Irina Guskova

Renunciation on wheels

One of the relics associated with the events February Revolution, was the saloon car of the royal train. On March 2 (old style), 1917, in it, standing at the platform of the Pskov station, Nicholas II signed his abdication of the throne.

Before the Great Patriotic War The royal carriage was a museum exhibit in Peterhof. PHOTO from the collection of the State Historical Museum "Peterhof"

In fact, in 1915 - 1917, the imperial train became one of the permanent residences of the last Russian emperor. It was a real “palace on wheels”. The seven-car train was built in 1896 at the Aleksandrovsky Mechanical Plant. All carriages had the same appearance. The color is dark blue with a thin gold trim. At the beginning of the twentieth century, for safety reasons, a second copy of the Imperial Train was built - its exact copy.

Arriving at the front at Headquarters, the emperor remained to live in his train, equipped with telephone and telegraph communications.

The head of the chancellery, A. A. Mosolov, in his memoirs recalled in detail his first trip on the royal train: “The king had two trains for his travels. By appearance they could not be distinguished from one another... Their Majesties were traveling on one of the trains, the second served... for camouflage. During the entire journey, the sovereign worked in his carriage. The train stopped at large stations... The governors received an invitation to board the carriage and follow to the border of their province... they made their reports along the way; if they needed to spend the night, they were given a compartment in the suite carriage.”

After the Tsar abdicated the throne, a photograph of the participants was taken in the carriage where this happened historical event. She captured the setting in every detail.

The further fate of the luxurious imperial carriages was quite remarkable. After the revolution, they were used to form the famous train of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Leon Trotsky, who was not averse to trying on royal luxury...

In 1929, two carriages from the train of Nicholas II (the bedchamber with the Tsar's office and the dining room) were transferred by the People's Commissariat of Railways to the Peterhof Museum. They were installed in Alexandria Park not far from the Cottage Palace. By that time, the decoration of these carriages had been preserved almost completely and during their museumification it was only slightly supplemented with some things from the Nizhny Dacha, which was especially loved by the family of Nicholas II.

A platform was built near the carriages and two wooden rooms were built in which the museum “The Imperialist War and the Fall of Autocracy” was set up.

In 1941, the royal carriages could not be evacuated, and during the fighting they were badly damaged: they were burned and looted. The skeletons of the carriages stood until the mid-1950s: after the war, apparently not seeing any memorial value in the tsar’s “property,” they were not restored. Today in Russia not a single one of the original carriages of the imperial trains has survived. And in neighboring Finland in the Museum railway transport Three royal carriages are on display in the city of Hyvinkää.

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The train was built in 1894-96. The composition of the carriages changed several times, old carriages were replaced with new ones, and the interior also underwent changes.

The length of the imperial carriage was 25.247 m, and it rested on two four-axle bogies. The outside was painted blue, and the windows located on both sides were crowned with gilded double-headed eagles. The ceiling was covered with white satin, the walls with crimson quilted damask. There were bronze clocks on the tables, and the interior was decorated with Sevres porcelain vases and bronze candelabra. The mosaic doors opened and closed completely silently, and fresh air was delivered through bronze ventilation pipes.
These carriages were first used in 1851 in preparation for the anniversary - the 25th anniversary of the coronation of Nicholas I. Then the court departments made maximum use of the capacity of the new road to transport various cargo to Moscow.

In 1902, the train consisted of ten cars. Some of them were intended for the imperial family and the emperor's retinue.
In the Imperial carriage. Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsarevich Alexei (spring 1916).


Other carriages were occupied by luggage, servants and the kitchen. An eleventh carriage was later added and used as a church.
Tsarevich Alexei at the imperial train, photo 1916


The train cars were painted Blue colour, the seams are decorated with gilding. All wooden parts were made from Indian teak.

Panels, ceilings, and furniture were made of polished oak, walnut, white and gray beech, maple and Karelian birch.


The floors were covered with linoleum and carpets. The most comfortable were, naturally, the carriages of the emperor's family.


There was everything for a pleasant pastime and fruitful work.


Between the compartments of the Emperor and Empress there was a bimetallic bathtub (copper outside, silver inside).

The furniture in Nicholas II's compartment, made of Karelian birch and beech, was upholstered in brown leather.


On the table stood a bronze, gilded set of writing instruments, consisting of 12 items.


The compartment was lit by gilded sconces, and a soft cherry-colored carpet lay on the floor.
Nicholas II


Excerpts from the “Itinerary of His Imperial Majesty the GOVERNOR EMPEROR through the cities of central and southern Russia, to the Caucasus and to the active army (November-December 1914)

August 23, 1915. The Emperor arrived with his retinue. The imperial trains were located in the forest north of the station. An order was signed for the army on the Tsar taking over the Supreme Command from August 23. When the tsar moved to Headquarters, he took over the mansion of the former governor.
The Tsar's office at headquarters


Reception hall


Dining room


Nikolai's bedroom

Nikolay and Alexey's beds

Headquarters in Mogilev. Small snack room.


