I am looking for information regarding different historical railroad companies
from Russia.  I would like a summary of Russian railroad company
names, nicknames (if applicable), where they started, key stations or
cities for that railroad and/or key routes for that railroad, and the
date of operation.

An example from US history would be:

The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (also known as the M-K-T Railroad,
or KATY for short) began operating in 1865 under a different name, but
renamed itself in 1870 when it was granted permission to run into
Texas.  Starting around Kansas City, the KATY ran from the
Missouri/Kansas area to the Texas area, specifically including Dallas
and Fort Worth, and further into the southwest to San Antonio.

I would like information for 12 (or more) different large Russian
railroad companies that operated in the 1800's.  (Southern Pacific,
Union Pacific, KATY, AT&SF being just some examples of large US
railroad companies from that time period.)  Given the option, a
geographic spread across Russia would be ideal.  A few large
non-Russian companies that had significant Russian operations would be
welcome.

Companies which started operating in the early 1900's are acceptable
if your investigation shows that there are too few Russian railroad
companies starting in the 1800's.  (If your investigation shows that
there are fewer than 12 large Russian railroad companies from this
time period in general, then I will accept smaller companies.)

Any links to company logos or rail maps that you come across in your
investigation would definitely be appreciated, but are not necessary.

Setratavi,
This is no answer but some sites that you may find interesting, also
for a researcher who wants to answer your guestion more directly.
If pasting these threads doesn't link, try again.

This one list uncounted Russian railways from the period, and you can
click on them for more info, also has a rather useless map:

http://personal.inet.fi/private/raumarail/russia/main.htm

This is a book (not a site) that is mentioned several times.
A History of Russian Railways. London: George Allen and Unwin LTD. +Haywood, 1969

I have forgotten what these two sites were, but they seemed very pertinent:

http://www.hillsidefilms.fsnet.co.uk/RussianRlysGroup01.htm

http://parovoz.com/rrr/index.php?CAT=NEW&LANG=EN&SEARCH=&ORDERBY=3

This is another book, one that an article said complimented the other one.
R&RLS Trading Post - ... SELLING - Russian Rail Transport, 1836-1917,
offers a new, colorful history of Russian railways from their
beginning in 1836 until the Bolsheviks took ...

This is, I believe (had to run off in the middle of this), the website
for the above book:

www.rrhistorical-2.com/rlhs/rlhsnews/tradpost.htm

And this is the site for the present Russian railway (the Iron Curtain
has fallen!).  You can click around on it and find the present
descendents of the original railways.

http://www.eng.rzd.ru/mps/index.html?he_id=272

As you probably know, Moscow has several train stations  - like London
- reflecting the days when there were different companies running
service in different directions.

Myoarin-ga,

Thank you very much for your comments and links.  Hopefully this
information will get me pointed in the right direction.  I will
definitely look into the history book you mention because I am
definitely interested in other aspects of Russian rail history beyond
just company names.

Many thanks for your efforts, and hopefully you've given another
researcher a good starting point to go off of.

Best,
-Setratavi-