Abstract
Abstract
The paper analyzes the principal factors of influence that shaped up the railroad industry as a key component of the Russian transport system in the early 20th century. The relevance of this research consists in its demonstration of the correlation between the development of a railroad network and particular events that accompanied the accumulation of resources by the Russian industrial society. The state involvement in transport business operations and railroad construction was deeper in Russia than in other European countries. Its influence made a positive impact on the Russian military transportation system in 1914 – 1917. This was the time period when the Russian school of locomotive building was established. This research has practical significance, as it helps to identify the factors that impact the development of railroad transport in the 19th and 20th centuries. The author has employed a method of retrospective analysis of sources (mainly those covering the history of locomotive building in the years of World War I), a comparative historical method, methods of analogy, deduction and induction.