From 1909 to 1912, Russian photographer Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863–1944) made several trips to the territory around the Ural Mountains, where he photographed railroad installations, factories, and urban scenes. Shown here is a Kompaund (Compound) steam locomotive of the Ab type, with a Schmidt superheater. The number between the coupler indicates Ab 132, produced at the Briansk locomotive factory in 1909—shortly before Prokudin-Gorskii took this photograph. These locomotives were among the most powerful produced in Russia in the early 20th century, with a top speed of 115 kilometers per hour. The driver stands at the entrance to the engine cab. The site of the photograph appears to be on the Urals Railway line between Perm and Yekaterinburg, although the precise location is not known. It is likely that the yellow rail car in the background was the one used by the photographer for his mobile darkroom. Prokudin-Gorskii used a special color photography process to create a visual record of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. Some of his photographs date from about 1905, but the bulk of his work is from between 1909 and 1915, when, with the support of Tsar Nicholas II and the Ministry of Transportation, he undertook extended trips through many different parts from: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.wdl.org/en/item/5202/">https://www.wdl.org/en/item/5202/</a>
Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii
1910
Library of Congress collection,  <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018679302/">https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2018679302/</a>