Sixteen well-dressed men pose for a photo in the park in Berdiansk at the head office of the Tokmak railway in Russia. These are the principal actors in what became the Tokmak railway in southern Russia (present-day Ukraine). The Tokmak railway was built because of the expanding agricultural surplus created by the region and the need to bring it to market. Its construction fits into a much larger story of industrialization in Russia and how the state supported the expanding transportation industry across the country.

Russia was crisscrossed with a series of national, private, and cooperative ventures between the state and private companies that date back to the Tsarskoye Selo line, completed in 1837.¹ After the Crimean War ended in 1856, Russia moved ahead towards fuller industrialization.² In the 1860s and 1870s over 50 railway companies were started in Russia and by the mid-1870s private companies owned approximately 18,000 kilometres of track. This expansion was made possible by the state’s financial support, guaranteed income from stock and bond capital, credits, loans, and the great authority given to companies in building and operating the lines. In the thirty-year span between 1851 and 1881 the population of New Russia had doubled from 2.4 to 4.8 million people and agriculture was increasingly becoming commercialized.³

In the 1880s, the Russian state began to buy the rail lines to help strengthen the economic prospects of the empire. By the 1890s the state began to regulate construction and maintenance of private lines and acted as a private partner, major creditor, and shareholder. The railway system continued to expand rapidly across Russia. Between 1907 and 1917 there were twenty-nine new rail companies. To support this expansion the government sold bonds, which helped to pay its foreign debts. In 1917 over 1,550 million rubles were owed to foreign creditors and of this, 87% was held by France (48%) and Germany (39%).⁴

Foreign interests, the Russian state, and Russian banks saw the railway as a crucial factor in the development of Russia’s vast natural resources. The banks would hold the large initial investment and dole out funds as needed. However, because such a large amount of capital was needed to start, the banks had a large influx of funds on which interest was charged, benefiting the banks. But the banks were not only involved with holding the funds for the railways; bank personnel were also
becoming personally involved. It was common for a president of a bank to also become the president of a railway company.⁵

As in many regions of Russia, the economy in Molotschna was booming. According to Peter M. Friesen, in the Halbstadt district in 1908 there were 191 industrial and commercial establishments worth over 1.2 million rubles, including 37 windmills and 27 motor driven mills, 7 factories, 18 brickworks, 2 printeries, a soap works, a book and music shop, a photo studio, locksmith, and cheese factories. Neighbouring Gnadenfeld district had 100 establishments valued at 493,750 rubles.⁶ Agriculture and agricultural exports from the Mennonite regions grew rapidly. More land was put into production to meet the export demand. Between 1879 and 1889 wheat was grown on half the crop area with barley, rye, and oats taking up the other half. With so much more wheat being grown than other crops, the millers in these agricultural areas had a lot of grain with which to work.

Brothers Johann Wall (1867–1934) and Jacob Wall (1870–1922) came from a wealthy family. After their father Peter Wall (1843–1882) died, their mother Maria Goossen (1844–1917) married Gerhard Wall. As young men in 1889, Jacob and Johann traveled to the United States where they spent a year visiting and considered establishing a homestead but instead returned to Russia, believing that America had “too much freedom and not enough law.”⁷

In November 1890, Jacob married Maria Albrecht and together they had seven children. Jacob bought land outside the Molotschna colony, immediately east of the Wintergrün estate owned by Jacob’s uncle, Jacob Goossen. This land became the Marianovka estate totaling 6,700 acres. Later Jacob bought the Sandhof estate from his father-in-law and changed its name to the Katerinovka estate, which totaled 4000 acres of land. These three estates (Wintergrün, Marianovka, and Katerinovka) were situated between Orekhov and Pologi, north of the Molotschna colony.⁸

George Wall, son of Jacob and Maria Wall, compiled some of his memories in “Memoirs of George Wall (son of Jacob P. Wall) 1906–1994.” George recounted a great deal regarding his father’s involvement in the establishment of the Tokmak railway. According to George, Jacob bought the flour mill from his step-father in Bolshoi-Tokmak around the year 1900. Jacob bought large amounts of wheat in fall when the price was low and then operated his mill around the clock, six days a week, tripling the mill’s profits. Around 1900 the Molotschna colony farmers were working 300,000 acres of land. To get grain and other products to the nearest port of Berdiansk, loads of wagons would make the 100-kilometre journey. A bit of rain made the dirt roads into a muddy mess.

