The Train

---

The gauge is wider at 5 feet versus 4 feet, 8.5 inches the standard. The bogies are changed when entering and leaving Russian territory. Interesting, particularly in China, where this amazing task is done by girls. The wider gauge means the Russian engines and rolling stock are bigger, at 17 feet 2 inches, making traveling in soft class more spacious than on any other railway system.

The carriages of the TSR were on display at the Paris Universal Exposition of 1900. The "passengers" were served borscht, caviar, and sturgeon by an attendant dressed like a Tartar. But the trains in reality were slow, about 30 miles per hour to fit in with the freight trains that dominated the rail system.

Today, in first and luxury class, the carriages are roomy with twenty passengers per carriage. The journey takes just over 6 days (165 hours) including an overnight stop. But the restaurant is no longer the hub of social life on the trains. There is no liquor aboard. It must be purchased quickly at each stop along the way.

First class sleepers are limited to two persons, and in second class, to four, with berths seven feet long. The old term, hard and soft class referred to the type of bedding arrangements. A soft mattress was offered in first class, a wooden shelf in threes along the wall in coach.

---