The convoy was all light European-style four-wheeled carriages. Each carriage was dragged by two handsome white Arabian horses. They ran very fast and quickly arrived at Jishuitan Station. However, the ladies did not take the 15-inch train here.
Instead, they continued along the road towards Wanping City.
At this time, Wanping City became prosperous due to the construction of the railway. After all, so many people gathered together, so people gathered and wealth gathered. And railway workers had high incomes. As the city closest to the railway construction site, Wanping City was full of various shops and service places.
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Because Wanping City guards the Marco Polo Bridge, its location is very important. There are troops stationed here all year round. One of the important reasons why the court agreed to build Yang Fan's railway was that it was used for transportation from Tianjin Port to the capital in winter. And this rammed earth garrison city is also older than the historical one.
Brick cladding was carried out in advance.
At this time, the head of a battalion with 300 men stationed in Wanping City saw a long convoy of carriages and hundreds of cavalry escorts galloping past under the banner of General Zhengxi, and they did not dare to come out to investigate.
Because everyone who tried to interrogate before was slapped with a whip.
Now no one dared to touch the bad luck at Tushan Stall. They seemed not to have seen it, and watched as the long motorcade entered the Marco Polo Bridge and headed towards Changxindian Station on the west bank.
A servant knight galloped over and threw a cloth bag. The handler in front of the city gate immediately caught it with a smile on his face and shouted loudly: "Thank you for the reward from Mrs. Dingyuan."
He weighed it with his right hand and saw that there were at least a hundred silver dollars. He immediately felt happy. Uncle Dingyuan's mansion was famous for being generous. It was also famous for being hard to mess with.
On the west bank of Marco Polo Bridge, a three-story red brick and cement building stands in front of you. At both ends are two three-story small buildings, which serve as the railway's offices. In the middle is a three-story waiting hall. There is also a three-meter-diameter waiting hall on the top.
big clock.
The biggest impact that trains have on the world is the concept of time.
In the era before trains, people and horses roughly estimated time. Because the driving and departure times of trains were accurate to the minute, it completely changed people's concept of time. It also promoted the development of watches.
Therefore, a large timepiece is a very important facility. This is why old train stations all have a big clock.
The motorcade stopped in the square in front of Changxindian Station. The square here has been hardened with cement and installed with calcium carbide street lights. The square is very large, with the train station in the front and inns, shops and various services for passengers on both sides.
facilities.
This is actually designed as a station in Beijing. So the station is very well constructed.
Xiao Niangpi and others got off the bus and walked into the train station amidst the welcoming crowd organized by the Railway Construction Company.
It was also the first time for Xiao Niangpi, Lin Yueru and others to see this kind of 19th-century style building. In the waiting hall, there were Roman columns on all sides, the ceiling was a steel structure, and the windows were all three-story floor-to-ceiling large glass windows.
The floor is paved with marble.
It looks clean and tidy, and under the light of the orange carbide lamp, it feels warm and luxurious.
The waiting bench in the lobby is made of cast iron and wooden strips, similar to the benches in the park. Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru tried to sit on it, and they felt that it fit the curve of the back very well and was very comfortable. They both nodded with satisfaction.
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As the first station master, Chen Ping diligently introduced the situation of the station.
He is only twenty years old this year and graduated from Xinghe Academy. He was one of the first train station master training classes to graduate. Because of his excellent performance, he was appointed as the station master of the largest station on the entire railway.
"Madam, this waiting hall can accommodate 500 people sitting and waiting for the bus. According to the current frequency of six departures per day, it can receive an average of 3,000 people per day. Of course, if you stand waiting for the bus, it is not difficult to receive tens of thousands of people."
"That's really good, just to create surplus. The master said that our railway will definitely be popular in the future. From now on, no matter the season, people coming from Tianjin Port will choose our train. After all, our train can reach a speed of twenty
It is five kilometers away and operates day and night. You can reach the capital in four hours after getting off the boat." Xiao Niangpi said proudly.
In this era, it takes two days to get to Beijing from Tianjin Port. With such a convenient train, who would want to take a slow horse-drawn carriage and an ox-cart? The road conditions on the official road can kill people.
"By the way, don't you only have four locomotives? How can you prepare six trains?" Lin Yueru asked strangely. She remembered that Yang Fan had a total of six trains, two of which were operating in the capital. The remaining four
Listed in Railway Operations.
Chen Ping explained: "Second Madam, it's like this, because the train's whistle was loud and black smoke erupted, which led to the imperial censor's impeachment, saying it was damaging Feng Shui. Dean Chen Xi redesigned a single carriage with independent power.
, a small rail steam locomotive that operates independently.”
"Instead of burning coal, we switch to kerosene. The power pack is only three cubic meters in size. One carriage is twelve meters long and three meters wide. The speed is fifteen kilometers per hour. One train departs every five minutes and runs in a cycle. Currently, it has
Five trains were put into operation. So two trains were replaced. Now there are six trains on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. One train can depart every hour."
After looking at the waiting hall, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru happily went to the restaurant in the station and tried to have lunch.
Xiao Niangpi ordered a braised tofu rice bowl, and Lin Yueru ordered a braised eggplant rice bowl. These fast food tasted good and were reasonably priced.
After inspecting the station, the group came to the platform. Hundreds of people had gathered here to watch the ceremony. A long green train was parked on the track. There were two locomotives at the beginning and end, and ten carriages in the middle.
Because the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway copied Zhan Tianyou's zigzag route for mountain crossing, it requires two locomotives, one pushing and one pulling.
This train is a tourist train transmitted from modern times, so the decoration is very good.
Chen Ping and others first asked Xiao Niangpi to cut the ribbon. Then, under the cheers of everyone, Xiao Niangpi boarded the train with more than a hundred people. Later, members of the train driver team and carriage service staff also boarded the train one by one.
As a whistle sounded through the station, the steam locomotive started to start. The chimney spewed out thick smoke, and the crankshaft, driven by the steam, expanded and contracted several times. The train shook violently, and then started moving slowly.
The rumbling sound and the shaking platform gave people who saw the train for the first time a great shock.
In the ten carriages were all the leaders of Yang Fan's various systems who came with their wives. They were smoking cigarettes, looking at the scenery outside the window, and exchanging feelings. The waiters pushed the trolleys and provided tea and hot water to the passengers.
Coffee and iced plum soup, as well as snacks, snacks and drinks are sold.
The sixth carriage is a dining car, which also provides stir-fried vegetables and staple food.
At this time, Xiao Niangpi, Lin Yueru, and the directors were here again to taste the dishes and drinks from the dining car.
Chen Ping introduced: "Madam, today is a trial operation, so there is no regular grouping. We plan to install one dining car, three first-class carriages, seven second-class carriages, and ten third-class carriages after the official operation. Ten boring carriages
Tank carriages, ten open-air freight carriages, plus one coal-fired carriage and one water carriage. A total of forty-three carriages."
Xiao Niangpi was surprised that there were so many carriages in the small train, and asked: "To tow so many carriages, it has to carry passengers, cargo, and livestock stalls. Is the power of the locomotive enough? Can it be towed?"
