Thomas DeKay Winans (1820-1878)

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Early in his career, he was invited by Czar Alexander II to plan and construct the Moscow-St. Petersburg Railway. By 1847, he was building 134 locomotives and 1,200 cars, completing "a mile of cars a month". Describing the project in 1858, the American travel writer Bayard Taylor claimed the route was “as straight as a sunbeam". Having been paid handsomely for his services, when he returned to America he built a large townhouse at 838 Hollins Street in Baltimore named "Alexandroffsky". He also built "Bleak House" in Newport (see images) and "Orianda" at his country" estate named "Crimea" in what is now known as Leakin Park.