(B) the oldest railway in russia

The St. Petersburg–Moscow mainline is considered to be the oldest and the most outstanding railway in Russia.

In the thirties of the 19^th century much was spoken about the necessity of its construction and various projects were proposed by Pravdin, Safonov, Muravjov, Abaza, but all of them were rejected.

In June 1839 the professors of the Moscow Engineering Institute P.P.Melnikov and N.O. Kraft were sent to the USA for the purpose of studying experience gained by the Americans in constructing and operating the railways. Melnikov's report about the results of their trip laid down the basis of the future railway project.

According to this project «chugunka» was planned as a double-track line, 664 km long, with the 5 feet gauge (now the standard), steam powered. The speed of passenger and freight trains was supposed to be 34.4 km/h and 16 km/h respectively.

The construction began in 1843 and lasted 8 years. From the very beginning the builders faced many hardships because of severe climatic and difficult geological conditions. Hundreds of kilometers of track were laid down through forests and marshes, many rivers were crossed. It should be noted that the line is virtually straight and level. 185 bridges and 19 viaducts were built to make the line as straight as possible. There is a legend that the route of the railway was chosen by the tsar Nikolay I, who took the map and the ruler, drew a straight line between the two cities on the map and ordered this line to be the route of the railway. But the fact is that the construction of the line was preceded by long and thorough surveying work, a great part of which was done by P.P.Melnikov himself.

All the component parts of the track, bridges and viaducts were produced at Russian plants by using only domestic materials, including timber for sleepers and cast iron for rails.

One has to give credit (нужно отдать должное) to the first railway builders, who laid the track in extremely difficult conditions. They worked from dawn till sunset, often in water up to their knees and their main tools were spades and axes. P.P. Melnikov proposed to mechanize the railway construction, but his idea was not backed up because it required a lot of expenses, although four excavators were bought in the USA on Melnikov's recommendation. It is interesting to note that at that time there were only seven excavators in the world. The other three ones were operated in the USA and Great Britain.

The railway was officially opened for public traffic on November 1, 1851. The first train departed from St. Petersburg at 11.15 and arrived in Moscow 21 hours 45 minutes later. There were 17 passengers in the first-class cars, 63 – in the second-class cars and 112 – in the third-class cars. The speed of the first trains was 40 km/h but two years later it was increased up to 60 km/h. It was the world's record in the speed of passenger trains. It should be added that the Alexander Engineering Works was established in St. Petersburg to provide this railway with locomotives and cars.

Ex.30. Answer the following questions.

1) When were the first projects of the railway construction proposed? 2) Why was it necessary to connect the two capitals in Russia? 3) Whose project of construction was accepted? 4) Why were Melnikov and Kraft sent to America? 5) When did the construction begin? 6) How long did the construction last? 7) Why was it difficult to build the railway? 8) What was built to make the line as straight as possible? 9) Is there any legend about the construction? 10) What were the rails and sleepers made of? 11) What equipment was used for the construction? 12) What was done to facilitate the workers' labor? 13) When was the railway officially opened for public traffic? 14) What time did the first train depart from St. Petersburg and arrive in Moscow? 15) How many passengers were there in the first train? 16) What was its speed? 17) What plant was established to provide this railway with rolling stock?

Ex.31. Arrange the following sentences in a chronological order, put questions to the underlined words and using your questions, tell about the beginning of railway construction in Russia.

1) The first steam locomotive was tested in Nizhniy Tagil. 2) The first railway carrying passengers was officially opened for public traffic in 1851. 3) Such engineers as P.K. Frolov, A.S. Yartsev, and I.I. Polsunov made great contribution to the development of railway transport in Russia. 4) The first tram ways were laid down in the Urals. 5) The history of railway construction in Russia began in the second half of the 18'^h century. 6) I.I. Polsunov invented the stationary steam engine in 1763. 7) At the beginning of the 19^th century it was decided to build the railway connecting two Russian capitals. 8) A.S. Yartsev suggested using cast iron rails instead of wooden ones in 1788. 9) The Cherepanovs constructed the first steam locomotive. 10) The construction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow line began in 1843 and lasted eight years. 11) P.K. Frolov built “chugunka” in the Altai Mountains. 12) The first tram ways were used for carrying coal, ore and other goods. 13) The railway constructed by P.K. Frolov was horse-powered. 14) Goods were transported in carts driven by the water wheel.

Ex.32. Complete the sentences and add your own information to develop the situation.

1) The history of railway construction… . 2) The first tram ways… . 3) The first rails and sleepers… . 4) Coal and other goods… . 5) In the Western Europe the carts with coal were driven by the workers, but in Russia… . 6) The wooden carts were called… . 7) Much was done for the railway construction by… . 8) Yartsev suggested replacing… . 9) The first railway with cast iron rails… . 10) The Cherepanovs, father and son… . 11) The first steam engine… . 12) The first steam locomotive could… . 13) The Nizhniy Tagil railway… .

TEXT B

Below there are four texts about famous people of Great Britain and the USA. Choose any text you like, read it and make up the list of the words you don’t know. Look up the meaning of the unknown words in your dictionary. Be careful because one of your group-mates will translate the text you have chosen without a dictionary, using only the list of words you have written out.