Chapter 209 The First Railway Project
In mid-September, the original personnel of the Rhoades Railway Company arrived in East Africa, and the company name was changed to the East African Railway Company, with no other major changes.
Chief Engineer Nordin was hired as a technical consultant to the East African Railway Department.
In October, the staff of the East African Railway Company studied the terrain data provided by the East African government. Finally, Engineer Notting and his team were invited to participate in the East African government's working meeting on railway construction issues.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this meeting will determine the fate of the future East African Railway. It can be said that once it is established, the East African Railway will have to follow this path in the future. So everyone please speak freely, summarize the actual situation in East Africa, and select the railway standard that is most suitable for East Africa. Now, please allow Mr. Notting to introduce the situation to everyone." Prince Constantine set the tone for the meeting.
Engineer Notting nodded to everyone, then stood up and began to explain railway-related content to everyone. There were a lot of top students with only primary school education in the East African government, so this was very necessary.
"…The above are some key points in railway construction, but the topic finally returns to the selection of appropriate railway track gauge. There is no unified standard in this regard among countries in the world. After all, national conditions are different. Everyone can speak out their thoughts without worrying about any outsiders." Engineer Notting said.
As Ernst's trusted general, Witt had been briefed before the meeting and was the first to raise his opinion, so he was the first to speak: "There is no fixed standard for wide and narrow gauges (the International Railway Union established 1435 mm as the standard gauge in 1937). In my opinion, it is better to take a middle number and go directly to 1500 mm."
With the first spokesperson, everyone became relatively active.
Yarman said: "I think it's better to build a bigger one. I've taken a train before. When I was in the army, many people were squeezed into a small carriage. It was very crowded and uncomfortable. At that time, I thought it would be better if the train carriage was bigger. The experience must be better, so I suggested that it should be two meters. Of course, this is my personal opinion, please don't be offended if I'm wrong."
Alman's statement was recognized by some former officers from the Prussian army.
"I think it's also good to just use 1435mm, after all, many countries use it."
"1435mm sounds weird. It originally means 4 feet 8.5 inches in the UK. The British love to do this. It just complicates the issue like the conversion of pounds. We in East Africa use the metric system, so it is better to use the metric system as an integer, which is also convenient for calculation."
"I don't agree with using 1435mm. Overseas, we Germans are the weaker party. Britain and France are now the colonial powers. We Germans can develop East Africa, and Britain and France can also develop Africa in the future. Moreover, France is now in North Africa and West Africa, and Britain is in Somaliland and Cape Town, which just puts us in the middle. So I suggest that for national defense reasons, we should learn from the Russians and not have a unified railway standard with them."
"I agree with this. We in East Africa don't need to consider the issue of connecting with the world in the future. Africa is not Russia, connecting Europe and Asia. We still rely on sea transportation to connect with other parts of the world. The land connection point between Europe and Asia is the small area of Egypt. Moreover, Egypt is still building the Suez Canal. Egypt is a wrestling field between Britain and France. I don't think outsiders will be allowed to intervene."
"The advantage of wide gauge is that it has a large carrying capacity and low technical requirements, but its disadvantage is that the load is large and heavy, and the horsepower cannot be increased.
But we are not looking for speed. The main exports from East Africa are food and timber. We don’t have enough of the other things, so I prefer wide-gauge railways.”
"In my opinion, the bigger the railway, the better. As for the land issue, East Africa is more sparsely populated than Tsarist Russia, so it doesn't matter if we occupy more land. The most important thing is that Europe has densely cultivated land, and the railway will affect the farmland. We don't have to worry about this in East Africa. There are so many grasslands and forests that we don't need to use them. This is a completely minor issue."
"Generally speaking, there is no such problem, because the wide track is only as wide as the width of a seat, and the railway line, in addition to the rails, is generally 10-30 meters on both sides of the railway, which is negligible compared to the increase in track area. The areas that are affected are basically tunnels and bridges," the Nottingham engineer added, "In terms of safety, the wide track can also run more smoothly under current technical conditions, but turning depends on the special design of the wheel outer diameter to solve the differential problem! So the track gauge cannot be too wide."
