Editing Trans-Siberian Railway (section)

===Effects===
[[File:Siberian peasants watching a train at a station, (1902).jpg|thumb|Siberian peasants watching a train at a station, 1902]]

Siberian agriculture began to send cheap grain westwards beginning around 1869.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} Agriculture in Central Russia was still under economic pressure after the end of [[serfdom]], which was [[Emancipation reform of 1861 in Russia|formally abolished]] in 1861. To defend the central territory and prevent possible social destabilization, the Tsarist government introduced the [[Chelyabinsk]] [[tariff]]-break ({{lang|ru|Челябинский тарифный перелом}}) in 1896, a tariff barrier for grain passing through Chelyabinsk, and a similar barrier in [[Manchuria]]. This measure changed the nature of export: mills emerged to produce bread from grain in [[Altai Krai]], [[Novosibirsk]] and [[Tomsk]], and many farms switched to [[Maize|corn]] (maize) production.

The railway immediately filled to capacity with local traffic, mostly wheat. From 1896 until 1913 Siberia exported on average {{convert|501932|t|sp=us}} (30,643,000 [[pood]]) of grain and flour annually.<ref name="hramkov">{{Cite book |last=Храмков |first=А. А. |url=http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html |title=Предприниматели и предпринимательство в Сибири. Вып.3 |publisher=Изд-во АГУ |year=2001 |isbn=5-7904-0195-3 |location=Barnaul |trans-title=Entrepreneurs and business undertakings in Siberia. 3rd issue |chapter=Железнодорожные перевозки хлеба из Сибири в западном направлении в конце XIX – начале XX вв |trans-chapter=Railroad transportation of bread from Siberia westwards in the late 19th–early 20th centuries |access-date=2006-07-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184610/http://new.hist.asu.ru/biblio/predpri3/index.html |archive-date=2007-09-30 |url-status=dead}}</ref> During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905, military traffic to the east disrupted the flow of civil freight.

The Trans-Siberian Railway brought with it millions of peasant-migrants from the Western regions of Russia and Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0 |title=Ukraine: a history |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=2000 |isbn=0-8020-8390-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/262 262] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Between 1906 and 1914, the peak migration years, about 4 million peasants arrived in Siberia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dronin |first1=N. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9a5j_JL6cqIC&pg=PA38 |title=Climate dependence and food problems in Russia, 1900–1990: the interaction of climate and agricultural policy and their effect on food problems |last2=Bellinger |first2=E. G. |publisher=Central European University Press |year=2005 |isbn=963-7326-10-3 |page=38}}</ref>

Historian [[Christian Wolmar]] argues that the railroad was a failure, because it was built for narrow political reasons, with poor supervision and planning. The costs were vastly exaggerated to enrich greedy bureaucrats. The planners hoped it would stimulate settlement, but the Siberian lands were too infertile and cold and distant. There was little settlement beyond {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the line. The fragile system could not handle the heavy traffic demanded in wartime, so the Japanese in 1904 knew they were safe in [[Russo-Japanese War|their war with Russia]]. Wolmar concludes:

{{blockquote|The railway, which was single track throughout, with the occasional passing loop, had, unsurprisingly, been built to a deficient standard in virtually every way. The permanent way was flimsy, with lightweight rails that broke easily, insufficient [[Track ballast|ballast]], and railroad ties often carved from green wood that rotted in the first year of use. The small bridges were made of soft pine and rotted easily. The embankments were too shallow and narrow, often just {{convert|10|ft|m}} wide instead of the {{convert|16|ft|m}} prescribed in the design, and easily washed away. There were vicious gradients and narrow curves that wore out the fringe flanges on the wheels of the rolling stock after as little as six weeks use.<ref>Christian Wolmar, ''Blood, iron, and gold: How the railroads transformed the world'' (Public Affairs, 2011), pp 169–70.</ref>}}