Interior view of the cathedral in Mogilev


Emperor Nicholas II with General Alekseev in August 1915


Emperor Nicholas II, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, in a group of headquarters officers are walking through the territory of Headquarters. Baranovichi, 1915


August 25. Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich departed with his retinue from Mogilev.
At Headquarters. Mogilev. August 1915

On the left is Major General Pustovoitenko, Quartermaster General of Headquarters. On the right is the chief of staff, Infantry General Alekseev. Tsar's Headquarters. 1915


September 22nd. The Tsar departed for Tsarskoe Selo. October 3. The Tsar arrived from Tsarskoye Selo with his son Alexei.

The royal staff was especially actively used after Nicholas II assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in August 1915. On the same train, in the lounge car, he signed his renunciation on March 2, 1917.
After Nicholas's abdication, his trains were used for six months by the ministers of the Provisional
government. Soon after the Bolsheviks came to power, the famous train of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council L. D. Trotsky was formed from the imperial carriages, which took full advantage of the royal amenities.
Tsarevich Alexei near the imperial train

Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexei with a group of officers at Headquarters


October 11. The Tsar left for the Southwestern Front. October 15. The Tsar returned from a trip to the front. The Empress and her daughters arrived.
The Imperial Family at Headquarters, October 1915


Empress Alexandra with her daughters at Headquarters


February 1, 1916. The Tsar returned from Tsarskoe Selo
At Headquarters. 1916


May 5. The Empress arrived with her children.
Emperor Nicholas II with his family on the station platform during his arrival at Headquarters. Mogilev. May, 1916.

Car No. 1 Russian Empire- this was the name of the train on which Tsar Nicholas II, together with his administrative headquarters and retinue, moved around the country, making inspection trips, official visits, or simply traveling with his family. The train was a genuine palace on railway wheels, inside which Nikolai Alexandrovich had the opportunity to live and work in the conditions familiar to the monarch. When did the first one begin? World War, the imperial cortege turned into the permanent residence of Nicholas II. Here, on March 2, 1917, he signed his abdication from the throne.

Characteristics of the Tsar's train

The construction of the main locomotive of a great power began according to the personal order of Tsar Alexander III, who decided that the Russian monarch should have separate means of transportation during internal inspections and foreign trips by rail. After the death of Alexander Alexandrovich, the Imperial Train (1896) was built for his heir in the workshops of the Nikolaev Railway (1896), which over time changed the composition and number of cars in accordance with the growing state requirements and the number of Romanovs Jr.

For example, in 1902, the Tsar’s personal railway train consisted of ten carriages: the Emperor and Empress’s bedroom, a reception room, a study, a kitchen, a dining room, a children’s room, sections for servants, railway workers, retinue, family members, a luggage department, as well as a specially equipped chapel. All finishing from the best materials and according to the latest artistic fashion - polished mahogany wood, French bimetal, silver, leather and other materials, which allowed the decorators to turn the royal motorcade on rails into an ideal combination of comfortable movement and work functions.

Photos of the Imperial Train

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After the abdication of the emperor, the luxurious railway cortege was left without an owner, after which a series of changes from hand to hand began. From the Tsar to the Provisional Government, from Kerensky to Trotsky, after which the famous echelon finally fell victim to the civil war. The last remains of the royal railway luxury were destroyed in 1941 and only photographs of the imperial train and its decorative furnishings have survived to this day.

The walls and furniture were covered in English style upholstery with floral patterns.

View of the dining room

Women's compartment.

Women's compartment.

Interior view of one of the carriages.

A women's compartment, perhaps for princesses.

Walls, ceilings and furniture made of polished oak, walnut, white and gray beech, maple and Karelian birch were covered with linoleum and carpets.

The interior of one of the carriages.

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The salon had upholstered mahogany furniture. The walls, sofas, armchairs and chairs were lined with striped pistachio curtains; the plush carpet on the floor was a tried-and-true design.

Dining car.

The interior of one of the carriages.

Compartment for the maid of honor (junior courtier).

Bathroom.

Dining room.

Car for receiving guests.

Coupe of Nicholas II.

The interior of one of the carriages.

Toilet.

The interior of one of the carriages.

The walls, painted blue and decorated with gold, looked beautiful.

The interior of one of the carriages.

Dining room in a restaurant.

Dining room in a restaurant.

Grand Duchess Anastasia on the Imperial train in 1916.

Empress Alexandra, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarevich Alexei.

Tsar Nicholas II in the train window.

The Tsar with the generals during dinner.

The train was built between 1894-96 by the Nikolaev Railway Company.

One of the carriages.

History of Russian Imperial Trains

On the opening day of the Tsarskoye Selo Railway in October 1837, Nicholas I personally rode in the first train, which consisted of a steam locomotive with a tender and 8 carriages. There are different opinions about how the sovereign traveled in it with the empress and heir. Some write that in their own carriage, installed on an open platform, but this is unlikely; others, in a separate eight-seat compartment of a 1st class carriage. In later periodicals There are allegations that Nicholas I always traveled in such compartments and in ordinary trains that followed a schedule. Perhaps this was the case in the first period after the opening of the road, but it is documented that later the emperor with his family and retinue traveled only on “emergency trains” (there were no imperial carriages and trains at that time). The grand dukes and their children traveled on “ordinary trains,” but with special precautions.

At the end of the reign of Nicholas I, in 1851, the construction of the railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow was completed.

