Vistula River Railroad was a railroad system, opened on August 17, 1877. It ran from northwest to southeast, through the territory of the former Congress Poland

Congress Poland

The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...

, known after the November Uprising

November Uprising

The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...

 as Privislinsky Krai (part of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

).

Starting in Mława, which back then was located near the border with the German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

, the connection ran through Ciechanów

Ciechanów

Ciechanów is a town in north-central Poland with 45,900 inhabitants . It is situated in Masovian Voivodeship . It was previously the capital of Ciechanów Voivodeship.-History:The grad numbered approximately 3,000 armed men....

, Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, Dęblin

Deblin

Dęblin is a town, population 19,500 , at the confluence of Vistula and Wieprz rivers, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Dęblin is the part of the agglomeration with adjacent towns of Ryki and Puławy, which altogether has over 100 000 inhabitants....

, Lublin

Lublin

Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

, and Chełm, to the strategic railroad junction of Kovel

Kovel

Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...

 (now Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

). In Mława, the system reached the Prussian railway network, as the nearby German border station of Działdowo (Soldau) was another important junction, with connections to Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

 (Danzig), Olsztyn

Olsztyn

Olsztyn is a city in northeastern Poland, on the Łyna River. Olsztyn has been the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in the Olsztyn Voivodeship...

 (Allenstein), and Toruń

Torun

Toruń is an ancient city in northern Poland, on the Vistula River. Its population is more than 205,934 as of June 2009. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland. The medieval old town of Toruń is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus....

 (Thorn).

Altogether, the length of the system was 522 kilometers, and originally, it was a wide gauge line. In 1887, the Vistula River Railroad employed 2364 workers. During the World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 (1939) the railroad was partitioned forming the Soviet Kovel Railways as one of its successors. In 1953 Kovel Railways were merged with Lviv Railways

Lviv Railways

Lviv Railways is a territorial branch company of Ukrzaliznytsia headquartered in Lviv.-General description:Lviv Railways administers all railroads of Lviv Oblast, Zakarpattia Oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ternopil Oblast, Volyn Oblast and most of Rivne Oblast...

.

Lublin Station

Lublin Station

Lublin Station is the most important railway station in Lublin, Poland. It is sometimes referred to as Lublin Główny , to distinguish it from two other stations located in Lublin. The main station building was opened in 1877, together with the Vistula River Railroad, which connected Warsaw with...

still has the original main station building dating from 1877 (though rebuilt in the 1920s), which opened together with the railroad and is well preserved to this day.