Myth-Making Journeys on the Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railroad (TSRR) seems to generate more myths about journeys than any other railroad. Reasons for this mystique are evaluated, including the lure of distance and adventure in exotic locales. Myths began at the 1900 Paris Exhibition that trumpeted the “greatest railway on earth,” but realism soon clashed with expectations, a disconnect that continues to this day. Significance of the railway for exiling political prisoners and moving whole populations is considered. Motivations for TSRR journeys by non-Russians are discussed and classified into three types of myth-making: discovering the “real Russia,” romance on the rails, and the quest for spiritual awakening. The author draws from her own experience on trains in Siberia to conclude that Russians use the TSRR as a practical means of travel, but foreigners take the TSRR as a journey of self-discovery.