Plotnikov's handwritten memoir "Nikolaevskoe Inzhenernoe Uchilishche, zhizn' i tvorchestvo" is in part based on his recollections of three years spent as a cadet at the Nikolai Engineering School (Nikolaevskoe Inzhenernoe Uchilishche) in St. Petersburg in the early 1890s. He discusses in detail the academic, social, moral and religious life of the students, describes the organization of the school and talks about the teaching staff, administrators and alumni.