Since the tsar paid a lot of attention to the railway under construction, he became its first passenger, traveling from Moscow to Bologoe. A special train was prepared for this trip. The train was driven by an ordinary passenger locomotive of type 2-2-0 series B, built at the Aleksandrovsky plant in St. Petersburg.

The train consisted of a steam locomotive, a saloon car, a kitchen car, a bedchamber car, a dining car, a service car and suite cars (which gave the prestigious abbreviation SV). The carriages were connected by covered walkways. Some of these cars were built in 1850-1851 at the St. Petersburg Alexander Plant. The length of the train, including the locomotive and tender, was about 80 m.

It should be noted that the running of the luxury train began a little earlier - in the early morning of August 18, 1851, Nicholas I went on it from St. Petersburg to Moscow to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his coronation.

The length of the “Own” imperial carriage was 25.25 m, it was installed on two four-axle bogies, which was new and unusual even for the beginning of the 20th century (after all, twenty-meter-long passenger cars had just begun to enter railway practice). At the ends of the car there were capacious entrance platforms with fencing.

The carriage was painted blue on the outside. Above ten windows with large piers, located along the length of the body on each side, were placed gilded double-headed eagles.

The ceiling of the royal carriage was covered with white satin, the walls were upholstered with crimson quilted damask. The same material was used to cover furniture, for which French decorators from Lyon were invited.

There were bronze clocks on the tables, and the interior was also decorated with vases of Sevres porcelain and bronze candelabra. The mosaic doors opened and closed completely silently, and fresh air was delivered through bronze ventilation pipes, decorated at the top with weather vanes in the form of eagles. The heating pipes were disguised with bronze gratings, which also successfully served as spectacular decorative details.

The Imperial train included the carriage of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, which consisted of “three elegantly decorated rooms, with a fireplace, a kitchen, a cellar and an icebox.”

Subsequently, several more carriages for various functional purposes were added to this train. During operation, some cars were modernized and rebuilt in order to improve their interior decoration and technical design. The first Tsarist train was used for travel throughout Russia until 1888.

During the reign of Alexander II, railway transport increasingly entered the life of the country, new lines were opened: St. Petersburg - Warsaw (1862), Moscow - Ryazan (1864), Rigo-Orlovskaya (1866-1868), Moscow - Kursk ( 1868) and a number of others. Tsarist travel by rail also began to expand, and its duration increased, which required increased comfort. In addition, imitation of Western monarchs, who had their own trains, also played a role.

On April 4, 1866, the first assassination attempt was made on Alexander II, and this may have served as an impetus for tightening the regime for imperial travel. At the same time, the Aleksandrovsky Plant built a fifteen-car imperial train to travel on Russian railways with a 1524 mm gauge. It included a luggage car-power station, a workshop, carriages of the Minister of Railways, the Grand Duke's, Their Imperial Majesty's, the heir to the Tsarevich, a carriage for servants, a kitchen, a buffet and a dining room, in addition, 5 carriages for the retinue were attached at the tail of the train.

Since Empress Maria Alexandrovna was diagnosed with a serious pulmonary disease in the 1870s, in 1872 an order was placed in France for the construction of a new train for the empress's trips abroad. France was chosen because the construction of the train there was cheaper than in other countries. The execution of the order was supervised by the Imperial Train Inspectorate.

The Empress's railway staff was formed gradually. In 1872, the first seven carriages were purchased in France; they cost the treasury 121,788 rubles. The possibility of adapting them to the Russian gauge by the Main Society of Russian Railways cost another 17,787 rubles. A freight car purchased separately from this batch was equipped with an icebox and adapted for the transportation of provisions (RUB 1,839). Somewhat later, four more new cars were purchased from the Milton Pay and Co. 0 plant (RUB 51,620). As a result, the royal train was equipped with 10 carriages. This train became intended only for foreign travel, since it was built to a narrower European standard railway gauge.

When developing the train design, much attention was paid to the degree of comfort of the train and its finishing. Taking into account the illness of the empress, one of the main requirements was to ensure comfortable temperature and ventilation of the train. The quality of these works was controlled by the empress’s physician, Professor S.P. Botkin. So, at temperatures from +8° to -20° degrees, the composition must maintain a constant temperature of 13 to 15°C, both “at the floor and at the ceiling.” It was also possible to change the temperature in the compartment regardless of the temperature in the corridor. For this purpose, a signal button was installed in the compartment. “Humidifying devices” were installed in the Empress’s carriage and in the large salon to maintain a certain level of humidity (48–58% in winter). Air conditioning fans were installed in four carriages of the train to cool the air entering the carriages in the summer. With doors and windows closed, the temperature in the cars was supposed to be 5°C lower than the outside air.

Furnishings for these carriages were also ordered from France. The contract with the French factories "Milton Pay and Co. 0" stipulated that "these cars must be equipped with all necessary furniture and other accessories... except for linen and washing utensils, table candlesticks and candelabra, ashtrays and match holders."

The interior was truly royal: for example, a washbasin made of silver was installed in the Empress’s carriage. Despite the fact that at this time water closets (toilets) were already provided in the carriages, according to tradition, the list of ordered items also mentions “white and gilded night porcelain vessels.”

