Chapter 356 Railway
On the second day, after a night's rest, they had a simple meal in the cafeteria of Anka Village. Everyone continued on their way. As the carriage started moving, Anka Village gradually faded out of everyone's sight. .
The farmland and plantations slowly came to an abrupt end and turned into a desolate savanna scene. The straight gravel roads in the wilderness looked particularly abrupt against the surrounding wilderness. This feeling Just like a subway station built in a farmland, it feels lonely.
I don’t know how long we have been walking, but a long object suddenly appeared on the south side of the road. From a distance, it looked like a river lying on the horizon and extending east and west, but it bulged on the ground. , and it is very regular, it should be something artificially built.
As the carriage continued to move forward, everyone felt more and more that the object was not simple. It gradually moved closer to the road, getting closer and closer, and it seemed that there was no end to the situation.
After the building finally ran parallel to the road, everyone could see its full picture clearly. Two ballasts paved on the ground with gravel blocks were about ten meters wide parallel to each other. There were strips of trimmed stones placed on them. The thick wooden bars look like thick iron bars with red rust on them.
Everyone started talking: "What is that?"
Aryan explained to them: "That is a railway."
"A railway?"
< br>"Yes, it is a kind of transportation rail transportation. Like highways, it can transport people and goods. However, the ones running on it are not horse-drawn carriages, but steam-spewing locomotives, and cargo boxes are pulled behind the locomotives. As long as you know that this is a Just plant a road.”
"Mr. Aryan! That thing called a railway opposite, the iron bars on it are the source of its name, right? But are there really cars that can run on it?"
Aryan: "Yes, but that's not called Iron bars, but rails. You should be familiar with rails. They are very common in some mines, but they used to be wooden rails, and they were used to carry mine carts to pull minerals. Later, the British took the lead in making this kind of rails Improved and then applied to land, railways were formed. In fact, there are similar principles in the Far East, but they are concave, with ruts running inside (Qinchi Road), while railways are convex, and the wheels are specially designed to be stuck in the Running between the two rails."
"What are the wood and gravel used for laying under the rails? Can't they be laid directly on the road?"
"The wood is called sleepers. The stones paved at the bottom are called ballast. Their function is to withstand the pressure of the rails, because the steam locomotive is quite heavy and presses on the rails. If there is nothing underneath to pave the rails, the rails will cut in like a knife cutting tofu. In the soil.”
“That’s it, so we can understand!”
Aryan continued: "Not only that, ballast can also cushion shocks, stabilize the track bed, reduce noise, and quickly drain water."
"How much pig iron is needed for this kind of road? "
Aryan: "I don't know, but it is indispensable. This kind of railway is often calculated in kilometers, and many railways in Europe and America are calculated in kilometers."
Aryan's words attracted everyone. They were all stunned. They really couldn't imagine how much iron this thing called a railway consumes.
By 1870, the total length of the world's railways exceeded 210,000 kilometers. Among them, the United States and Germany were emerging powers in railway construction. Britain and France were playing a stable role. The relatively backward Austria-Hungary Empire and Tsarist Russia also had great railways. develop. The 60 kilometers of the First Railway in East Africa are nothing in the world. It is even lagging behind many colonies. Moreover, after the construction of the First Railway was completed, it has not yet been opened to traffic. It has been idle for a while since it was built. .
So some people noticed this and asked: "Mr. Aryan! Then why didn't you see the steam locomotive you mentioned running on it?"
"I'll ask Wilik this question first. Mr. Si." Then Aryan turned to communicate with Willix in German.
After a while.
“Okay, now I already know the general situation. The railways in the East African Kingdom have different standards from most countries in the world, so they are technically deficient. This has resulted in the railway in front of us. East Africa is called the First Railway. After the completion of the First Railway, it has been waiting for the locomotive to be developed. But just now Mr. Alex told me that the finished locomotive has completed the final test in Austria and will be officially shipped from Austria to East Africa next month. Conduct a trial run.”
In the end, Hechingen Vienna Energy Power Company persuaded Ernst to maintain the original plan. After all, everyone had worked hard for so long and the results were about to be achieved. How could they change their minds casually.
Where is Austria! You don't know, but according to Aryan, this railway is just a good thing but not useful.
"Mr. Aryan, the role of this railway sounds no different from that of a highway. Why do you have to go through such a thankless effort to build a railway? I think it would be good to build a few more roads if you have the spare money."< br>
Aryan: "Then you are totally wrong. Railways and roads are quite different. Let me tell you this. The carriages we make now rely on horses to provide power, and horses consume energy. In addition to food, you also need to eat, drink, poop and sleep. Your physical strength will also be consumed along with the distance, and you won’t be pulling much. But the railway does not have so many problems. The locomotives running on the railway are powered by steam engines. How powerful are steam engines? , you should all have seen it, and the steam engine only needs people to continuously fill the boiler with coal to continuously generate power.”
Everyone came to East Africa by ship, so they have seen the size of the steamship. of the chimney.
"Mr. Aryan, that big chimney on the ship!"
Aryan: "Yes, it's that thing. Just like boiling water will cause steam to hit the lid of the kettle, the water vapor will evaporate in a closed space. High pressure is formed, which repeatedly pushes the piston to move. The piston drives the gear and crankshaft, and finally makes the wheel run. If you have seen those steam engines used for survival in textile factories, you can probably understand its operating principle more intuitively."
Textile factories are indeed the easiest place to come into contact with steam engines, especially in the Far East. In fact, the first railway in the Far East was a railway built outside Xuanwumen in Beijing in 1865 by the British capitalist Durand. The British "used a strange car that ran on the railway very fast" in an attempt to win the approval of the Qing government. However, instead of being praised, this railway caused panic among the Qing rulers. Therefore, the Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the infantry commander to demolish it on the grounds that it "lost my danger, harmed my farm and house, and hindered my feng shui." China's first railway died in this way.
This railway has been in existence for a very short time, so many people have not seen it. On the contrary, there are many textile factories in the Far East. After all, the impact it brings to people is not as shocking as the railway.
When they see a machine running on a steam engine in a factory for the first time, most people will praise it: "It's so skillful." If you see a steam locomotive for the first time, it will arouse fear. The British writer Dickens said: Railway's emotions are very complicated. He is amazed by the huge power of railway, but also afraid of this uncontrollable force. In "Dombey and Son", Dickens described the powerful destructive power of the railway by describing the changes in "Stargar Garden": "Traces of earthquakes can be seen everywhere." Using "earthquakes" as a metaphor, he vividly shows the railway construction zone The sense of destruction also implies the lasting damage that is difficult to restore to the original state after the disaster. The author also uses negative words such as "shaky", "chaotic", "mixed" and "dilapidated" to make readers feel the sense of fragmentation and chaos caused by the construction of the railway, giving people a huge visual and psychological impact.
(End of this chapter)