The Chinese Eastern Railway - A Glimpse of History

by Mr Peter Crush

ABOVE: THE CHINESE EASTERN RAILWAY’S LOGO AS USED ON PRINTED STATIONERY

THE POLITICS

Towards the close of the 19^th Century powerful Western nations were almost without exception competing for territorial influence and, in some cases, outright sovereign control of areas of China. In what historians now refer to as the “Battle for Concessions”, the weak Manchu "Ch'ing" dynasty Government, being powerless to resist, gave in to foreign demands for territory in China wherein their nationals would not be subject to Chinese laws. This was known as “Extraterritoriality”. Very often the one-sided “agreements” concluded with China, gave foreign nations an exclusive right to build railways within their area of influence.

The Russians had been progressively grabbing Chinese territory in Manchuria since the 17^th Century and these efforts escalated in the 19^th Century. Vladivostock had been prised from China in 1860 when Russia used China’s skirmish with the British and French during the second “Opium War” (or “China War” as the British prefer to call it) as a pretext for justifying their annexation of their “Maritime Territory” on Manchuria’s eastern coast.  Their next step was a plan for a trans-Siberian railway to link Russia’s newly acquired

eastern port with Russia proper in the west

In 1891 construction of the Ussuri railway north from Vladivostock to Khabarovsk was commenced and in the summer of 1892 construction of the great Siberian Railway, which was intended to link up with the Ussuri line, began from the western end.  In late 1894 the Sino-Japanese war broke out, and suffering defeat, the Chinese Government was left even more weakened and humiliated. Russia took advantage of this and posing as China’s friend offered protection to the Chinese in Manchuria in exchange for a few favours.  One of these prizes, concluded in a secret agreement between Viceroy Li Hung Chang (李鴻章) and the Russian Tsar, was permission for Russia to build the eastern section of their Siberian Railway in a straight line through China’s Manchurian territory from Manchouli (滿州里) instead of following a more circuitous route along Russia’s border, delineated by the River Amur. This shortened the line by over 700 miles, an immense saving in time and expense. Later, in 1898, permission was obtained for an additional line south from Harbin (哈爾濱) down the Liaotung Peninsula (遼東半島)  to Dalny (大連) and Port Arthur (旅順).

CONSTRUCTION

Construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) proper was financed by the Russo-Chinese Bank , a bank created in 1896 especially for the purpose and whose shareholders could only be Russian or Chinese. In reality this placed the whole concern totally under Russian control. The concession for building and operating the line was for a minimum period of 36 years after which the Chinese would be able to buy back (“redeem”) sole ownership of the line. If the railway was not redeemed by the Chinese it would revert to Chinese ownership after 80 years without payment.  Construction commenced in 1897 and proceeded rapidly. The original length of the CER from Manchouli to the Eastern border at “Pogranichnaia” (Suifenhe 綏芬河) was 927 miles, with a further 607 miles on the Harbin –Port Arthur southern extension. The total cost of the railway came to some 455,000,000 Russian Roubles.

Control of the CER Company rested with a president and a board of nine other members. The first president to be appointed was Chinese statesman Hsu Ching Cheng (許景澄) who had strong Russian connections, having earlier been the Chinese envoy to Russia in St. Petersberg. The actual responsibilty for running the company’s activities rested with a vice-president who was elected by other members of the board, all of whom were all Russians.  The first Engineer-in-Chief was Russian, A. I. Yugovitch, who oversaw the construction of the entire CER line, including the southern branch from Harbin to Port Arthur.

During the “Boxer” disturbances of 1900 much damage was inflicted on the railway, especially between Port Arthur and Mukden (Shenyang 沈陽).  By 1901 there were already limited services on sections of the line and on 1^st. July 1903 the whole line was completed and officially opened. The first CER president, Hsu Ching Cheng (許景澄), was not fortunate enough to witness the opening of the line, having been executed by order of the Chinese Emperor’s court in July 1900, (during the “Boxer” uprising), for being “too pro foreigner”. After the opening of the railway Hsu was posthumously pardoned and decorated by the Chinese court as a martyr.

EARLY ROLLING STOCK & EQUIPMENT

The railway track was built to the wide Russian 5ft. ( 1524 m.m.) gauge and by 1899 the southern branch from Port Arthur to Harbin was virtually complete although subsequently the construction quality of the rapidly built railway was, in general, found to be poor.

The need for urgent and large amounts of railway equipment and rolling stock presented the Russians with a supply problem, especially from the point of view of bringing it all the way from Europe. The Americans stepped in and found a ready market for their railway equipment, which was cheaper and faster to ship from USA. Subsequently much of the equipment and rolling stock for the railway in its early stages was manufactured and supplied by USA. The Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1899, for instance, received large orders for six-coupled, compound tank locomotives and also for 2-8-0 tender locomotives.  

Above & Below: Baldwin engines supplied in large numbers to the CER in 1899

Between the years 1898 and 1903 the CER ordered a total of 121 of these Baldwin ‘Consolidation’ locomotives and 27 of the tank locomotives

The city of Harbin, which was at the junction of the southern Port Arthur branch, was a specially created new railway town on a site that was previously barren. Harbin became the Headquarters of the CER and many large and impressive buildings were erected to serve the rapidly growing population of mainly Russian, but also Chinese, immigrants.

 In addition to creating the new city of Harbin, the CER also developed Dalny, on the south-east coast of the Liaotung Peninsula, into a huge new railway-served port as well as building up Port Arthur into a military fortress.

In addition to importing American railway equipment the CER also used Russian made locomotives, some of which had initially been used on the already constructed Ussuri Railway. These locomotives were a mixture of ‘G’ , ‘O’ , ‘Ts’ and ‘Sch’ class locomotives which were built at the Russian Locomotive and Machinery Works at Kharkov, the Bryansk Machinery Works and the Sormovo Works.

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