The construction of first railways of the former Austria-Hungary was initiated by a private persons and supported by private funds. The first steam engine railroad of the Habsburg monarchy was the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway. It was headed from Vienna to the north through Moravia and Silesia up to the salt mines at Bochnia in Galicia, Poland. The program of the state railway network, approved in 1841, was to ensure the construction of the most important routes at the expense of the state. The aim was to connect all Austrian provinces and major ports with Vienna. The Northern State Railway has created a connection between Vienna and Prague and links to Saxon Railways. The tracks of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway and the Northern State Railways later became the backbone of the Czech railway network.

Research published through two separate monographs by Alena Borovcova is mediated by an exhibition focusing on the first period of construction and operation of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway and the Northern State Railway.