Chapter 208 Difficulty in Choice
With the blessing of the Hechingen Consortium and East Africa, Jiaozhou has already taken the prototype of a large city in the Far East and is also the most influential Eastern city in Germany.
Very different from those semi-colonial treaty ports, Jiaozhou was a port controlled by the Qing government. However, out of distrust of the Qing government bureaucracy, the Heixingen Group chose to continue to hold force.
Even if the Manchu officials do not have the courage, the same cannot be said for those local gangs. Local gangsters are local gangsters after all, and they are definitely brave enough. As long as the interests are in place, there is nothing they dare not do. These people really live a life of licking their own blood. , there is really no deterrent effect on them without arms.
Don't think that being a foreigner can be tyrannical. That is the treatment that only Britain and France have. The two countries are eager for the Qing Dynasty to give their own citizens a knife. A bad operation is another excuse for war.
…
“Father, I plan to build an experimental railway between Dar es Salaam and the First Town to strengthen the connection between Dar es Salaam and the First Town. Accumulate experience for future railway construction in East Africa," Ernst picked up the phone and said to Prince Constantine.
When it comes to the topic of railways, Prince Constantine is very interested, especially since this is a railway that belongs to his own family.
Hechingen in Europe is a remote place with neither a decent river nor a railway passing through it. Transportation basically relies on carriages, horses and walking.
But the road conditions in Hechingen were not very ideal, not even comparable to those in East Africa at this time. European roads did not change much until the eighteenth century.
Even the roads built in the ancient Roman era were repaired and repaired, but they were already the best roads in Europe at that time.
After the 18th century, Europeans began to pay attention to transportation construction, and roads and railways developed rapidly, but all of this had nothing to do with Hechingen.
Hechingen's geographical location, construction conditions, products and population cannot support road renovation. At most, the original dirt road can be built slightly smoother.
"Very good, but the railway is not an ordinary project. Do you have any specific plans?"
"Father, the Rons Railway Company I acquired is now on its way to East Africa. After arriving in East Africa, they will plan a route based on the actual local conditions.”
"Rones Railway Company? Never heard of it!"
"It is a small company in the Grand Duchy of Baden, so it is not very well-known."
"Then leave this project to them , can it be completed?”
“You can rest assured about this, they have experience and have been building railways for the French before.”
“France?”
"Yes, but it is mainly outsourcing projects. After all, human resources in South Germany are abundant, cheap, and easier to manage than French workers."
Hearing this, Prince Constantine nodded and said: "Well, Then I’m relieved. What I’m most afraid of is that they don’t have relevant experience. However, even so, how do you solve the problem of building railway materials?”
“Cement is currently available in East Africa, and sleepers are available from East Africa. Just do it, and you don’t have to worry about land resources, that is, locomotives, rails, some parts and equipment need to be imported from the German region.
In addition, the distance from Dar es Salaam to the first town is not far, and the terrain is also good. It is relatively flat and the final construction cost of this railway will not be too high. "What do you need me to do?" Prince Constantine asked.
Isn’t this problem solved? Just give me a call about this?
"Father, I still need to discuss some details of this railway with you. For example, didn't you say you wanted to build a defense project in the first town some time ago!
Railway It is a strategic means of transportation. You saw the effect of Prussia's use of railway troop transport last time, so we must pay attention to this railway in terms of national defense. Ssalaam is very close to the first town. With this railway, the speed of travel between the two will be faster.
So when you carry out this project, you must include the railway. There are loopholes."
"I know about this. The defense project has not started yet, and I will arrange for people to set up the checkpoints by then."
"This requires cooperation between designers and railway companies, so there is no rush. At least we have to wait until they arrive in East Africa. Moreover, railways belong to national defense transportation. By then, a Ministry of Railways should be established in the government!" Ernst said.
“Are there any questions?”
“The other issue is the track gauge of the railway, which I am still undecided about.
The main ones that can be used for our reference at present There are several types such as 1000mm, 1435mm, 1520mm, 1676mm, etc. 1435mm is the most popular, and this is also the case in Prussia. If we directly use 1435mm, we can save some costs, but the larger the railway gauge, the greater the cargo volume. "
Constantine pondered for a moment and said: "I don't know much about railways. You can tell me in detail about the railway conditions in various countries."
"There is no unified standard for railway track gauge, and it is relatively flexible. For example, 1435mm was the width of Roman chariots. European carriages also adopted this number. Later, the British were the first to develop railways, so this number is used in Britain and its colonies. , the United States, and some European countries.
1000mm is mainly used by France and its colonies, especially the French colonies. It is suitable for construction in mountainous areas and is cheap.
1520mm is a broad gauge. , mainly used by the Russians. For military reasons, they do not want to integrate with Europe.
1676mm is a wider railway. In addition to these types, there are many different standards. In short, There are so many different types, so I have a hard time with this issue."
"I almost understand what you mean. 1435mm is currently the most widely used, but it should be relatively common among various railway standards. The narrow ones are cheaper and more flexible, but have lower transportation capacity. The wider ones are more expensive, have less flexibility, and have larger transportation capacity. Is that what I mean? ”
"This is not a railway. If you think about it, there are only two iron bars. These two iron bars are the main cost. If they are parallel on two straight lines, the width is actually about the same, which means more materials are used when turning. And there are The sleepers are longer and occupy more land area.
But these are not problems for East Africa. There is plenty of land in East Africa and there is no shortage of wood. The loss caused by turning can be completely covered by the transportation volume. Offset it.
After all, the railway is a long-term operation project, so it is true that the cost is slightly higher, but the longer the subsequent railway operation, the higher the profits and efficiency will be, after all, the transportation volume is large.”
Hearing this, Constantine completely understood. This boy still preferred to use wide gauge. After all, he started to defend wide gauge before he finished speaking. However, because the world mainly uses 1435mm railways, especially in Europe, So it's hard to choose between them. After all, everyone follows the herd.
So, Prince Constantine said: "Let's use broad gauge! But you also said that there are many standards for broad gauge. We won't discuss which one to use first. We will wait until the railway company relocates to East Africa. , let the East African government and professionals make an assessment based on the actual situation in East Africa, and we will choose another standard.”
(End of this chapter)