Chapter 584 Hessian Railway Idea
“Ernst, I remembered a question. When I was immigrating to Chad recently, I wanted to know when you plan to extend the northern railway to the Great Lakes region, or build it. A super railway from east to west," asked Prince Karl.
This is related to the work of Prince Carl. Now he is mainly responsible for transporting immigrants to the Chadian colony in Sigmaringen, so he has to borrow the Northern Railway.
Although the Northern Railway is long, its length is limited. It ends abruptly after extending to the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) area.
In Chad, we only walked half the distance to Mombasa, and the remaining half of the journey had to be completed on land by foot or animal-drawn vehicles.
This is naturally a very painful thing, and this is just population migration. If you include pots, pans, guns and ammunition and all the items needed for colonization, then traveling long distances is quite a headache. That’s why Prince Carl came to Downes Special railway issues.
“Uncle Carl, of course I have had such an idea, but there is no need to implement it. The main body of the Great Lakes District is mainly developed along the periphery of the Great Lakes. Its transportation takes the Great Lakes as the core and then radiates to the four sides, so we The Northern Railway in East Africa was only built as far as Kisumu, and the rest of the journey was completed by shipping," Ernst explained.
However, Ernst's explanation, which was almost the reason for the construction of the Northern Railway in the first place, did not satisfy Prince Karl.
"The turnover of Kisumu City is indeed not difficult for transportation along the Great Lakes region, but East Africa is huge! Your land does not stop at the Great Lakes region." Prince Karl advised.
"Uncle Carl, there is indeed a long distance to the west, but there is currently no need to build a railway there." Ernst replied.
"Well, why?"
"First of all, our current development focus in East Africa is on the three central provinces, namely Matabele Province, Hohenzollern Province, and Swabia Province, that is, The plateau area is south of the Congo rainforest, so the resources in East Africa must be tilted to the south.
Of course, this is not the main problem. , but there is no need to carry out the northern railway extension now. Railway construction requires traffic. This traffic can be people or goods, and the populations in the northern provinces are not large. As for goods, there is no other demand except food, like in the south. The Central Railway can not only transport grain, but also shoulder the task of transporting bulk minerals," Ernst replied.
The cost issue has never been the most important issue in East Africa, but it will not be ignored. In Ernst's view, the northern railway is more than sufficient now. It is of course necessary to extend it to the west, but there is no need to start it now. It's about waiting a few years.
Ernst believes that the development value of several provinces in the west and north of the Great Lakes region is not high and the population is sparse, so there is no need to build railways.
As for Hesse Province, you can consider it. The most important thing for Hesse Province in East Africa is rubber, and the prospects of the rubber industry are very broad. However, Ernst does not think that the Northern Railway is a good choice for transporting rubber from Hesse Province. .
So Ernst continued to say to Prince Carl: "Uncle Carl, railways are a relatively loss-making business in East Africa. It can be said that it cost a sky-high price to build the Central Railway and the Northern Railway, but now the Northern Railway is extended , In fact, it cannot bring tangible benefits to us in East Africa.
However, the railway problem you mentioned reminded me, that is, the transportation problem in Hesse Province. We now have several industries in East Africa. Rubber from Hesse is needed as the basic material.
The traffic conditions in Hesse are quite bad. I had not thought of solving this problem through railways before. Generally, after the railway construction is completed, it will be subject to natural interference. It is also the smallest, after all, it operates on fixed tracks, and fixed tracks need to be paved with roadbeds. "The reason why Ernst said this is also considering the railway's strong adaptability to the environment. Thick gravel must be laid underneath the railway. The roadbed is very high, and with drainage and other facilities in place, it is easier to maintain than a highway.
Prince Karl: "That's not good. We can build the Northern Railway all the way to Hesse. Although this option is not as good as building the railway to Azande in the north, it is still acceptable."
Ernst Shaking his head and saying: "No, on the contrary, I think Solving the transportation problems in Hesse Province, especially the transportation of strategic products such as rubber, not only has nothing to do with the Northern Railway, but has a lot to do with the Central Railway.”
Prince Karl: “Why do you say that?”
Enns Te replied: "It is mainly related to the industrial layout in East Africa. The rubber production in the Great Lakes region is enough to meet the needs of Nairobi and Mombasa downstream, while the cities and factories in the south require larger amounts because there are more cities and factories in the south.
Furthermore, Hesse Province is distributed along the Mitumba Mountains from north to south. It is naturally easier for us to build railways in this direction. The contour lines change the least, and it is easiest to build railways. Moreover, this can take care of the internal conditions of Hesse Province. Most areas.
On the contrary, if we extend the northern railway, we need to cross the Mitumba Mountains, and then we still have to build railways in Hesse Province according to the north-south distribution. That is equivalent to doubling the amount of work, and the result is still the same. This is a waste. . "
Prince Carl: "No way! If the Northern Railway is extended and connected with the Central Railway in Hesse Province, the Northern Railway can be connected to the Central Railway, which will be a good thing for East Africa. "
Ernst: "But that would double the price, and we won't be able to use it in a short time, so we'd better just build a northern extension line of the central railway. I think it's enough. "
According to Ernst's vision, if the construction is completed, the Central Railway in East Africa will change from the original "T" shape to a "Ten" shape.
In other words, the Central Railway The railway can directly connect the navigable area in the middle reaches of the Congo River, solving the problem of difficult rubber transportation in Hesse Province and solving the problem of internal development of the Congo rainforest.
Of course, the development Ernst refers to is not really about economic construction in the Congolese rainforest, but it is to facilitate the East African government to send troops to inspect the interior of the rainforest and try to drive away the hidden indigenous people inside, or to facilitate the transportation of supplies to East Africa. Build some military strongholds to prevent other forces from entering East Africa.
If the construction of this railway in Hesse Province is completed, the transportation cost of rubber in East Africa will be reduced in the future, which will be of great benefit to the development of many industries in East Africa. It will also make use of the mineral resources in Hesse Province. The development of resources, not to mention the strategic mineral tungsten, is worthy of the construction of this railway in East Africa, but this is considered from the perspective of future development of military industrial enterprises.
After the completion of the Hesse Provincial Railway, the title of the East African Crossroads of the Central Railway can also be implemented. In the future, a "meter" shaped railway pattern will be formed, which is of great significance in driving the economic development of the heart of East Africa.
(End of this chapter)