Passenger carriage interior Fragment of the interior of a fourth-class carriage

Such a carriage was heated in winter with a stove, into which the passengers themselves threw wood or coal. One can imagine how smoky it was upstairs and cold downstairs. Ice on the carriage floors was a frequent occurrence. Lighting, candle lamps, were lit only with the permission and in the presence of the conductor.

Special luggage racks appeared in carriages of the III and IV classes. The lower class did not have money for luggage in a separate carriage. And they carried a lot. Sacks, baskets, suitcases, boxes and sacks.

The space of the Russian gauge allowed for ventilation of the room where people, chickens, geese, pigs, dogs and other animals were traveling. They smoked a lot. It was smoking that prompted the railway administration to create special carriages for ladies and non-smokers, as was stated on the sign on such carriages. In addition, the carriages were, as Ivan Bunin wrote, very noisy. The thunder, clatter and rocking were incredible.

The carriage bodies were made of wood and, as Alexander Blok mentioned, shook and creaked. The cramped conditions in the carriages and the frequent pestering of traveling young ladies by sociable male passengers prompted the railway administration to create special morning and evening trains for schoolgirls.