Chinese Eastern Railway Liaodong from China in 1898. Officially, traffic on the line started in November 1901, but regular passenger traffic from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok across the Trans-Siberian railway did not commence until July 1903. In 1898, construction of a 550-mile (880 km) spur line, most of which later formed the South Manchuria Railway, began at Harbin, leading southwards through Eastern Manchuria, along the Liaodong Peninsula, to the ice-free deep-water port at Lüshun, which Russia was fortifying and developing into a first-class strategic naval base and marine coaling station for its Far East Fleet and Merchant Marine. This town was known in
The Tombs (novel) his novels. This time he and his wife offer them a ride to a train station, where the Cusslers plan to travel the Trans-Siberian Railway to its eastern terminus on Siberia's coast. The Fargos depart the train partway in the journey, so they can hunt for a site in Kazakhstan. Critical reception has been mostly positive. "Publishers Weekly" and "Kirkus Reviews" both wrote favorable reviews for "The Tombs" and "Publishers Weekly" commented that "This adventure series stands as one of the crown jewels in the Cussler empire." NorthJersey.com was more mixed in their opinion, as they felt that the "adventure