RUSSIA'S NEW RAILWAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16026, 18 September 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

RUSSIA'S NEW RAILWAY.

r TO ICE-FREE PORT. 33? October 1 next, says the New York j? SjjevaJd, Russia hopes to have a double / track railway in operation leading direct - from Petrograd through Petrozavodsk to Jo-a and the Arctic Ocean. This new line - ■will .parallel the present single track road, ' which connects Archangel with Vologda, " but ill lie more than two hundred miles to the westward. What is more important ' ' is the fact that on the completion of the ; new road Russia will have an all year 4 round open connection with the western 1 seas, and this open communication will be maintained through Ekaterina, at the head of the Gulf of Kola-_ The distance between Kola and Kha- •; terina is about thirty-five miles. In the , winter time the ice prevents vessels approaching Kola closer than ten and ahalf miles. In the harbour of Ekaterina ice is seldom seen except for a short period around the last of February or early in March, and then only during winters of unusual severity. Near the Gulf Stream. Ekaterina enjoys the advantage of the being near to the Gulf Stream. That stream on crossing the western ocean passes close to the North Cape and back lashes, as it were, to the eastward along j , the -Murman oast-, which latter name is i the one given to the Arctic shore of the j Province of Kola. The effect of the Gulf j Stream is felt as far eastward as Ekaterina. but no further, and in consequence while Ekaterina is an open port the year round, Archangel, in the White Sea, is closed to navigation early in October and J is seldom open until some time in May. During last winter Russia made great j efforts to keep Archangel open by means j of ice-breaking vessels of the * Ermack class, but without more than artificial suc- j cess- For a number of months of the winter of 1914-15 Archangel was hermetically ! closed to all navigation. There never was a time when Russia felt more keenly than i the present the necessity of having direct ' and sure- communication with the western j ' seas. ! i Norwegian Route Inadequate. , When Archangel was closed recourse 5 was had to transporting supplies and ma-: ni'.ions _of war through the Norwegian i port of Narvik, thence overland across! : Norway and Sweden to Tornea, at- the ; head of the Gulf of Bothnia. This route j proved entirely inadequate to Russian war demands. ] w The only other route open to Russia i was the trans-Siberian and the port of ! Vladivostok. This route entails railway 1 transportation of nearly five thousand j miles in extent even before Moscow is reached, and still farther rail-roading in order to reach the troops on the fighting line. ~ = . It was the late Minister for Finance, Count S. J. Witte, who first discerned the importance of Ekaterina as a naval and 1 commercial port, and through the efforts of Mr. S. L. Englebrett, the Governor of the Kola Province, the possibilities of Ekaterina have been greatly developed. A Calm Harbour. ' Not even the heaviest weather in the 'Arctic or in the Gulf of Kola can affect the harbour of Ekaterina, sheltered as it is by the island of Ekaterina. At all times harbour water is as calm as a millpond. A stream of beautiful fresh water flows into the harbour from the southwest. This stream never freezes over. Owing to the perpendicular character of the cliffs surrounding Ekaterina Harbour and the difficulty of building large warehouses along the shore, Governor Englehrett found it necessary that the principal warehouses be built at Kisslaia Bay, which is less than one mile to the south-east of Ekaterina proper. The bay of Kisslaia 5 offers shelter to small steamships. ■ In the summer months in the high latitudes of the North Cape it is daylight the full twenty-four hours. " Following the Murman coast after doubling the North Cape navigators will find deep water well up to the shore line. The entrance of Ekaterina is well defined by lights and there are positively no 'shoals or obstructions.. . .- It is expected that with the - inauguration of the new service communication can be had between Ekaterina and Petrograd in 24 hours' time. /■ The Kolomna , Works at Golutrin, Province of Moscow, are building Mallet compound freight locomotives for the . Arctic service. These enzines have a weight of 64.2 tons and will bum either coal or oil.-. In recent years Russia has developed her railway material building chops to an extent where she is probably independent of the outside world. The advent ti of the war, however, changed these conditions, making it necessary to utilise many ;. of the ' locomotive shops for war puriv poses. _ In consequence of this Russia now .finds it necessary to invite American tenders for much of the necessary rolling stock for the new Arctic railwav.