Chapter 738 Rail Transit

Luo Chong attached great importance to the asphalt lake. After confirming the strategic value of this resource point, he quickly wrote a letter back to You Ye, asking him to immediately conduct a careful investigation of the environment around the asphalt lake.

This includes the most convenient transportation route for bulk minerals, the surrounding climate and land conditions, whether there is the possibility of grazing or farming, whether there is sufficient fresh water resources, whether it meets the conditions for long-term human habitation, etc.

After all, if you want to mine the asphalt lake, you must have sufficient manpower. If there are many people, there must be food and fresh water, otherwise there is no way to maintain it. Of course, the Han tribe can completely mobilize food from other places, but the operating cost of mining in that way is too high, which is not in line with the actual interests.

However, this matter cannot be rushed for the time being. Such a major matter and such a large area need to be explored. It will definitely not be completed in a few days, so this matter will have to wait. Besides, the current construction tasks of the Han tribe are also very heavy. Even if detailed information and plans are obtained now, Luo Chong may not have the spare energy to mine.

When it comes to this time when people are needed, Luo Chong can't help but think of the Tang tribe and the Xin tribe. It would be great if these two tribes with large populations and resources can be used by him immediately.

But this is obviously impossible.

Han tribe, Xingang County.

Years ago, with the establishment of the coking plant and Xingang County of the Han tribe, dozens of blast furnaces smelted steel day and night, and the steel production of the Han tribe even had overcapacity.

With Luo Chong's research and development of artillery and artillery shells, part of the steel was consumed, easing the inventory pressure, but with the delivery of 200 artillery pieces, the steel production exceeded the consumption again.

However, this situation, which seemed like a joke, was alleviated with the arrival of spring.

The Han tribe has built many new counties this year, including the three counties of Honghu in the grassland, Tuohai County, Nanzhang County, the new county town of Ruyang County, and the new county town of Dongxin County.

With the construction of these places, and the addition and growth of a large number of people, the demand for iron tools and farm tools in the Han tribe has also increased day by day, which has further eased the pressure on steel inventory and has allowed the tribe to barely reach a balance between income and expenditure.

However, this is not a long-term solution. With the gradual stabilization of these newly established counties, their demand for ironware will gradually cool down. In order to maintain the vitality of the development of the steelmaking industry in the Han tribe, Luo Chong feels it is necessary to find another industry that can consume a lot of steel.

In fact, he has already found it, that is, bicycles and tricycles. No matter which of these two vehicles, their main structure is made of steel. If it can be successfully promoted, the steel production of the Han tribe will definitely be consumed quickly.

However, due to the technical difficulty and labor cost of manual production, it is tantamount to a foolish dream to promote it quickly now, so other ways must be thought of for the time being.

Luo Chong thought for a long time and had to prepare to restart the steam engine plan again. As long as there is this motive force, metal processing machine tools will no longer be a problem, and steam locomotives will also become possible.

And because of the previous development of artillery, the Han tribe has already had a certain reserve of boring machine technology, so the most important structural part of the steam engine, the high-pressure cylinder, has also had a certain research and development foundation. Luo Chong is ready to start trying now. It doesn’t matter if it fails, it can be accumulated slowly.

At the same time, he has also made plans in his mind for the first section of the Han tribe’s railway, which is the nearly 80-kilometer journey from Weishan County to Xingang County.

This section of the route is the top priority of the Han tribe's current land transportation. Every day, a large number of horse-drawn carriages carrying coke, grain, cloth and various iron products run back and forth. This has become the busiest route.

If a railway can be built here, it will save a lot of manpower, animal power and material resources for the Han tribe.

Although there is no train yet, the rails can be laid first. If there is no locomotive, can horses be used to pull it first? In short, for heavy transportation routes like this, rail transportation is definitely more efficient than dirt roads.

As for the gauge of the rails, Luo Chong doesn't know much, but he knows a little bit. After all, he was a person who studied war in his previous life. During World War I and World War II, many battles were fought around railways. He has also analyzed many battles, of course, not railways.

Regarding rails, they can be roughly divided into two stages. The first is when the train first came out, the privately built railways. At that time, most of them were trains serving the transportation of minerals. The construction was also extremely simple. Most of them were cast iron rails laid directly on the ground, without even sleepers and gravel, and the gauge was mainly narrow.

