AMIDST THE WILDS
At the close of the 19th century, Siberia was isolated and alone within the empire of the tsars. Few connections existed linking the east and west of Russia. On March 9th, 1891, the imperial government finally anounced its intention to rectify this problem. Several months later, then-Tsarevich Nikolai (the later Tsar Nikolai II) inaugurated the project from what was to be the route’s eastern terminus of Vladivostok.
Built from both ends toward a meeting point near Lake Baikal, the Trans-Siberian Railway spanned 5,772 miles (9,289 km) in just over 13 years, with significant portions consisting of double track. The Baikal leg was initially bridged by a pair of lake ferries; a circumnavigating rail connection united the two halves by 1904. To this day, it stands as one of mankind’s most monumental undertakings and the longest single rail route in the world.
On the surface, it is a simple story celebrating great achievement. What we did not mention is that, before the Trans-Siberian, decades of proposed routes languished for want of the will to properly unite the empire. After a fashion, it is a cautionary tale about the cost of putting off what must be done. No great ill came from the delay (save inconvenience), yet the solution birthed a profound and uniting triumph of human industry and grit.
WILDERNESS GREEN
Switchman’s Wilderness Green draws from the endless pine forests flanking the Trans-Siberian’s path: deep, velvety greens that evoke the serene hush of the taiga. It is our hope that, as you write with this ink, you’ll pause in reflection on nature’s fundamental duality—that beneath even the most tranquil canopies, hidden perils lie in wait. So, too, is it with those things we would rather set aside for later. Like the tsars of old, even the great, the rich, and the powerful may be lulled into complacency until their folly levies its toll…
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