Chapter 920 Endeavour is Completed

In March of the first year of Da Ming, the entire spring was spent in construction in various parts of the Han tribe. Engineering projects were launched one after another, granaries and well houses were built, and immigrants and officials from Qiongzhou Island were all in place, busy transforming paddy fields, harvesting corn in the first quarter, and then promoting rice planting in April.

That is, on this day at the end of March, the news from Lin Fei, the head of the Power Research Institute of Xingang County, once again reached Luo Chong who was resting at home.

"Chief, Lin Fei from Xingang County wrote to say that the Endeavour locomotive is about to be completed. They are in the final debugging and testing, so they sent the news to the chief in advance to ask the chief's opinion whether to go over for inspection.

In addition, they also asked that if they want to test the train, they have to lay the first railway first. Where will this railway be built? Will it be built on the mine in Xingang County, or on the line where the heavy-duty railway was planned to be built before?" The guards stood in front of the desk in Luo Chong's study and stated the contents of the letter respectfully.

"Well, show it to me." Luo Chong reached out to take the letter. It was indeed Lin Fei's notice and inquiry. In addition, this guy kept up with the times and took a photo of the locomotive and sent it to him. Judging from the situation in the photo, the locomotive was basically completed, but as Lin Fei said, if you want to experiment with this thing, you still need a railway, otherwise you can't let the train run on the dirt road.

The locomotive in the photo is about the length of a house. The cylindrical boiler part in the front is about three or four meters. The height is not very high. Compared with the adult workers standing next to it, it is only as high as the waist and abdomen of an adult. It may be about 1.3 meters high. It looks very small and does not look majestic and domineering like a steam locomotive. It looks like a large toy.

The track gauge is the standard 75 centimeters, but the width of the front of the locomotive is about one meter or more, and the carriage at the back is wider. If it is a passenger carriage, there is no problem for two people to sit side by side.

Luo Chong nodded with satisfaction after reading it, and then began to think about the first railway line. There would be no problem in laying it on the mine, but the impact was too small because the people could not see it. Except for the miners in the mountains, who else knew that the Han tribe had a train?

So Luo Chong decided to lay the previously planned heavy-duty train route first, which was the line from the Xingang County Steel Plant to the Weishan County Wharf. However, due to the technical substandard, the heavy-duty railway was temporarily abandoned and it was set as a narrow-gauge light rail.

Such a light rail is not much slower to build than laying a dirt road for horse-drawn carriages. The main thing is that there is no need to pile the foundation. It only needs to be tamped and flattened after leveling. Therefore, Luo Chong decided directly.

He immediately picked up a pen and wrote a reply letter, writing his opinions on paper, and then fanned the ink on the paper with his hand while instructing the guard who delivered the letter.

"Send this letter back to Lin Fei immediately and ask him to lay the railway according to the letter. I will mobilize slaves to lay the railway for him. Ask him to discuss with Dali and send people to supervise and manage. Also, tell him that I will leave for Xingang County tomorrow and ask them to check the locomotive carefully. I must be on the train on the day of the test run."

"Yes!" The guard bowed and promised, then took the letter from Luo Chong and turned away.

At this time, Xiaodie and Zhan Ying suddenly came to the study with a plate of snacks and hot tea. Seeing Luo Chong holding a photo and looking at it, Xiaodie asked.

"Can't my husband stand on the ground and watch? Why must he be on the train? You are the leader of the tribe. If something happens to you, what will happen to the Han tribe and what will happen to us?"

After listening to this, Luo Chong handed the photo of the locomotive to the two of them and comforted them.

"Look, although this thing is a real car, it is not very big. The front of the car is not even as tall as a donkey, and the chassis does not even reach the edge of the kang. This thing does not run fast. It is similar to the model in our yard. Moreover, it runs on flat ground all the way. You all know the flat terrain from Xingang County to Weishan County.

With such a car and such a road, what can happen to me sitting in the last car? Even if I jump off halfway, I will not necessarily get hurt." Luo Chong said to comfort the two.

"But" Zhan Ying wanted to continue to persuade, but was stopped by Luo Chong.

"Okay, okay, it's okay. This is a big event for our Han tribe. I must go. This test run will be recorded in the history books in the future."

Seeing Luo Chong's firm attitude, the two of them didn't know what to say. Luo Chong talked to his two pregnant wives for a while, then called his personal guards, and then sent several people to notify people from all aspects.

Some were responsible for Luo Chong's schedule tomorrow, some were away to notify the mobilization of slaves, and some went to contact the person in charge of this project.

The railway line from Xingang County to Weishan County Wharf is referred to as the "Xinwei Line" or "Xinwei Railway".

The entire Xinwei Line is located in a plain and hilly area with more soil and less stone. It is easy to lay and is about 150 kilometers one way. However, Luo Chong plans to build two lines side by side, one for each direction, allowing vehicles to depart at the same time, so as not to waste transportation time and cost. Otherwise, when a vehicle departs from Xingang County to Weishan County, Weishan County cannot depart from Xingang County, otherwise the two vehicles will collide head-on.

So this round trip is about 300 kilometers, and it may take more time to build it.

For example, Xingang County needs to build at least two stations, one of which is directly connected to the Xingang County Coal Station to replenish the coke fuel used for steelmaking in Xingang County, and then another station is to be built at the rolling mill to transport the products of the rolling mill.

In addition, it is best to have a station leading to the grain station to replenish grain for Xingang County.

Therefore, the most economical and reasonable solution for laying the railway line is to build an extension line to connect the three warehouse stations together, and also leave a joint to facilitate further extension in the future.

As for Weishan County, it is also a large county. The plain area along the lake has fertile land, countless good fields, and a population of tens of thousands. It has now developed into six county towns. The main wharf is located in Weishan County, where the county governor's office is located. There must be a station here, and it is the main station.

There is also a county town to the west of Weishan County, Luyuan County. This city is right on the only way for the Xinwei Railway, so a station must be set up.

To the north of Weishan County, Qiming County, Qianzhou County, Yize County, and Midao County, which are located on the island in the middle of the lake, are arranged along the lake. However, there is definitely no way to pass the train on the island in the middle of the lake. The Han tribe cannot build a bridge and a railway in the swamp lake. It is technically impossible and there is no need.

As for the other county towns, it is better to let the train pass through, so that the economy of all the county towns along the line can be driven up, and any special products they have can be quickly circulated by train.

This line is not very long and the construction is relatively easy. Luo Chong has even thought about the construction personnel. He will use the more than 1,000 prisoners of war from the Xin tribe captured from Kaiyuan County in the grassland at the beginning of last year to build the railway for them, so that they can see what kind of mistakes they made and what kind of tribe they are facing.

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(End of this chapter)