Comment by nephihaha
3 days ago
Once you get past the Urals, most of Russia's development is along an east west axis until you reach Baikal and the the far east. Also as a Marxist dictatorship for some years, there was little emphasis on independent travel (cars etc)
To call Russia a "cultural dead end" is a bit much, considering all the great artists of various kinds that country has produced. In fact, you'll find that famous Russian novels like Anna Karenina and Doctor Zhivago feature trains as motifs.
Great point about trains being featured in Russian novels. I imagine trains are well-represented in Japanese literature too, as well as film and maybe poetry. That's an angle I'd enjoy investigating further for other cultures. Surely the U.S. is more of a "car culture", but even offhand I can think of, for example, the novel On the Road with train-hopping having a significant role.
Japan and Russia have slightly different relationships to the train I think. Other than arterial rivers (that often flow in odd directions), the railway was the only serious way to get across Siberia for a long time. Whereas in Japan, while the railways are a source of pride, there were viable alternatives such as roads and boats.
I think US trains did have their window though. At one time they would have been the main way to get into the interior or across the continent.