A railway was proposed that would run through the Molotschna colony to the port, but Wall’s son George said the idea was rejected by regulators. Jacob Wall was then encouraged to submit another application. Jacob took up the challenge and presumably worked with architect Johann Peters to design the eight stations and bridges and where the tracks would be laid. The bigger stations included a house for the station agent, his family, switchmen, and other staff. The line would run in a sideways “V” shape, with the opening on the west and the point of the “V” joining at the station Tsarekonstantinovka in the east. It intersected with two other main rail routes that ran north-south. The southern portion of the Tokmak railway ran through the northern portion of the Molotschna colony and just to the south of the city of Tokmak and the three family estates. There were nine major shareholders supporting the project including Gerhard Wall, Johann Wall, Jacob P. Wall, brothers Peter and Abram Ediger, Johann Peters (architect), Mr. Gleckler, Mr. Foch, and Mr. Kleinert.⁹ The Russian Ministry of Transportation approved the project by telegram on 8 June 1910 and there was an organizational meeting of the shareholders on 21 June 1911. Total investment was 1.75 million rubles¹⁰ plus debenture stock valuing 633,000 rubles, guaranteed by the Russian state.¹¹ Work began in the fall of 1911.¹²

Land was purchased from individuals, most of whom were willing to sell, as they saw the economic advantages for the line.¹³ Most of the work was done with small carts pulled by one horse because there were few large earth moving machines at that time.¹⁴ Work began in the eastern portion of the line and as the line was laid trains already began steaming along the line, bringing workers and supplies to where work was taking place.¹⁵ When sand was discovered on a 27-acre parcel of land near Landskrone, a spur line was built to supply construction across the line with sand. A huge dredge was brought in from Germany to dig the sand and dump it into awaiting rail cars. The dredge became a local attraction with tourists visiting the site to see the machines in action.¹⁶ A telephone line was added along the rail line that was to be finished by 1 April 1912.¹⁷

According to the family the railway was finished on Wall’s birthday, 27 July 1912, and there was a celebration.¹⁸ As part of the celebration, Jacob Wall hosted government officials for several days. Jacob was rewarded with an invitation to visit Tsar Nicholas II. Presumably Johann Peters was also given an invitation because he was presented with a gold medal from the tsar celebrating the Tokmak railway’s completion.

In addition to bringing goods to and from the area, the train stations became gathering places for people. Henry Tiessen recalled, “As teenagers we often would go to the station and have a good time. At the station we always could buy a few refreshments and quench our hunger…. Of special interest was the locomotive repair shop. We watched how the big machines were turned around on a big swivel.”¹⁹

Not everyone was supportive of the railway. Some were concerned how the trains spooked the horses, while others had more serious concerns.²⁰ While the railway made it easier to export goods to market, it was also easier for unwanted influences to enter the community. Johann Willms of Hierschau, Molotschna, expressed concerns that the railway would encourage “bandits and other undesirables” to come into the region. During the Civil War, both Red and White armies used armoured trains that could launch shells six kilometres from the tracks.²¹

The Tokmak railroad led to more opportunities and financial success for Jacob Wall. He bought a glass factory in Pologi and built a paper mill. He bought another 2,500 acres that produced good quality wheat. He imported Simmentoller cows from Germany and work horses and riding horses from England. Jacob Wall owned four cars and so, out of necessity, he also had his own mechanic, chauffeur, machine shop, and gas station. Jacob also had a pleasure boat on the Sea of Azov, which he used to entertain business guests. Jacob and his family lived in Berdiansk where the children went to school and in the summer lived at their estate. The family employed servants at both residences.