For the first time, the Empress traveled abroad in a new composition in December 1873. During this trip, some shortcomings in the equipment of several cars were revealed. After all the alterations and improvements, the cost of the royal train for foreign travel was 320,905 rubles.

By the 1880s, Russia's railway network had expanded significantly. By this time, the imperial family had a fleet of carriages, which began to form under Nicholas I.

In one of the trains, consisting of 10 cars, on October 18, 1888, the royal family almost died as a result of a train accident that occurred near the town of Borki near Kharkov.

After the crash of the royal train in Borki, an expert commission identified serious technical flaws in the design of the train and significant violations of the basic rules of its operation. Based on the findings of this commission, a decision was made to build a new train for royal family.

Already on October 28, 1888, by the highest decision, a commission was established to resolve issues related to the formation of the concept of the future royal train. The main thing for the commission was to determine the type of new imperial carriages and their comparative analysis with existing analogues used by the heads of European states.

Thus, in October 1888, initially there was talk of building two trains: for domestic and for foreign trips of the royal family.

The trains were conceived as palaces on wheels. They, along with luxury and amenities for travelers, must provide a smooth ride and an adequate level of safety. To determine the number of people accompanying the emperor on his trips abroad, the guard compiled a list of passengers who usually accompanied the king on his travels. As a result, it was decided that the royal train would include 11–12 carriages with a total weight of about 400 tons.

For the construction of the Imperial Trains, a special Highly Established Construction Committee was formed, with direct supervision of the progress of the work of the Inspectorate of the Imperial Trains.

In November 1889, a fundamental decision was made to place a prestigious order at the Alexander Mechanical Plant of the Nikolaev Railway. At the Aleksandrovsky plant, the construction of the seven-car train was completed by February 1896. However, during the first trips it became clear that seven cars were not enough. As a result, two cars were built in the workshops of the St. Petersburg–Warsaw Railway, and the third was restored after the above-mentioned crash.

Already during the construction of the train for the emperor’s trips abroad, it was decided to use it for domestic trips of the royal family. To do this, they developed a procedure for changing the slopes of the foreign gauge of 1435 mm to the Russian gauge of 1524 mm.

Initially, changing the ramps took up to 3 hours on each car. That is, it took up to three days to “change shoes” for the entire train. In extreme cases, railway workers worked at 18:00. To speed up the process, a special car lift was installed at the Verzhbolovo border station in 1903. It cost the treasury 206 thousand rubles.

The carriages in the train were supposed to be distributed as follows:

In the first carriage– a power plant with its personnel.

Second carriage– luggage.

Third carriage with first and second class compartments it was intended for servants.

In the fourth carriage in seven compartments the first persons of the royal retinue were located. Fifth carriage compartment 6 was occupied by the Minister of the Imperial Household, the commander of the main imperial apartment, the head of security, the marshal, the life physician, and one spare compartment.

Sixth car, also on the 6th compartment, - ladies'. Two grand ducal compartments. Two single-seat compartments were intended for ladies-in-waiting. The Empress's maids were traveling in a two-seater compartment. The sixth compartment was intended for the maids of honor. The level of comfort in this carriage included a special toilet room in each of the grand ducal compartments and another common toilet for the ladies-in-waiting and their maids.

Seventh car was called grand ducal. It was designed for 5 compartments. The first of them was intended for the heir, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Nicholas II. The second two-seater compartment was intended for the young Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his tutor. In the third compartment was the tsar’s second son, Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. The carriage had two toilets.

The next two carriages were called imperial.

Eighth car– sleeping. The emperor's bedchamber was upholstered in morocco. Each bedroom had three windows. The emperor's bedroom had a table, a sofa, a small dressing table, double lamps on the walls and a washbasin. Each bedroom has separate toilet rooms. The interiors of the rooms of the emperor and empress differed in design style. In the same carriage there was a dressing room, and there were two compartments for the Emperor's valet and for the Empress's chamberlain. To heat the carriage, a steam boiler was placed in it.

In the ninth carriage there was an imperial salon and the tsar's study.

In the tenth carriage There was an imperial dining room; it was divided into three sections: a dining room, a snack bar and a buffet. These four of the 10 train carriages (bedchamber, salon-dining room, children's and grand ducal), distinguished by their particularly luxurious decoration, were used only by members of the royal family.

The last two carriages are utility cars.

In the eleventh carriage there was a kitchen, which also consisted of three sections: a kitchen, a buffet and a department for provisions. In the twelfth carriage The second class had compartments for 4 cooks and 4 waiters, as well as 14 sleeping places for servants and 6 places for Cossack guards. In total, the carriage was designed for 32 sleeping places with one common toilet.

Later another carriage was added and used as a church.

The average weight of a car was about 40 tons, that is, with a bogie pressure on the rails of 20 tons, but there were cars, for example, Opochivalnya, in which the bogie pressure reached 23.3 tons.

The length of the cars between the outer edges of the buffer beams is 18 m, the Opochivalnya and Detsky cars are 19.6 m, the height of the car inside is 2.9 m, the width is 2.94 m. The bodies are wooden: both the sheathing and the frame with channels.

Carts were used with a metal frame; biaxial, equipped with a triple system of springs: elliptical carriage-type, axle-box leaf and special axle-box. The ramps are reinforced.

