[mym]

==I've heard historians speculate that the trans-siberian railroad was so costly that it brought down the Russian Government.==

Naa, I'll never beleive this point.
Trans-siberian railroad was built by 1903. And Russian revolution was in 1917.

Railroads are profitable, while spacecrafts (to be honest) practically not.

[Mount Athos]

Naa, I'll never beleive this point. Trans-siberian railroad was built by 1903. And Russian revolution was in 1917.

The main route, the Trans-Siberian, runs from Moscow to Vladivostok via southern Siberia and was built between 1891 and 1916.