In the second stage, it became a public transportation mainly for transportation and passenger transport. In order to pursue the comfort of passenger trains, railroads gradually began to have sleepers and gravel, as well as various types of rail transit with standard and wide gauges.

When narrowed down to the range of track gauge, it can also be roughly divided into three types: narrow-gauge railways, standard-gauge (standard distance) railways, and wide-gauge railways.

Narrow gauge mostly refers to railways with a distance between the middle of the rails ranging from 60 cm to 100 cm. This kind of slender railway transportation is mostly developed from mine cars, because it was originally used to pull ore in mines.

However, later this narrow-gauge railway often appeared in wars because it was easier to lay and not too picky about terrain. In World War I and World War II, Western countries temporarily laid this kind of small train in order to transport supplies and troops on the battlefield. It can even be laid while driving and transferred at any time. This is its advantage.

The second stage of rail transit development is freight and passenger transport. Trains built for these two needs have the smallest track gauge of about 1.55 meters. This gauge is very common for both passenger and freight transport, and has been used until modern times without elimination. The origin of this data is said to be because the wheelbase of the horse-drawn carriages in the West at that time, especially the horse-drawn carriages with two horses, was this distance.

1.55 meters, this width is just enough to accommodate two horses running side by side, and it was also the most commonly used mode of transportation in the West at that time, so it was set as (standard track gauge).

The emergence of wide-gauge railways are mostly rare super-heavy freight trains, and passenger transport is generally never used. This wide range, that is, the distance between the two rails, is generally between 1.8 meters and 2.4 meters. It is specially used to transport heavy goods or large goods. Even if a tank is pulled at a time, the train can load and pull it.

Based on the current situation, the Han tribe needs narrow-gauge and standard-gauge rail transit the most. Narrow-gauge rail transit is not used to transport people or goods, but it is very suitable for both coal mines and iron mines. Standard-gauge rail transit with a width of two horses is more suitable for transporting people and goods. The two types of railways have their own uses, and there is no difference between them.

With this data as a reference and basis, the development of steam locomotives will have a clear goal, and there will be no need to take so many detours. Thinking of this, Luo Chong immediately formulated a research and development plan for steam engines and railways to move simultaneously.

Xingang County is responsible for the rolling of steel rails, and the research institute is responsible for the research and development of steam engines. With both sides starting work at the same time, this thing will be made sooner or later.

Following the research and development strategy of starting with the easy and then moving on to the difficult, Luo Chong was the first to put the narrow-gauge steam locomotive on the work agenda. However, it would be too much for the people in the research institute to make the product themselves, so Luo Chong simply asked them to transfer some metal processing and mechanical transmission craftsmen from the research institute, and move their various tools to the Industrial College in Xuefu County.

They also found a construction worker to build a temporary factory in the corner of the school, and approved two warehouses for them to use as research sites. The research and development of the steam engine of the Han tribe began.

Luo Chong appointed himself as the chief engineer and led a group of researchers and craftsmen to conduct experiments.

The first research and development plan was not to directly make a narrow-gauge locomotive, because neither the research institute nor Luo Chong himself had the ability, so he planned to start with a small one.

In a few days, Luo Chong asked the glass workshop on the lake island to burn a set of steam engine prototype models according to his drawings.

Anyone who has studied mechanics knows that if you just want to make a steam engine prototype that can boil water and spin, it is actually not difficult. The difficulty lies in how to put it into a real machine and make it move normally.

In a classroom set aside in the warehouse, a research team of about 30 people sat down. They were all the best craftsmen in the Han tribe in mechanical transmission and metal processing. They could draw windmill transmission and loom parts with their eyes closed. There were also geniuses who were familiar with various metal processing, casting, forging, quenching, mold making, and welding. Dozens of people sat in rows below and looked at Luo Chong on the podium.

Luo Chong drew the schematic diagram of the steam engine on the blackboard with chalk, then patted the white ash on his hands, turned around and talked to the research team below.

"This is the core of our project, the schematic diagram of the steam engine. As long as this thing can succeed, it can completely change our world, because it is a kind of artificially controlled prime mover that can work non-stop without sleep, and the productivity of our Han tribe will also be greatly improved."

