Chapter 209 The First Railway Project was established
In mid-September, the original Roynes Railway Company personnel arrived in East Africa, and the company name was changed to the East African Railway Company. There were no other general changes in direction.
Chief Engineer Nordin, was hired as a technical consultant to the East African Railway Department.
In October, East African Railway Company personnel studied the terrain data provided by the East African government. Finally, Nordin engineers and their team were invited to participate in the East African government's working meeting on railway construction issues.
“Everyone, this meeting will determine the fate of the future East African Railway. It can be said that once it is established, the future East African Railway will only go along this path, so everyone can speak freely and summarize the actual situation in East Africa. In order to select the railway standard that is most suitable for East Africa, I would like to ask Mr. Nordin to introduce the situation to you." Prince Constantine set the tone of the meeting.
Engineer Nordin nodded to everyone, then stood up and began to educate everyone about railway-related science. There are a lot of top students with primary school education in the East African government, so this is very necessary.
“...The above are some key points of railway construction, but the topic finally returns to the appropriate selection of railway gauge. There is no unified standard in this regard in all countries in the world. After all, national conditions are different. Everyone can put their own ideas into consideration. Speak up and don’t worry about any amateurs,” said Engineer Nordin.
As Ernst's confidant, Sweet was told before the meeting to be the first to put forward opinions, so he was the first to speak: "There is no fixed standard for broad gauge and narrow gauge. (The International Union of Railways established 1435 mm as the standard gauge in 1937). According to my opinion, it is better to just pick the middle number and go directly to 1500 mm.”
With the first spokesperson, everyone also agreed. It's relatively active.
Arman said: "I think it would be better to build it bigger. I have taken the train before. In the past, many people were crowded into a small carriage in the army. It was very crowded and not very comfortable. Well, at that time I was thinking that it would be better if the train carriage was larger and the experience would be better, so I suggested that it be just two meters away. Of course, this is my personal opinion. Don’t be offended if I am wrong. ”
Jarman's statement was recognized by some former Prussian army officials.
“I think it’s good to just use 1435mm, after all, there are many countries using it.”
“1435mm sounds awkward. It was originally 4 feet 8.5 inches in the UK, and the British love it. Doing this is just as complicated as the pound conversion, which we use in East Africa. It's a metric system, so it's better to round it up according to the metric system, which is also convenient for calculation."
"I don't agree with using 1435mm. Overseas, we Germans are the weaker party, and Britain and France are the colonial powers now. , we Germans can develop East Africa, and Britain and France can also develop Africa in the future, and France now In North and West Africa, Britain is right in the middle of Somaliland and Cape Town, so I propose that for national defense considerations we should learn from the Russians and not establish unified railway standards with them."
< br>“I agree with this. We in East Africa do not need to consider the issue of integrating with the world in the future. Africa It’s not Russia. It connects Europe and Asia. The connection between our place and other regions of the world relies on sea transportation. The connection point between land and Europe and Asia is a small area in Egypt. And now Egypt is still building the Suez Canal. That is Egypt. I don’t think outsiders will be allowed to intervene in the wrestling field between Britain and France.”
"The advantage of broad gauge is that it can carry a large load and has low technical requirements. The disadvantage is that the load is too large and the horsepower cannot be increased.
However, we do not pursue speed. The bulk exports of East Africa are grain and timber. For other things, we I don’t have enough, so I tend to use wide gauge.”
"In my opinion, the railway is big and good. As for the land issue, East Africa is wider and sparsely populated than the Russian capital. It doesn't matter if it takes up more land. The most important thing is that the cultivated land in Europe is dense. The railway will affect the farmland. We don't need it in East Africa. Worry about this, so many grasslands and forests are not used in vain, this is a completely minor problem. "
" Generally speaking, this is not a problem, because the wide track is only wider by the width of one seat. In addition to the rails, generally 10-30 meters on both sides of the railway are the railway area, and the track occupies The increase in area is negligible. The main ones that have an impact are tunnels and bridges. The engineer added, "In terms of safety, wide track can run more smoothly under current technical conditions, but turning depends on the special design of the wheel outer diameter to solve the differential problem! So the track gauge cannot be too wide."