The cars were connected to each other by Ulengut ties, and for ease of passage from one car to another there were inter-car passages with leather bellows - harmonics.

Initially, in order to save space, it was planned to illuminate the composition only with candles and do without electric lighting. Then the option of gas lighting was considered, but after some hesitation, electric lighting was installed on the train. Each compartment was equipped with 1–2 lamps in the Art Nouveau style.

Installed incandescent lamps with 8, 16 and 25 candles each at a voltage of 50 volts were powered by a dynamo and batteries; In case of damage to the car, there was a battery in the kitchen car that provided lighting for the entire train for 3 hours. In total, there were 200 electric lamps on the train. In the daytime, in addition to the windows, light entered the cars through the skylights.

For communication between all cars, a telephone network was installed. All carriages were equipped with Siemens and Halske telephones of their own system with a receiving sink on a common telephone box screwed to the wall. Later they were replaced by Erickson telephones with speaking and auditory shells on one portable stand.

The power station car was placed at the head of the train, this made it possible to take water for the power station boiler directly from the tender of the rear locomotive.

The train is heated by steam, local, with small boilers installed in 7 cars; a carriage without its own boiler was heated by the boiler of the neighboring carriage.

Brakes - Westinghouse, Hardy and manual; The pads were pressed on both sides, and each axis was braked.

To give a signal, the locomotive had an electric alarm, which, when the train was traveling on automatic brakes, was used to regulate the speed of the train, and when using hand brakes, its purpose was the same as the signal rope - to immediately stop the train.

All train cars had the same appearance. The cars are painted dark blue with thin gold trim on the glazing beads covering the seams of the paneled iron. The final coat of varnish was lightly sanded to soften the excessive gloss.

The roof was painted light gray to protect it from heat. The trolleys are black with gold lining along the contour lines. The wheels were painted according to the rules of the General Agreement.

There were no inscriptions on the cars, but each car had its own letter indicating the purpose of the car, for example, Sl. – Service, D. – Children’s, etc.

Their Imperial Majesties occupied the carriage - the Bedchamber; it had two offices, between them a bathroom, and on the sides there were compartments for His Majesty's valet and Her Majesty's chamberlain.

The decoration of the carriage was distinguished by the simplicity and severity of the style of all details.

Emperor's Bedchamber

The walls of His Majesty's office were trimmed with dark olive-colored leather in a screed, and the ceiling was made of polished red wood boards. The floor was covered with 3 layers of felt, a plain olive green velvet carpet with a checkered pattern. A large sofa with a removable mattress, which serves as a bed at night, is separated from the door by a glass screen with a curtain; the furniture consisted of a desk, 3 armchairs, a wardrobe and a shelf for papers; the door next to the table led to the restroom, where the washbasin was placed; The restroom is decorated with a Chinese mat. Bronze – gilded.

The office was illuminated by 5 electric light bulbs with 10 candles each. Ventilation was carried out by 2 Korshunov system fans. To stop the train, there was a handle for the stop valves of the automatic brakes at the head of the sofa. Next to the restroom is the valet’s room, where the necessary things were also located.

The bathroom area was lined with a water-repellent mat. The bathtub itself was made in Paris from bimetal, its outer side was made of copper sheets, and the other, facing the inside of the bathtub, was made of silver. There was a shower above the bath.

Her Majesty's apartment was designed almost the same as His Majesty's office, with the only difference being that instead of leather, pale green English cretonne was used to decorate the walls and furniture.

Bedchamber of the Empress

Behind the Bedchamber there was a Salon-Dining Car.

On the walls there are kenquettes, a clock, a barometer and port-bouquets; In addition, above the mirror, between the doors to the dining room, there is a pressure gauge and a vacuum gauge from the Westinghouse and Hardy brake cylinders.

Dining car decor elements

The wood used for finishing is red with American walnut inserts. Doors, tables, window cornices are inlaid.

The dining room is decorated in the English Renaissance style; its character is quite austere and very simple: the walls are upholstered with embossed French leather, rollers, brown, the panel is upholstered with shagreen leather, rollers; the furniture is upholstered in smooth shagreen leather; The dining table could optionally be disassembled into 3 separate card tables; on the salon side there was a buffet cabinet with a folding board for serving snacks.

The salon and dining room were illuminated - each with 16 ten-candle lamps

The Children's carriage was placed in front of the Bedchamber.

The main compartments of the carriage were the premises of Their Imperial Highnesses the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatyana Nikolaevna.

In both of these compartments the wall upholstery is smooth, with English cretonne - flowers on a white field; the tree is beech.

In the same carriage there were 2 maids of honor; their departments were arranged according to general type rooms of the retinues.

In the Grand Ducal there were 3 grand ducal compartments, one valet compartment and a compartment for chamber frau.

The 1st Grand Ducal Department was decorated in the Empire style: polished mahogany furniture with bronze decorations; the walls and furniture are upholstered in dark green leather; the ceiling is covered with greenish silk fabric with laurel wreaths in the style; the same wreaths were repeated in the pattern of the carpet, a thick red-brown tone.

In general, the character of the decoration was very rich, but calm and strictly maintained.

The decoration of the 2nd compartment, consisting of 2 parts separated by a folding partition, was made in lighter colors; the walls are decorated with silk fabric, with colored patterns; the wooden decoration of the walls was made of red beech and Karelian birch; The furniture was dominated by maple with pear wood inlays.