George Wall recounted how his father was a generous and kind man who gave loans, extended credit, and helped people in need. Wall also built a school and hired a teacher in Novo-Karlovka because Wall wanted to improve the literacy of the children in that place. People saw Wall as successful and sought his advice on finances and labour problems,²² since he had experience in labour issues when the workers on the railroad went on strike.²³ Early in 1914, according to his son, Wall wanted to sell his holdings and take their boat and start sheep farming in South Africa. Wall had made significant progress on this front but the agreements made were worthless when the government nationalized the rail system in 1917.

The Tokmak railway benefitted many Mennonite families and businesses, not only those who were the shareholders. A railway serving the Molotschna colony was a natural development as the country became more industrialized and agricultural exports grew. With the new rail system, their goods could be brought to market with much less effort and new materials could be imported from outside the colony. The expansive rail system was supported by the Russian government, Russian banks, foreign investors, and wealthy individuals. However, everything changed for the people once the Bolsheviks took control of all the rail lines. The communities along the rail line still benefitted from its service, but profits now went to the state.

1. V. V. Zhuravlyov, “Private railway companies in Russia in the early twentieth century,” in Journal of Transport History (1983): 51–54. ↩︎
2. James Urry, (Winnipeg: Hyperion, Press, 1989), 229. ↩︎
3. Urry, 229. ↩︎
4. Zhuravlyov, 51–54. ↩︎
5. Ibid., 57–61. ↩︎
6. Peter M. Friesen, The Mennonite Brotherhood in Russia (Fresno: Board of Christian Literature, General Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, 1980), 866–869. ↩︎
7. George Wall, “Memoirs of George Wall (son of Jacob P. Wall) 1906–1994,” Mennonite Heritage Archives (hereafter MHA), vol. 5346, file 1, page 3. ↩︎
8. Conrad Stoesz, “Jacob P. Wall fonds,” accessed July 26, 2019, https://www.mharchives.ca/holdings/papers/Wall,%20Jacob%20P.%20family%20fonds.htm. ↩︎
9. George Wall. See also “Excerpts of maps showing the Tokmak railway, Wintergruen , Marianovka, and Katerinovka estates,” Jacob P. Wall fonds, MHA, vol. 5346, file 2. There is disagreement regarding who the shareholders were. In the Tokmak railway photo album the shareholders are identified as Mr. Foch, Mr. Glechlor Sr., Mr. Kleinart Jr., Mr. Kleinart Sr., Abraham Ediger, Gerhard Wall, Jacob Wall, Peter Ediger, Johann Wall, and Mr. Glecklor Jr. ↩︎
10. Helmut T. Huebert, Mennonites in the Cities of Imperial Russia, volume 2, (Winnipeg: Springfield Publishers, 2008), 410. ↩︎
11. Email from James Urry to author, 13 November 2008, which included an excerpt from the ”Parliamentary Paper of the British House of Commons 1912–1913,“ annual series of trade reports: serial nos. 4827 to 5041, for the session 1912–1913 (trade, navigation, shipping: annual and miscellaneous series), 23. MHA, vol. 5465, file 8. ↩︎
12. Huebert, 410. ↩︎
13. George Wall, 5. ↩︎
14. Henry B. Tiessen, The Molotschna Colony (Kitchener: Henry B. Tiessen, 1979), 78–79. ↩︎
15. Huebert, 410. ↩︎
16. Huebert, 410. ↩︎
17. Huebert, 410. ↩︎
18. According to Huebert (p.410) the first trains ran 20 December 1913. George Wall (p. 1, 6) says the railway was finished on Jacob Wall’s birthday, which was 27 July 1912. ↩︎
19. Tiessen, 78. ↩︎
20. Tiessen, 78. ↩︎
21. Huebert, 411. ↩︎
22. Wall, 11. ↩︎
23. Huebert, 410. ↩︎