"Mr. Nordin, this can't be too broad. How can I explain it specifically?"
"My suggestion is that it should not exceed three meters, because there has never been such a wide railway in actual operation.
The British built more than 300 miles of 2140mm gauge railway in 1835 and also operated it. I haven't done in-depth research on locomotives for a while, but with the development of technology over the years, I estimate that it is safer to have a rail gauge of less than three meters. Moreover, if East Africa adopts a railway gauge of more than two meters, it should be considered unique in the world. Well, this should be called ultra-wide gauge.
But, personally, I think the future of ultra-wide gauge has more potential, based on the current European cargo. In terms of transportation volume, it has been increasing, and the development of railways is nothing more than the pursuit of speed and heavy load.
If technical problems such as power can be solved in the future, none of this will be a problem. Based on the current situation. I think the development of science and technology is very likely.”
Hearing this, the new Army Commander-in-Chief Felix said: "Then I think we should simply use 2500mm as our own standard in East Africa. This way the technology is guaranteed and meets our needs in East Africa. The climate of our East Africa is exactly the opposite of that of Tsarist Russia. But I know that Tsarist Russia is also dominated by grasslands and forests. The destination is the same, so our East Africa is more similar to Tsarist Russia in this regard, so there is no problem in using broad gauge.”
Felix’s words are also supported by most people. Tsarist Russia is indeed similar to East Africa in terms of geography. There are no forests, grasslands, or frozen soil in East Africa, but there are many swamps in East Africa.
After the final estimate by the East African government and confirmation by Nordin engineers, East Africa finally chose a unique number - 2500mm.
Originally Ernst was more inclined to the number 1500mm, but what was said at the last meeting also interested Ernst.
It doesn’t matter if you spend more money. The most important thing in building the railway is the labor cost. East Africans don’t need to do it themselves anyway, so don’t worry and go ahead and get it done.
The first railway project in East Africa was officially established. Because this railway ends in the first town and is the first railway in East Africa, the name is also directly called "First Railway", but later generations will add the qualifier East Africa in front.
The First Railway, with a total length of fifty-nine kilometers, is located a short distance away from the First Town and Dar es Salaam. This is the result of taking into account the defense projects and, of course, the steam locomotives. The noise was quite loud, so Ernst didn't mind, but it would be bad if it disturbed Prince Constantine's rest.
Because the First Railway he built was an experimental railway, Ernst was not afraid of making mistakes. If it really didn't work, he could just stop it. It wouldn't be too late then.
At the same time, this meeting also gave Ernst a sense of urgency. Ultra-wide gauge, this concept proposed by Nordin engineers is bold and avant-garde, but the relevant technical reserves must be paid attention to.
Standard railway gauge was actually a path dependence problem in previous lives. The British were the first to figure it out and export it to the world. Later, it became the standard for many countries. But when they wanted to change it, they They would give up because the cost of changing the entire railway system would be too high.
In the past, some people proposed that the Eurasian trains should adopt an ultra-wide track gauge of more than two meters, which can increase the number of containers, but it can only be a mirror image.
In the time and space Ernst lived in, railways had not been developed for many years. For many countries in the world, they had never even seen it. East Africa would definitely be inferior to other countries in terms of steam power.
The first-mover advantage of standard gauge has been determined. If East Africa wants to be unique, it must have its own breakthrough in technology.
Now Ernst has a trump card in his hand that he has not yet used, and that is the Berliner Energie-Dynamics Company - now the world's top company in the field of internal combustion engines. Next year, that is, in 1870, the Berliner-Energies-Dynamics Company will A practical four-stroke internal combustion engine will be available according to the schedule of the year.
Now that the company is relatively free, we need to increase their workload and set up a new department to focus on intensifying research on internal combustion engine applications such as locomotives and automobiles.
(End of this chapter)