1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 142 Ambition of Iron

"Your drawing is very good."

Liang Yao put down the drawings in his hand and said that the drawings Fremont provided him were more detailed than the drawings provided to him by the engineers of the California Railway Company.

"The distance between San Francisco and Sacramento is not long, and this is not a very long route. Since you feel that there is no problem, then hurry up and start working.

As soon as the railroad between San Francisco and Sacramento is built, I shall resume my plan of exploration to find a railroad route for California to the East. "

Fremont revealed his plan.

This railway route to the east is the Pacific Railway, but historical Fremont adventures have not successfully explored a suitable railway route for construction.

The Pacific Railway is a history of bitter blood and tears for the Chinese. Liang Yao knows little about other American railways, but Liang Yao still has a certain understanding of this railway.

Liang Yao, who has known more than [-] and [-] years later, knows the approximate route of the Pacific Railway. With Fremont's ability, he believes that as long as he points out a general direction for Fremont, Fremont will be able to find a suitable route for the Pacific Railway. Build routes.

"There is an old saying in China that you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. The section of the railway from San Francisco to Sacramento is also the starting point of this more than [-]-mile-long railway.

The main reason why I haven't started work is not the raw materials, nor the labor force, nor the lack of trust in the engineers of the California Railway Company and your ability. "

Last year, Liang Yao did not choose to start work, and it was indeed affected by two factors: shortage of raw materials and labor shortage.

However, with the mining of coal mines and the opening of the channel for importing iron ore from Mexico, the problem of raw materials has been solved.

At the same time, the number of blast furnaces in the iron and steel plant has also increased from two to eight. After trying to use the converter steelmaking method to smelt steel, the daily iron output of each blast furnace has increased from the original 1.8 tons to the current 4.5 tons.

In January 1851, the California Steel Works produced a total of 1 tons of iron and 1101 tons of steel.

Such steel production can basically meet the needs of laying railroad tracks between San Francisco and Sacramento.

Last year, that is, the entire year of 1850, the national steel output of the United States was less than 1 tons, and the pig iron output was less than 60 tons.

It was after the 19s that the iron and steel industry achieved technological breakthroughs and production increased by leaps and bounds.

就拿单座高炉的日产量来说，19世纪五十年代一般一座高炉的日产量为1到6吨的铁，而到来19世纪80年代初，这个数字则为100吨左右。

As for the labor force, now excluding the Chinese transported by the global shipping company from Guangzhou, there are one or two hundred Chinese who risk death across the Pacific Ocean to California every day for gold.

All these Chinese were accepted by Liang Yao's immigrant hostel, and he did not lack labor.

"Then what are you worried about?"

Fremont asked puzzled.

"Some technical problems. During this time, the engineers of the California Steel Company and the railroad company are working on some technical problems. I think these problems will be resolved soon."

Liang Yao stood up, he looked out the window, the sun was gradually sinking to the west of the sea.

"It's getting late, go back and have a good rest. I'll take you to the steel factory and the railway company tomorrow, and you'll understand."

The development of railways in the United States has not been smooth sailing. The start of the American railway industry began in 1829.

In 1829, the Delaware and Hudson Company of Pennsylvania imported America's first steam locomotive "Stowbridge Lion" from the United Kingdom and put it into commercial use that year. Unfortunately, it was the first maiden voyage, a huge and heavy steam locomotive Break the rails.

The fundamental reason is that the quality and technology of the track built in the United States is not up to standard. The British will sell you the steam locomotive, but it does not mean that they will also sell you the corresponding supporting technology.

In the following year, the United States made a compromise in order to solve this problem. Through the reverse engineering of imported British steam locomotives, a steam locomotive suitable for the national conditions of the United States was developed, namely the "Tom Thumb".

As the name suggests, the "Tom Thumb" steam locomotive is characterized by its small size, light locomotive weight, small output horsepower, and small carrying capacity.Therefore, although this is a steam locomotive, it is not a qualified steam locomotive that can be put into commercial use.

The appearance of the first qualified commercial steam locomotive in the United States had to wait until 1831.

1831年，在查尔斯顿和南卡莱罗纳铁路上运行的最好的朋友号机车拖着4~5节车厢以25英里（45公里）的时速行使时，这则消息震惊了整个美利坚。

The Best Friend has become the pride of the entire United States, although this parameter index has fallen behind compared with the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium at the same time.

But after all, this is the first steam locomotive produced and developed by the United States itself and put into commercial use.

