On 9 October 2004 the Hermitage Theater was the venue for the signing ceremony of a Protocol of Intent setting forth the conditions for preparing and implementing a program of cooperation between the State Hermitage and OAO Russian Railroads. The goal of the planned cooperation is to carry out a program of research, expert restoration, publishing and popular education.

The following specific projects or events constitute the program:

• the multi-disciplinary restoration of a unique monument from the history of Russian railroads, P. Ya. Pyasetsky’s panorama, The Great Siberian Route: the Main Trans-Siberian Railway (1897 - 1903), which is stored in the State Hermitage
• preparing and publishing a complete scholarly edition of P. Ya. Pyasetsky’s panorama The Great Siberian Route as well as the publication of possible electronic versons
• organizing and directing an exhibition of the panorama The Great Siberian Route , possibly beginning with a preliminary presentation in the Vitebsk railroad station in St Petersburg
• creating a complete copy (or partial copies) or full-format reproductions of the panorama The Great Siberian Route to be used for educational purposes in such places as the museums of the history of rail transport in St Petersburg, Moscow and other Russian cities
• preparing and overseeing joint educational events in various regions of Siberia (tentatively including arrangements for a Hermitage railway train/museum which will be the educational center of the program for the duration of its trip)
• preparing and managing scientific conferences and round table discussions devoted to questions of history and culture
• research staff of the State Hermitage providing consultations for employees of OAO Russian Railroads and, conversely, experts of OAO Russian Railroads providing special consultations for research staff of the State Hermitage
• support for the research and educational programs of museums of railway transport in Russia
• preparing and issuing scholarly educational television programs and video films on the history of railway transportation in Russia (tentatively the creation of a video version of the panorama The Great Siberian Route is being discussed, with its possible showing on the trip of the Hermitage’s railway train/museum).

The panorama of the Trans-Siberian Railroad was ordered by the Administration of the Siberian Railroad and was made by the artist and traveler P. Ya. Pyasetsky on the basis of his numerous trips between 1897 and 1903. It consists of 10 rolls of watercolor drawings that were glued to a canvas. The panorama made use of a great many field sketches and shows off the route through a thousand and more versts to the east of the shores of the Volga. The themes chosen by Pyasetsky give us a documentary overview of life in Siberia.

At the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900, the panorama The Great Siberian Route was shown in the Siberian section of the Russian pavilion. To make it all the more convincing, several railway cars were built and visitors viewed the panorama through the windows of these cars; the illusion was enhanced as the panorama seemed to imitate the movement of a train. The jury awarded this exhibit its Gold Medal and P.Ya. Pyasetsky was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.