In 1907, edward annnold bookstore published a history of the development of railways in China by Percy Horace Kent, in which the eighth chapter, "The Railway of the Eastern Province: 1900 to the Present", begins with this description:
"The boxing movement of 1900 was not confined to North China. It spread throughout Manchuria, leaving its traces on the Eastern Province Railway: many tracks were destroyed. The local Chinese military authorities unexpectedly declared war on Russia. But it did not take long for Russia to resort to repression, to restore full order, and in some places to exert more harsh means than in medieval times, thus enabling railway engineers to start repairing the damaged railways and continuing to build them.
"Of the various sections of the railway, the southern section, that is, the Harbin-Lushun section, was the most damaged, so large-scale restoration work was needed. But this is by no means a purely bad thing, at least from the Russian point of view. First, it is possible to straighten the route at the expense of the Chinese government, keeping Fengtian and other important cities within a reasonable distance, and these cities, which were forced to stay away in the early days of building railways, can now be left alone; second, this is an opportunity to improve the lanes. (Excerpted from Sanlian Bookstore, June 1958, 1st edition of "History of China's Railway Development", translated by Li Baohong et al.)
"China Customs Report 1902-1911 Volume III Fengtian" with Fengtian and surrounding areas Map Source: Google Books
In June 1898, Russia and the Qing government signed a contract to begin the construction of the South Manchuria Branch Line of the Eastern Province Railway in China, and an important agreement in the annex to the contract affected the route planning of the Fengtiandi boundary. As the capital of the Great Qing Dynasty, Shengjing had the Imperial Palace of the First Dynasty and the tombs of the two Former Emperors. Therefore, the Eastern Provincial Railway Company declared: "The Company, in accordance with the wishes of the Chinese Government, allows for the attempt to ensure that the South Manchuria Branch Road, which is now to be built, does not pass between Fuling and Zhaoling, but around the Erling Tomb, at least thirty miles of untouchable land between the railway lot and the Erling Tomb." (Excerpted from "The Outline of the Negotiations of the Three Eastern Provinces", edited by Liu Ruilin and others)
From this we can conclude that the line between the Fuzhao Erling Tombs on the Fengtian map attached to the Chinese customs report is by no means the earliest railway built by the Russians, but after the Boxer Rebellion, the Russian army forcibly occupied the northeast, did not consult with the Qing government, changed the original direction without authorization, and "straightened the route", thus forming the prototype of the current Shenda railway line passing through the urban area of Shenyang.
The location of Caojiatun Village and the direction of the railway gangzi in the "1952 Shenyang Suburban Map" Source: "Shenyang Map Collection" compiled by Shenyang Exploration, Surveying and Mapping Institute
However, the earliest railway line built in Shenyang is rarely mentioned in local history materials, until Gu Xiangpeng, a local history researcher from the Hongqu District, published an article on the railway ruins of Caojiatun Village in his blog, and we learned about this history.
Under the leadership of Gu Xiangpeng, we inspected the original sites of some ruins in Caojiatun Village. With the acceleration of the urbanization process, this small village on the north bank of the Hun River has become a bustling urban area, but Gu Xiangpeng analyzes and explains according to the memories of his ancestors and villagers, combined with some literature, so that we are convinced of the existence of this railway line.
The small village of Caojiatun, unknown in name, has witnessed the initial historical facts of the development of the Northeast Railway, as well as the crimes of the two Japanese and Russian powers in occupying Shenyang. We will also hold this clue, dig out the development of railways in Shenyang and even the northeast region bit by bit, and show the modernization process of this region.