Upon request, on some trips, this compartment of 2 sleeping halves was turned into a salon.

The 3rd Grand Duke's compartment was also trimmed to the top with stitching for less echo; the general tone of the finish is a combination of lilac and pale yellowish; a lilac silk matting is used for the panel; for the walls - brocard fabric with a yellowish woven pattern on a light purple background and, finally, plush for furniture borders; The wall upholstery is made of the same brokart material.

The wooden decoration of the walls was dominated by beech and maple, and for the furniture, maple was also used with pear wood inlays.

The bed, just like in Her Majesty’s office in the new carriage, was arranged in the form of a hammock and was separated from the door by a wooden screen.

At the head of the hammock there was a small folding table and a portable electric lamp, which could also be hung on the wall; a dressing table with a mirror is placed by the window; in the spaces between the windows there is a desk with a lowering board; an armchair, a stool and a chair completed the furnishings of this department.

The suite carriage consisted of 4 men's and 2 women's compartments and a compartment for female servants.

The structure of these compartments is similar to the structure of the maid of honor in the Children's carriage and differed mainly only in the choice of material for the upholstery of walls and furniture: in the men's compartments the sofa, chair and wall panel are upholstered in dark green leather, and the upper part of the “kotlin” walls is grayish -green color with a woven pattern of shiny silk; in ladies' rooms the finishing is in vieil or (dull gold) tone, leather is replaced by satin.

The service car consisted of a saloon compartment and six compartments.

The design of these compartments is modeled after men's suites. The salon was intended to accommodate persons on duty from the train administration, as well as agents of the railway administration and gendarmerie officials.

On the wall there were control instruments: a train speed indicator, two pressure gauges from the main air line and the brake cylinder of the Westinghouse brake, vacuum gauges from the same parts of the Hardy brake, a clock, a repeat bell from the electric alarm system on the locomotive and a button for sending a signal there; a barometer and thermometers - indoor and outdoor - completed this collection.

On the wall there was a map of Russian railways. There was also a telephone for communication with the Carriage Engineer's department in the Workshop car and with the Baggage car. At the end of the carriage there was a small tea buffet.

The workshop car was entirely intended to house the train's technical staff and the electrical station for its lighting.

The Carriage Engineer's department was equipped with two sofas, an extendable table, a telephone and all control devices, as in the cabin of the Service Car with the addition of a voltmeter, as well as two cabinets and shelves for storing train magazines.

For the rest of the technical and internal crews of the train who were relieved from duty, three large compartments with six sleeping places each and one small compartment for three people were built.

The sleeping benches were arranged in three tiers: the lower and upper ones were fixedly fixed, the middle one was lowerable on hinges, which made it possible to sit freely during the day on the lower bench.

The benches were made of polished teak wood and covered with removable hair mattresses covered with gray cloth. The artisans' outer dress and personal luggage were placed in the corridor. To feed the train crew, there was a small separate kitchen with a stove, sufficient to prepare food for 30-35 low-level employees accompanying the train from the owner's road.

For the convenience of drawing water from the tender tank, the boiler of the electric station was placed at the end of the car facing the locomotive.

The walls were painted with light oil paint over a canvas previously pasted on them; the floor near the boiler is covered with iron; The upper windows in the skylight are made to open for better ventilation of the room.

Coal for heating was poured into a chest at the side of the boiler; there was also a small workbench with a vice for minor repairs necessary along the way.

The dynamos were installed on additional beds located across the carriage and were fenced with railings.

The floor of the room is covered with linoleum; The walls are painted with oil paint. There are two cabinets on the wall for storing spare lamps, fuses and other electrical lighting accessories.

Car - Kitchen.

Almost the entire carriage was allocated for the culinary section, but two compartments were arranged: one double, the other in one sofa, to accommodate the gouffeur, waiters and cooks for small commuter trips, when the train was traveling in a reduced number without a 2nd carriage class for Palace servants.

In the center of the car there is a compartment with a stove, which is located near one of the longitudinal walls. There was a cake cabinet against the other wall. Opposite the stove there was a long beech table for cooking, with a supply of firewood underneath it. The water was stored in a tank made of tinned copper coated with zinc and set in a wooden container. In the corner of the kitchen there is a sink with running water.

Along the walls there are cabinets, shelves and hooks for storing dishes. For ventilation, in addition to ceiling fans, the skylight windows are hinged and have springs. The walls are painted with light oak oil paint; the floor is upholstered with linoleum, and around the fireplaces there is also iron.

The stove and cake cabinet are all made of iron and cast iron, with the gaps near the outer skin being filled with sand.

At the end of the car on the dining room side there is a pantry compartment for preparing snacks and stocking up on regular dishes.

On the other side of the kitchen there was the so-called cold compartment; it is lined with glaciers in the form of boxes with lids along all the free walls; All the supplies of the palace kitchen were stored here. The door to the stove compartment is equipped with an automatic lock.

Due to the lack of another more suitable place on the train, it was necessary to place a battery of electric lighting batteries in this compartment.

The Baggage and 2nd class carriages for the palace servants are finished in the same way as the living quarters in the Kitchen carriage - like 2nd class passenger carriages: the top of the walls is covered with oilcloth, and the bottom and seats are upholstered in gray cloth.

