The author in their article considers the operation of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, a venture which required the involvement of a significant number of highly professional specialists in large-scale work. One of them was engineer Alexander Hinze. After he received a basic education in St. Petersburg and gained professional experience in managing the activities of various sections of Russian railways, in 1906, he was invited to help manage the CER, where he took on the position of head of the mainline operation. Hinze addressed crucial issues of evacuating troops from the theater of military operations and establishing the operation of the railway in peacetime and later aimed at achieving high commercial results. Based on available archival materials, it is shown that during World War I, the railway's operation department ensured the movement of steam locomotives through 90 stations and 65 sidings through the railway. By the time of the revolutionary events of 1917, the CER had over 490 steam locomotives of various types and over 600 passenger cars. In that period the railway's freight car fleet, which exceeded 9.5 thousand wagons of various types, began to play a key role in terms of military affairs but military actions being conducted by Russia did not affect the commercial efficiency of the CER. It remained the only railway supplying the country with military and private cargoes arriving from abroad via Vladivostok. Particular importance was attached to the supply of American steam locomotives to Russia. In addition, the CER was a supplier of food cargoes to the regions of Russia. Based on previously unknown documents, the author shows the role of A.K. Hinze in the efficiency of the railway's operation department and specifies the time and place of his death.