The people of Ordos gathered together and held an emergency military meeting to discuss countermeasures.
At the railway construction site in Beizhili, construction is in full swing. Now Yang Fan is on his way to the west. My wife is in charge of all major and minor matters at home. Lin Yueru, as her deputy, assists her in her work.
At this time, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru's lower abdomens had already bulged. As soon as they came out, countless maids and women crowded in front of them to wait on them, for fear of an accident. The master's heir is the top priority that everyone in Yang Fan's system is eyeing. This
It determines whether the wealth of their children and grandchildren can be inherited and protected.
Today, Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru came to inspect the railway construction site.
Due to the segmented laying, the road from Zhangjiakou to Dagukou in Tianjin was divided into thirty construction sections. Construction started at the same time. The road was filled with caravans transporting ballast gravel, sleepers, and rails.
Because this year's disaster is more severe than last year, more refugees have been added. Recruiting workers is not a big problem. As long as you take care of the food, you can recruit people. The railway construction site does not pay wages, but gives out ten kilograms of cornmeal every day. This is more valuable than wages.
Attractive treatment.
Nowadays, the world is in turmoil and hungry people are everywhere. Food is the biggest temptation. Those evil grain merchants have sold grains at a high price of five taels of silver per load, and rice has even reached 30 taels of silver. There is a crazy rumor in the market,
The price of rice will soon reach five taels.
I can no longer afford to buy groceries while working part-time. In other words, the money I earn is no longer enough to support myself, let alone my family. On the verge of
Now the only way to support the family is at the railway construction site. A strong laborer takes care of food and shelter. He is given an extra ten kilograms of cornmeal a day. This is a good job that can no longer be found in the north of the Ming Dynasty.
Now there are temporary shacks on both sides of the railway construction site. Women and children with sallow complexions live inside. The men at home have gone to work. They eagerly wait for the men to come back and bring back ten kilograms of food for the day.
They had never had decent food since they fled the famine. It was not until they were recruited as workers at the railway construction site that they had food. The men went to work on the construction site, while the women and children smashed rocks at home. They smashed large rocks with hammers.
Cat's Claw smashed into small pieces.
These small pieces of stone are used as ballast, laid under the sleepers to cushion the impact of the train on the roadbed.
These big rocks were brought by the caravan, and the women and children at home took over the job of smashing the rocks. For every ton of rocks that were smashed, they were paid thirty kilograms of cornmeal. Someone would come to buy the smashed ballast.
This narrow-gauge railway with a track width of 762 mm is almost half narrower than the standard track. The trains that can run are also much smaller. The speed of small trains generally does not exceed 40 kilometers, and the average operating speed of this railway is around 25 kilometers.
.It can travel six hundred miles in one day and one night. It takes forty hours from the capital to Guihua City.
Although this is very slow compared to today, it is already very fast for Ming Dynasty. On the verge of
Xiao Niangpi looked at the roadbed, sleepers, and rails under her feet, and asked Chen Xi in confusion: "Mr. Chen, I heard from the master that the most suitable track width is the standard track. Why don't we get it right in one step and build the 1435 standard track?"
. Instead, we need to repair this 762 narrow gauge first. Later we will have to dismantle it and replace it with standard gauge. Isn’t this a waste?”
Chen Xi knew that his wife and the second wife did not understand railway engineering. He smiled and explained: "Madam, you don't know something. The reason why the master finally decided to build the 762 narrow gauge is because the track is only half narrow. But because the roadbed is trapezoidal,
If the track width is doubled, the volume of the roadbed needs to be increased four times. The amount of work is increased six times, and the cost is ten times different."
"Ah! Such a big difference." Lin Yueru exclaimed in surprise.
Chen Xi nodded with a smile and continued: "It is true that standard rail trains have larger locomotives, larger carrying capacity, and faster speeds. But the impact is also greater, requiring thicker roadbeds and more ballast. And there are many rivers in the Ming Dynasty. We need to build
Special railway steel bridge. We don’t have this technology yet.”
"The 762 narrow gauge is different, because the car body is light, the load is small, and the speed is slow. General stone bridges and even wooden bridges can pass. In this way, the problem of the river is solved. The construction speed of the 762 narrow gauge during the construction period is standard
Four times the size of the 1435 track. The entire line from Tanggu, Tianjin to Zhangjiakou will be open to traffic by the end of this year."
Xiao Niangpi nodded, she knew that the sooner the railway is built, the better. The Mongolian army is gathering, and the northwest war may not be over in a short time. Military transportation is a big problem, and a short construction period has its advantages. Now is the time to use it urgently
when.
Lin Yueru measured the width of the track with a small leather boot and said, "This one does look quite narrow, a little over two feet. It's not as long as my saber."
Chen Xi smiled and said: "There are shorter ones. This 762 master is used as a trunk line. The branch line is much narrower than this one."
Xiao Niangpi and Lin Yueru were surprised. Compared with this era, this 762 is much shorter than the wheelbase. It actually has branch lines that are shorter than this.
"The branch line I ordered is a narrow gauge of 381 mm, which is the fifteen inches I mentioned. This construction speed is faster and the bridge requirements are lower."
The little girl was shocked. Fifteen inches, 381 millimeters, a little more than a foot. It is only the width of a person. With such a narrow track, how narrow is the train?
Chen Xi saw her worry and said: "The carriage can probably accommodate two people side by side, and is less than one meter wide. But don't underestimate this 381mm narrow gauge. The transport capacity is much greater than that of a carriage.
The speed can also reach 25 kilometers per hour."
There is a 381 mm narrow gauge railway in Kent, England. Although the train is less than one meter wide, it still played a huge role in World War II, transporting a large amount of materials. And the wider the track, the easier it is for trains to derail. Narrow gauges have the opposite effect
Safety.
The safety of Laomaozi's wide gauge is not as good as that of standard gauge.
Lin Yueru asked: "Compared with heavy-duty carriages such as caravans, what advantage does train freight have?"
Chen Xi said: "Thirty percent can be left for freight. The train is enough to eliminate the horse-drawn carriage."
At this time, many road sections have been connected. There are already trains transporting rails, ballast, and sleepers. The trains are sent to the construction site to unload the trucks and return. These rails continue to be extended forward.
Xiao Niangpi looked at the account books of the project. The more he looked, the more he frowned. The cost of the railway investment was also too high. It is really not cheap. Although there are many benefits. The train has not yet been accepted by the majority of officials, gentlemen and the people. The issuance of the plan envisaged by the master
Plans to finance railway construction through stocks are currently unfeasible.
You can only build a few profitable railways with your own money before anyone is willing to invest. Funds can be raised through crowdfunding.
"Hurry up. The sooner it opens to traffic, the better. However, we must ensure the quality and not cause problems all the time. We will first build it to Zhangjiakou at the end of this year, and next year we will go out to build Dao, Guihua and Jiuyuan. Finally, we will build it to Linhe."