In the baggage car there was a Graftio device for recording the progress and idle time of the train.

Along the walls of the corridor there is a hydraulic control panel, stretchers and torches in case of any incidents along the way.

In the II class carriage, in addition to the compartments for the Palace servants, there was a service room for the paramedic and the train foreman, who directly monitored the railway servants of the train. One wall of this compartment is occupied by a large closet in which a supply of bed linen is stored for the entire train; under the sofa there is a box with a full supply of the most common and necessary medications on the road.

Until 1905, Nicholas II used trains built on the orders of his father - Alexandra III. But since Nicholas II traveled around the country quite often, gradually each railway began to form its own royal train. By 1903, the imperial train fleet already consisted of five trains. The first is the Imperial Train of the Nikolaev Railway for the travel of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna with carriages on four-axle bogies. The train included 10 wagons. The second is “His Imperial Majesty’s Own” for long-distance travel across Russia, commissioned in 1897, on four-axle bogies. The third - the Imperial train "for foreign gauge", which went into operation in 1894, consisted of 11 cars on four-axle bogies. The fourth was the “suburban Imperial train” with three-axle carriages for travel in the vicinity of St. Petersburg, which included 13 carriages. The fifth is the Imperial Train of the Kursk Railway “for travel of foreign and local nobility” of 16 three-axle cars.

The increase in the fleet of imperial trains was significantly influenced by internal political events. It was necessary to strengthen measures to ensure the safety of the emperor in the conditions of a brewing revolutionary explosion. Therefore, in the early 1900s, construction began on the second “instance” of the Russian Imperial Train. The construction of this train was completed by 1905.

It was the twin trains that provided “cover” for the Tsar, constantly changing places along the route. A similar practice in protecting the tsar developed in the late 1870s under Alexander II. Special staff from among the house servants were assigned to the backup train with the task of constantly flashing in the windows of the cars, giving them a residential appearance. The interior of the backup train was somewhat more modest, but outwardly they looked almost identical.

They tried to keep the carriages of the imperial trains on each of the Tsar’s railway routes. Therefore, the Imperial train could quickly be equipped with the required number of carriages.

The Imperial composition was used especially often by the Tsar during the First World War. For maneuverability and secrecy of movements, the royal train was equipped with an incomplete train. The imperial train was small. It consisted in the center of His Majesty's carriage, where the Sovereign's bedroom and office were located; next to it, on one side there is a suite, and on the other there is a dining car. Next came a kitchen with a buffet, a carriage with a military camp office and the last carriage, which housed the railway engineers and the head of the road along which the train was traveling. Arriving at the front at Headquarters, the Emperor remained to live on his train. When in the summer of 1915, Nicholas II assumed the duties of Supreme Commander-in-Chief and began to spend most of his time in Mogilev, where his Headquarters was located, the Empress and her daughters often came there.

In fact, in 1915–1917, the imperial train became one of the permanent residences of the last Russian emperor. This train also included a lounge car, in which Nicholas II signed his abdication on March 2, 1917.

After the abdication of Nicholas II in March 1917, his trains were used by the ministers of the Provisional Government for six months. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the imperial carriages were used to form the famous train of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council L.D. Trotsky. He used the facilities of the Imperial Train, including a garage-car built in 1915 for the train of Nicholas II.

The fate of all the luxurious royal carriages was sad. Most of them were lost in the fire Civil War. The surviving carriages were destroyed in 1941, and today not a single one of the original imperial trains has survived in Russia.

Based on publications: Zimin I. The adult world of imperial residences. Second quarter of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries; Railway transport – 2000. - No. 8. – P. 68-73: ill. Imperial trains. B.V. YANUSH, employee of the Center for Railway Transport of the Ministry of Railways; Tsarskoye Selo Newspaper , November 9, 2002 No. 87 (9409) Yu. Novoselsky; Transport Information Bulletin. – 2009. - No. 1. – P.27-29. K. I. Pluzhnikov Imperial Train; Imperial broad-gauge train for traveling around Russia, built in 1896-1897. : [album] / MPS; comp. P. Malevinsky. - St. Petersburg. ; M.: Tipo-lit. Kushnereva, 1900. - 220, 19 p. : ill., photos, plans, l. crap.