Looking at the ignorant look of the researchers below, Luo Chong did not waste too much time, but went straight to the point.

"Okay, let's take a look at what a steam engine is. In simple terms, it is a machine that uses steam pressure as a source of power. It is mainly composed of four parts: boiler, cylinder, piston connecting rod, and flywheel."

Looking at the diagram on the blackboard, most people were still confused. Because of their lack of knowledge, they still couldn't imagine what it was and why just boiling water could make the flywheel move.

However, Luo Chong had already explained his classroom rules when he taught the class himself. If you don't understand, ask, don't hold it in, otherwise you may not be able to figure it out even if you rack your brains. Science is sometimes just a layer of window paper, and Luo Chong's suggestion may break it. So when Luo Chong taught, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of asking questions more than once.

So someone raised his hand on the spot.

"What questions do you have?" Luo Chong pointed to one of the researchers and asked.

He immediately stood up, bowed slightly and said, "Chief, why can boiling water make the wheel move by itself? Doesn't that mean that firewood and water are enough? Then why do we need windmills, waterwheels, cattle and horses? Is this thing better than cattle, horses, livestock, windmills and waterwheels?"

This is indeed a question. Because no one has seen it, some people will question whether new things are better than old things. This is a common view, and it is normal to have such questions.

Luo Chong did not get angry because of this. He answered calmly.

"The principle of the car, or the rotary work, was proposed by me. The windmill, waterwheel, and livestock were also my first innovations. No one understands the shortcomings of them better than me, but you only see its advantages. This is wrong. I have said many times that science is about daring to innovate, making bold assumptions, practicing seriously, and verifying carefully.

You are also very familiar with the above things, so you should be very clear, is it really without shortcomings?

Livestock are born, grow old, get sick, and die. They need to eat, get hungry and tired. Windmills can only operate at high power in the windy season of autumn and winter. Their effects in spring and summer are very limited. Waterwheels are just the opposite. In the rainy season of spring and summer, there is more water and the power is the highest. When the water level drops in autumn and winter, it will soon become useless.

Moreover, the construction facilities are too large and too location-sensitive. Windmills must be built on high ground at the wind outlet, and waterwheels must be built along the water. Canals and dams must be built to raise the water level. Not only is the engineering workload large, but the requirements for the construction environment are also too harsh.

The steam engine is different. Its biggest advantage is that it makes up for all the above shortcomings. It is tireless, does not pick time, and does not pick location. As long as it meets the water and fuel supply, it can work non-stop. This is the meaning of the steam engine. "

After explaining the power of it, Luo Chong waved his hand to let the researcher sit down, and then pointed to another person who raised his hand to ask a question.

"Chief, you said before that part of the steam engine technology is related to the principles of artillery. Is this related point the principle of piston movement? One is to use gunpowder gas to propel artillery shells, and the other is to use high-pressure steam to propel the piston connecting rod. But how powerful is steam? Can it compare to gunpowder gas? Why not just replace the steam engine with a gunpowder gas engine?"

"Hahahahahahahaha" Luo Chong couldn't help but laugh at his question. He clapped his hands and stunned all the researchers.

"You asked a good question. Why do we have to make a steam engine instead of any other machine? As long as there is a suitable fuel as a driving force to drive the flywheel to do work, isn't it enough?

This is a very good idea. You have already reached the level of learning from one example. Isn't this the thinking that scientific talents should have?

Since gunpowder gas can push dozens of kilograms of shells, why can't it be used to push pistons to do work? I can simply tell you that because the pressure of gunpowder gas is too high, it is not easy to control. If you can think of a way to control the burning speed of gunpowder, then of course it is not impossible. At that time, you can also give this new fuel machine a new name, called a gas turbine

. If you directly use calcium carbide and water to react into acetylene gas, and then ignite acetylene as mechanical power, then I think it can also be called a gas turbine.

Moreover, if you can seal tung oil or alcohol and other fuels in the machine to control combustion, then maybe you can make an internal combustion engine!

There is no regulation on which kind of power machinery must be made. The reason why I chose the steam engine project is just because it is simple enough."

(End of this chapter)