Shortly after Best Friend was launched, the West Point Foundry Society of New York launched America's second steam locomotive, and the Moherk and Hudson Railroad introduced the DeWitt Clinton locomotive.

The parameters of these locomotives are not much different from those of the best friend, and they became the main locomotives of major American railway companies in the 19s, [-]s and early [-]s.

直到1855年采用经典美式4-4-0（铁路车辆的导向轮和驱动轮配置，第一个4代表4个前导向轮，第二个4代表4个驱动轮，第三个0代表无后导向轮）布局的蒸汽机车美国人号的出现，美利坚蒸汽机车才迎来了颠覆性的变革。

This type of steam locomotive swept the entire North American continent in the next 25000 to [-] years, and nearly [-] units were produced.

At dawn the next day, the first thing Liang Yao did when he opened his eyes was to ask Tromeland for the shells used by the 10-inch and 8-inch naval guns on the Roland.

Tromelan was unwilling to give Liang Yao the cannonball at first, and wanted to blackmail Liang Yao for the cannonball.

Liang Yao is not a vegetarian either, saying that if Tromelan is not willing to deliver the shells, he should not even think about towing away the other French ship under repair in the dock. Tromelan then relented and is willing to deliver the shells to Liang Yao .

After wrangling with Tromeland, Liang Yao and Fremont came to the steel factory in the industrial zone.

The steel plant occupies a large area, and the eight blast furnaces currently in use only occupy less than 8% of the entire plant area.In addition, five blast furnaces are under construction.

In the warehouse in the steel factory area, I-shaped rails and a small amount of steel rails are stacked.

In the open space in front of the warehouse, there are experimental rails built by the railway workers and engineers of the California Railway Company, and 7 steam locomotives are parked on the rails.

"Where did you get so many steam locomotives?"

Fremont asked in surprise.

"Last year, Strauss bought a total of ten from the Eastern Railway Company, and three of them were used for dismantling." Liang Yao said lightly.

"What are you doing dismantling these locomotives?" Fremont said with some distress.

"I never like to be controlled by others. I hope our railway company has the ability to develop and manufacture locomotives by itself." Liang Yao said as he walked towards the warehouse, "I also ordered locomotives from British and French railway companies. If all goes well, the five locomotives will be sent to San Francisco by the end of this year."

"You have money and nowhere to spend it? Send money to the British and the French?" Fremont was very puzzled by Liang Yao's move.

"I've never liked backward things. The steam locomotives produced by us in the United States are not advanced enough." Liang Yao laughed.

"You want to imitate the locomotives of the British and the French?" Fremont seemed to understand, "but I have to remind you that the threshold for train locomotives is very high, and it is not easy to successfully imitate."

"It's not easy to do. It is because of the high threshold that we make money. I hope that the locomotives produced in California can be sold to Europe in the future." Liang Yao walked into the warehouse where the track materials were stored, and said to Fremont, "Look Look at the difference in these tracks in the warehouse."

Fremont observed the rails stored in the warehouse curiously. The first thing Fremont noticed was that there were actually steel rails among the rail materials.

"This is? Steel? You prodigal son, you want to use steel to lay the track? It's not like you have money!"

Fremont almost jumped up. What kind of company is this? It uses precious steel to lay the track.

According to the original historical process, the steel rail was only manufactured in 1857.

Compared with rails, steel rails have the advantages of being stronger, having a longer life, and a single rail can be manufactured longer.

Of course, the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, steel is expensive.

Limited by the steel output of this era, the cost of laying rails is extremely high, and even if the rails are laid regardless of the cost, California does not have enough steel for Liang Yaohuo.

Liang Yao now has 52 tons of steel in stock. Even if all of them are used to lay tracks, they can only lay more than 1 mile of railway.

And California uses steel for more than just laying railroad tracks.

"I would like to use all steel rails to lay the railway, but the current steel output limits my performance." Liang Yao said with some helplessness, "These steel rails are used for experiments and comparisons with the rails. The difference between San Francisco and Sacramento The railway between the two must still be laid with rails."

After reading the materials, Fremont left the warehouse and walked to the experimental rails laid in front of the warehouse. He squatted down and observed these rails curiously.

The rail has a wide and flat bottom surface, which can be easily fixed on the sleeper; the upper end surface of the rail has an excellent arc transition, which can fit well with the slope of the wheel.

This kind of rail is the rail that Liang Yao imitated based on the mature railroad track of later generations.

