Railway builders

Abstract: The author analysis, on the basis of contemporary unpublished documents, the attitude of the representatives in the European Commission of the Danube regarding the effects of a private competitive project, aimed to bring the Romanian grains into the great commercial route-ways: the Cernavodă – Constanţa railway. Thus, almost simultaneously with the establishment of the European institution, a British company obtained a concession from the Ottoman government, which allowed it to build a railway along the Dobrudscha isthmus. The sense of competition put pressure upon the ECD engineer-in-chief, Charles Augustus Hartley, compelling him to work with much expedition; in the same time, owing to the limited resources available, the railway was used as a pretext for abandoning the more resistant and durable, but also more expensive improvements necessary for rendering navigable the St. George branch of the Danube. Thus, the building of a not very profitable enterprise, the Cernavodă – Constanţa railway, resulted in permanent changes in the geography and economics of the Danube Mouths. Besides abandoning the more advantageous works from St. George in favour of the cheaper and easier adjustments from Sulina, the railway scheme of the British capitalists stimulated the commercial houses from Brăila and Galaţi, which, on the one hand, asked the ECD officials for improvements and modern harbour facilities, and, on the other, realised the necessity to consolidate their enterprises. The first phase in the competition between Rail and River was won by the latter, but the victory was gained by means of a debatable solution, which, on a medium and long run, proved fallacious from a technical and economic point of view.