"Mr. Notting, how do you say this specifically? It can't be too broad."
“My suggestion is that it should not exceed three metres, as there is no actual operating railway of such width on the railway.
In 1835, the British built more than 300 miles of 2140mm gauge railways, which were also in operation for a period of time. I have not done in-depth research on locomotives, but technology has developed over the years, so I estimate that it is safer to be within three meters.
Moreover, if East Africa adopts a railway gauge of more than two meters, it would be unique in the world, which should be called an ultra-wide gauge.
However, personally, I think that ultra-wide gauge track has greater potential in the future. As for the current cargo volume in Europe, it has been increasing, and the development of railways is nothing more than the pursuit of speed and heavy load.
If we can solve the power and other technical problems in the future, none of this will be a problem. Based on the current development of science and technology, I think it is very likely.”
Hearing this, the new Army Commander-in-Chief Felix said: "Then I think we should just use 2500mm as our own standard in East Africa. This way the technology is guaranteed and it also meets the needs of East Africa. The climate in East Africa is exactly the opposite of that in Tsarist Russia, but I know that Tsarist Russia is also dominated by grasslands and forests. So East Africa is similar to Tsarist Russia in this respect, so there is no problem with using wide gauge."
Felix's words were supported by most people. Tsarist Russia did have similarities with East Africa in terms of geography. East Africa did not have forests, grasslands, or permafrost, but it did have many swamps.
After the final estimate by the East African government and confirmation by Nottingham engineers, East Africa finally chose a unique number - 2500mm.
Originally, Ernst preferred the number 1500mm, but the comments at the meeting also made Ernst very interested.
It doesn't matter if it costs a little more money. The most important thing about building a railway is the labor cost. The East Africans don't have to do it themselves, so just do it with confidence.
The first railway in East Africa was officially approved. Because the terminus of this railway is in the First Town and it is the first railway in East Africa, it is simply called "The First Railway", but later generations will add the qualifier "East Africa" in front of it.
The total length of the First Railway is planned to be 59 kilometers. The station is located a short distance away from the First Town and Dar es Salaam. This is the result of taking into account the defense project. Of course, the noise of the steam locomotive is also quite loud. Ernst doesn't care, but it would be bad to disturb Prince Constantine's rest.
Because the first railway built was an experimental railway, Ernst was not afraid of mistakes. If it really didn't work, he could just stop it. It would not be too late then.
At the same time, this meeting also gave Ernst a sense of urgency. The concept of ultra-wide track gauge proposed by the Nottingham engineer was bold and avant-garde, but the relevant technical reserves must be taken seriously.
In the past, the standard railway gauge was actually a path dependence problem. The British first developed it and exported it to the world, and it later became the standard for many countries. However, once they wanted to change it, they would give up because the cost of changing the entire railway system was too high.
In the past, some people suggested that the Eurasian express should adopt an ultra-wide track gauge of more than two meters, which would increase the number of containers, but it was only a pipe dream.
In the time and space where Ernst lived, railways had only been developed for a few years. For many countries in the world, they had never even seen them. In terms of steam power, East Africa was certainly not as good as other countries.
The first-mover advantage of standard gauge track has been established. If East Africa wants to stand out, it must have its own technological breakthroughs.
Ernst now has a trump card in his hand that he has not used, and that is the Berlin Energy and Power Company - now the world's top company in the field of internal combustion engines. Next year, that is, in 1870, the practical four-stroke internal combustion engine of the Berlin Energy and Power Company will be launched according to the arrangement of that year.
The company is relatively idle now, so we want to increase their workload and set up a new department to focus on increasing research in internal combustion engine application areas such as locomotives and automobiles.
(End of this chapter)
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