However, limited by the strength of materials and craftsmanship, the strength of these rails is far from meeting the standards of later generations, but it was certainly sufficient in the 1850s.

Fremont had never seen this shape of rails before, and it was an eye-opener for Fremont.

"You made this kind of rail?" Fremont looked at Liang Yao and asked.

"To be precise, I provided the engineers with ideas and drawings, and they manufactured the rails based on my ideas. Experiments have proved that this rail is a relatively successful rail." Liang Yao called the chief engineer of the California Railway Company. Devore.

"DeVoe, you explain the track to your senator."

The chief engineer of the California Railway Company is a Belgian. He originally worked for the famous Belgian Cockerill Company, which was the first company in Belgium to manufacture steam locomotives. Later, Devo was dug into the Moherk and Hudson Railway. company.

Last year, Devo was hired by Liang Yaohua from the Moherk and Hudson Railway Company to the California Railway Company.

"Your Excellency, there are currently the following types of tracks in the UK and Europe. One is the T-shaped track, but the lower end of the T-shaped track is very small and not stable enough. It needs to be fixed with a special metal base to increase stability. Undoubtedly increased costs.

Another type of rail is a double-ended rail. When one side is worn out, it can be used in reverse. However, turning the rail over requires a huge labor cost.

The last type is the "I"-shaped rail that Boss Liang said. It is very simple and can be fixed on the sleepers with spikes more conveniently. The disadvantage is that it is not strong.However, using steel rails can solve the strength problem. "

Devore explained to Fremont very seriously.

"However, the track you saw just now is still a railway track rather than a steel track. Due to the strength of the material, we had to make some compromises. However, this track, I can assure you, at least in the United States, is absolutely first-class track."

When it comes to the railroad tracks in America, Ward has a look of contempt in his eyes.

Ward's disdain for American railroad tracks also has a reason.

At the same time, the frequency of train derailments and accidents in the United States was much higher than that in Europe.

Ward figured out why, back in his days at the Moherk and Hudson Railroad.

That is, although the United States has laid more than [-] miles of railways in the past two decades, this data has surpassed most European countries and has become an out-and-out railway power.

In fact, behind these data is a large number of shoddy and substandard railways. The low quality of American railways made Ward dumbfounded.

Not to mention the low quality of the spikes produced by American railroad companies, the railroad companies that can actually make spikes for railroads are considered very conscientious railroad companies.

Many railway companies don't even put spikes directly, and the sleepers are placed on the ground very randomly, without heavy compaction, without considering the actual terrain conditions.

Even in the design of the curve, in order to reduce the construction cost, the turning rate was not fully considered, and the height of the outer guide rail was not increased.

All in all, the laying of railroads in the United States is more concerned with the mileage and quantity of railroads than with the quality of railroads.

Ward, who had just arrived at the time, felt very incredible that these inferior railways could be put into use.

He also understood why the American Railroad had such a high accident rate.

Ward had raised this issue with the Moherk and Hudson Railroad Company, but the company's executives were more willing to spend their minds on how to build better locomotives than on the railroad tracks, rather than on the tracks.

Because they believe that manufacturing more advanced locomotives can attract more people's attention, which is more conducive to the promotion of the company's image and attract more passengers.

Therefore, no company intends to focus on building high-quality railway tracks. It was not until Ward came to the California Railway that it changed Ward's view of the American Railroad.

It turns out that in the remote California of the United States, there are such far-sighted railroad company leaders.

"You seem to have a disdain for the American railroads."

Ward's attitude toward the American Railroad made Fremont uncomfortable.

"Except for future railroads laid by the California Railroad."

In this regard, Ward did not deny it, he said to Fremont.

"Senator, with all due respect, I sincerely invite you to get on board and experience our company's new trains and tracks. I think that after experiencing it, you will understand why Mr. Liang has postponed the construction date of the San Francisco and Sacramento Railway. .”

　In the last few chapters about farming, the data has dropped significantly, but the plot of farming has to be written. If you don’t write it, it will be a climax later. It turns out advanced train locomotives out of thin air and a lot of steel, which is also baffling. , So proficiency is thankless, but I still decided to write.

　　The author was born as a liberal arts student, and has little knowledge of finance and science and engineering in college. To write this kind of plot, I can only check the information and insist on writing, and the update speed cannot be improved.

　　This chapter was originally written in the afternoon. After reading it myself, I was not satisfied and rewrote it. I hope everyone will forgive me. After all, I can see that the readers here have spent real money, and we still have to ensure the quality and be responsible to everyone.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)