The train was built in 1894-96. The composition of the carriages changed several times, old carriages were replaced with new ones, and the interior also underwent changes. The carriages in the train were supposed to be distributed as follows: in the first carriage– a power plant with its personnel. Second carriage– luggage. Third carriage with first and second class compartments it was intended for servants. In the fourth carriage in seven compartments the first persons of the royal retinue were located. Fifth carriage compartment 6 was occupied by the Minister of the Imperial Household, the commander of the main imperial apartment, the head of security, the marshal, the life physician, and one spare compartment. Sixth car, also on the 6th compartment, - ladies'. Two single-seat compartments in it were intended for ladies-in-waiting. The Empress's maids were traveling in a two-seater compartment. The sixth compartment was intended for the maids of honor. The level of comfort in this carriage included a special toilet room in each of the two grand ducal compartments and another common toilet for the ladies-in-waiting and their maids. Seventh car was called grand ducal. It was designed for 5 compartments. The first of them was intended for the heir, Tsarevich Nikolai Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Nicholas II. The second two-seater compartment was intended for the young Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich and his tutor. In the third compartment was the tsar’s second son, Grand Duke Georgy Alexandrovich. The carriage had two toilets. The next two carriages were called imperial. Eighth car– sleeping. The emperor's bedchamber was upholstered in morocco. Each bedroom had three windows. The emperor's bedroom had a table, a sofa, a small dressing table, double lamps on the walls and a washbasin. Each bedroom has separate toilet rooms. The interiors of the rooms of the emperor and empress differed in design style. A dressing room was installed in the same carriage; there were two compartments for the Emperor's valet and for the Empress's valet. To heat the carriage, a steam boiler was placed in it. In the ninth carriage there was an imperial salon and the tsar's study. In the tenth carriage There was an imperial dining room; it was divided into three sections: a dining room, a snack bar and a buffet. These four of the 10 train carriages (bedchamber, salon-dining room, children's and grand ducal), distinguished by their particularly luxurious decoration, were used only by members of the royal family. The last two carriages are utility cars. In the eleventh carriage there was a kitchen, which also consisted of three sections: a kitchen, a buffet and a department for provisions. In the twelfth carriage of the second class there were compartments for 4 cooks and 4 waiters, as well as 14 sleeping places for servants and 6 places for Cossack guards. In total, the carriage was designed for 32 sleeping places with one common toilet. Later another carriage was added and used as a church. Emperor Nicholas II with his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna and Tsarevich Alexei: Enlarge The train cars were painted blue, the seams were decorated with gold. All wooden parts were made from Indian teak. Panels, ceilings and furniture were made of polished oak, walnut, white and gray beech, maple and Karelian birch. The ceiling of the royal carriage was covered with white satin, the walls were upholstered with crimson quilted damask. The same material was used to cover furniture, for which French decorators from Lyon were invited. There were bronze clocks on the tables, and the interior was also decorated with vases of Sevres porcelain and bronze candelabra. The mosaic doors opened and closed completely silently, and fresh air was delivered through bronze ventilation pipes, decorated at the top with weather vanes in the form of eagles. The heating pipes were disguised with bronze gratings, which also successfully served as spectacular decorative details. The floors were covered with linoleum and carpets. The most comfortable were, naturally, the carriages of the emperor's family. There was everything for a pleasant pastime and fruitful work. Between the compartments of the Emperor and Empress there was a bimetallic bathtub (copper outside, silver inside). A washbasin made of silver was installed in the Empress's carriage. It is curious that although at this time water closets (toilet) were already provided in the carriages, according to tradition, the list of ordered items also mentions “white and gilded night porcelain vessels.”
Enlarge Dining room in the dining car:
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Enlarge When developing the train design, much attention was paid to the degree of comfort of the train and its finishing. Taking into account the illness of the empress, one of the main requirements was to ensure comfortable temperature and ventilation of the train314. The quality of these works was controlled by the empress’s physician, Professor S.P. Botkin. Thus, at temperatures from +8° to -20° degrees, the composition must maintain a constant temperature of 13 to 15 °C, both “at the floor and at the ceiling.” It was also possible to change the temperature in the compartment regardless of the temperature in the corridor. For this purpose, a signal button was installed in the compartment. “Humidifying devices” were installed in the Empress’s carriage and in the large salon to maintain a certain level of humidity (48–58% in winter). Air conditioning fans were installed in four carriages of the train to cool the air entering the carriages in the summer. With the doors and windows closed, the temperature in the carriages was supposed to be 5 °C lower than the outside air. Living room:
Enlarge Table with inkwell:
Enlarge The furniture in Nicholas II's compartment, made of Karelian birch and beech, was upholstered in brown leather. On the table stood a bronze, gilded set of writing instruments, consisting of 12 items. The compartment was lit by gilded sconces, and a soft cherry-colored carpet lay on the floor.
Enlarge Desk of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna:
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Enlarge Department of Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna:
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Enlarge The Emperor's Bedchamber: The Empress's bedchamber: Tsarevich Alexei: Enlarge Nicholas II:
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After the abdication of Nicholas II in March 1917, his trains were used by the ministers of the Provisional Government for six months. After the Bolsheviks came to power, the famous train of the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council L.D. was formed from the imperial carriages. Trotsky. He used the facilities of the Imperial Train, including a garage-car built in 1915 for the train of Nicholas II. The carriage of the royal train in which Shulgin accepted the abdication of Nicholas II in March 1917:
Enlarge Since the late 1920s. and until the second half of the 1930s. in Peterhof in Alexandria Park, as part of an exhibition dedicated to the life of the imperial family, 2 carriages with an exhibition telling about the abdication of Nicholas II were presented. This pair also included a saloon car, in which Nicholas II signed his abdication on March 2, 1917. The fate of all the luxurious royal carriages was sad. Most of them were lost in the fire of the Civil War. The surviving carriages were destroyed in 1941, and today not a single one of the original imperial trains has survived on the territory of the Russian Federation. However, our neighbors, at the Suomi Railway Museum, display three carriages from the same imperial train. Some memorial items that were in the royal carriages were preserved in the funds of the Peterhof Museum-Reserve