Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

380 ENGINEERING WONDERS OF THE WORLD. to Tashkent, 1,153 miles—and on to Khokand. At the latter place the track forks. A northern extension reaches to Andizhan (1,260 miles); another, somewhat to the south, to New Marghilan. Both these termini are in the fer- tile, cotton-growing valleys of Fergana, and from them come large quantities of cotton to the Russian factories. It may be said that, while the main part of the system—that from the Caspian to Tashkent—is a military railway, the stretch from Tchernayevo to Andizhan and have, however, caused the Russians to pay greater attention to the Central Asian provinces, and to improve the means of communication. The railway, which has a single track of 5’304 feet gauge, was in the first instance built as economically as possible—witness the merest apologies for stations, and the wooden bridges. In recent years the gradients have been re- duced, the slopes of cuttings flattened, and the sleepers relaid on good ballast; and in place of the goods wagons that served for material THE “ SAND PANEL ” SYSTEM OF KEEPING A RAILWAY TRACK FREE FROM SAND. The panels—boards stood on edge and attached to short posts—are set obliquely to the quarter whence the prevailing winds blow. The winds carry the sand along the face of the panels, and deposits it at the outer end. Marghilan is commercial. The future will show whether the Central Asian Railway— as it was first named in 1899—will prove more valuable as a carrier of soldiers or of mer- chandise. Thanks to the present friendly relations of Great Britain and Russia, the Indian invasion bogie which bulked so large in the popular imagination a decade ago has been laid. Their reverses in Manchuria and passengers alike, comfortable cars, with all conveniences, have come into use. Since 1888 the railway has been a paying concern, though large sums have had to be expended on the provision of a good western terminal, Usun Ada remained the terminus till 1896, when it was abandoned owing to the diffi- culty and cost of maintaining a sufficient depth of water in the harbour. Krasnovodsk, lying