“In the 1890s, the Rothschilds decided to transport oil by means of metallic tanks on the train. They could not use the existing railroad tracks because those had been built in the 1870s to carry passengers. So they asked Alfred Nobel to design changes so that trains could carry heavy oil tanks.” The guide showed us a part of those tracks in the Absheron Peninsula, which still connect Baku to Batumi on the Black Sea.