. To provide online access to the created virtual models, the Sketchfab online service was selected, to which the created 3D models were uploaded from the SketchUp program. Thanks to the convenient tools of the service, text comments were added to the created 3D model and historical information was uploaded (Fig. 28). Models can be accessed from a personal computer and mobile devices at the following addresses: https://skfb.ly/oz6Uv and https://skfb.ly/ozPpL

Fig. 28. 3 D-visualization of the Klyuchi station of the early XX century with text signatures on the Sketchfab online platform       The next useful tool was the Twinmotion 2023 program (Epic Games product).

A distinctive feature of this program is the ability to publish the created virtual reconstruction online and export it as a computer program and 360 degree video. A 3D model of the Klyuchi station in skp format was imported into the Twinmotion 2023 program. Then, using the tools of the program, the materials were configured: reflection, relief, aging and other settings. According to the photo of the Klyuchi station of the beginning of the XX century and the Yandex satellite image, vegetation from the libraries of the Twinmotion program was placed on the ground, roads were plotted, additional materials from the libraries of the program were plotted on buildings and passenger and intermediate platforms (Fig. 29).

Fig. 29. Setting up passenger platform materials in the Twinmotion 2023 program Fig. 30. 3 D-reconstruction of the Klyuchi Class IV station on the Twinmotion Cloud online platform

Then the model was prepared for online publication.

The created reconstruction was "revived" by placing staffages (people, animals, birds) and a steam locomotive, which was given a path (Fig. 30). Then a demonstration route of the camera movement was built with an overview of the main buildings of the station along the railway tracks. The created virtual reconstruction was published using the Twinmotion Cloud platform; it is available for viewing by QR code on mobile devices and by link for personal computers on any operating system (Fig. 31, 32) ^[12].

Figure 31. QR codes for accessing the created content from a mobile device on the Sketchfab platformFig. 32. QR code for access to the 3 D reconstruction of the station of Class IV Keys of the early XX century.

on the Twinmotion Cloud online platform