1850 American Gold Tycoon.

Chapter 143 The Herald

"Honored!"

Fremont is very interested in experiencing trains designed and manufactured by his own railway company.

But before boarding the train, Fremont still observed the train locomotive curiously.

The train boldly adopts the novel design of 4-4-0, and the locomotive is also larger than the locomotives seen in Fremont in the east, and it looks full of power.

In front of the round locomotive is a cast iron obstacle remover, which is a feature of trains in this period. It can push livestock and obstacles entering the track out of the track to clear obstacles for the train to run.

There are also two huge whale oil lamps hanging in front of the locomotive. The function of these two large lamps is not to provide illumination for the driver of the train, but for people traveling at night to see the train.

It's just that it's morning, so there's no need to light a lamp.

What surprised Fremont was that the locomotive had a spacious and comfortable cab.

It was originally invented by the British to provide a special cab for train drivers. Later, British gentlemen felt that train drivers should not enjoy a comfortable cab, so they canceled the cab for train drivers.

The front and carriages of the train are fully enclosed, with windows that can be opened and closed freely.

"How many times is it better to experience it yourself, Fremont, get in the car."

Liang Yao said to Fremont.

Fremont nodded and boarded the train with Liang Yao.

"Sit tight, gentlemen, I will be your driver for this train."

Ward brought two glasses of milk and sandwiches to Liang Yao and Fremont.

"Enjoy your meal, gentlemen."

After speaking, Ward turned and left the car, and came to the cab, where the fireman was shoveling coal into the boiler.

The train had been designed and manufactured by Ward and the engineers of the California Railroad Company, and he had lost count of how many improvements he had made in experiments.

Black smoke billowed from the chimney of the train, followed by a burst of white steam, and the train roared. The steam monster started slowly and drove on the 1-mile-long circular experimental track.

The train carriage used in the experiment is a first-class train carriage, which is very spacious, and the seats are soft and warm fur seats, which are very comfortable to sit on.

The early train carriages in Europe and the United States were born out of carriage carriages. There are two main types of carriage carriages, one is British (European) carriage carriages, and the other is American carriage carriages.

The different design concepts of the carriage carriages in the two countries have also been brought to the train carriages.

British (European) train cars tend to divide the train car into a small independent room structure. In order to facilitate passengers to enter and exit quickly, the doors are set on both sides of the car.

The American train carriage is a large single room with an aisle in the middle, the doors are set at the front and back of the carriage, and there is a small terrace with a small ladder at the front and back of the carriage for passengers to enter and exit.

This train carriage was designed by Liang Yao himself. In order to accommodate more passengers, the overall design of the interior of the carriage adopts the design of an American carriage, but the doors are set on both sides of the carriage to facilitate the passengers in the carriage to get on and off.

The height of the train carriage is about 8 feet 2 inches (2.5m). Even if there are whale oil lamps hanging on it, you don’t have to worry about touching your head unless you are more than 2 meters tall. In this era, there are people who are taller than [-] meters. Very few.

At this time, many American railway companies lowered the height of the carriages in order to reduce the weight of the carriages, which annoyed some tall passengers.

There is a relatively spacious aisle in the middle of the carriage for the passage of dining cars.

Dining cars on trains are nothing new. As early as 1835, the American railway company had a dining car service to provide fast food and drinks to passengers on the train.

What is strange is that this train is equipped with a special kitchen to prepare fresh food for passengers, which is rare in the large eastern railway companies.

Only the trains on a few long-distance routes are equipped with kitchens, but the quality of the meals is hard to say, and the sanitation of the kitchens is also very doubtful, because Fremont has eaten strange things from the meals provided by the trains.

Liang Yao and Fremont sat opposite each other, and began to enjoy their breakfast today on the train.

Liang Yao, who has been on a modern train, has been spoiled by the comfort of the modern train. On this kind of antique train, Liang Yao has no sense of experience at all.

But Fremont is different. As the train accelerates, Fremont seems to have discovered a new world.

The speed of the train is definitely not slow, and Fremont estimates that after accelerating, the train has now reached a staggering 40 miles (64 kilometers) per hour.

"It's really fast and steady."

Fremont looked at the half-drinked milk, only a small amount of milk spilled from under the quilt.

"It's not fast enough, nor stable enough." Liang Yao, who had just had a full meal, still felt that it was not enough.

"Our company's locomotives and carriages are already good enough, and the design is also very unique, don't forget to apply for a patent." Fremont reminded Liang Yaodao, "Be careful of commercial spies from other railway companies stealing our technological achievements!"

"I've filed patents with the California and U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices, and I've designed a sleeper car for long-distance routes, but the car we're on now is between San Francisco and Sacramento. The route is designed so there is no need for sleeping berths."

Liang Yao had already thought of this point.

Especially sleeper cars, according to the original historical track, the American Railway Company first adopted sleeper cars until 1855.

In 1855, the Illinois Central Railway and the Burlington Railroad were the first to introduce sleeping cars, which soon became popular throughout the United States.

"You always have a lot of novel ideas in your head." Fremont said with a very happy mood, "I have a hunch."

"What hunch?"

Liang Yao drank the last bit of milk in the glass.

"You're going to be America's first billionaire."

Fremont said very seriously.

He knew very well what this avant-garde design of carriages and locomotives meant, and Liang Yao once again found a huge business opportunity.

It took Liang Yao only one year to become a multi-millionaire in the United States from nothing. With his ability and vision, the United States will usher in its first billionaire within ten years at the most.

Compared with Liang Yao, the histories of the fortunes of the two multi-millionaires, Astor and Vanderbilt, seemed mediocre and bleak.

"You underestimate me too." Liang Yao said without humility at all.

Liang Yao knocked on the bell on the table. This bell was originally used to call the crew on the carriage, but now it is used by Liang Yao to order the driver to stop.

After receiving Liang Yao's order, the train slowed down, continued on the circular experimental track with inertia for a while, and finally stopped.

"Two gentlemen, how is your experience?"

After the train stabilized, Ward with a soot-faced face came out of the cab of the locomotive, excitedly asking two special passengers about their riding experience.

After more than four months of improvement, the tracks, locomotives and even the carriages designed and built by the California Railway Company are of the first-class level in Europe, and even the British gentleman who is known for being picky can find no faults.

"If you ask me, I'm sure I'm not satisfied." Liang Yao said with a smile, "You should ask Mr. Fremont for advice."

Ward has long been used to this extremely picky boss, and Ward looked at Fremont who was smiling.

"Your Excellency Fremont, please also point out our shortcomings."

"I don't know how far the railway transportation technology in continental Europe has developed, but in the United States, this ride experience is top-notch." Fremont said with great satisfaction, "This is the most enjoyable ride experience I have ever had. I never thought that traveling by train could be so comfortable.”

"To tell you the truth, this technology is not inferior in Europe." Ward said happily.

"I have a question, and I would like to ask Mr. Ward to explain it to me. Why can our train be so stable when it is running so fast?" Fremont asked curiously while looking at the circular experimental track. Said, "Especially when turning, I didn't feel much shaking of the car body."

"It's very simple. The suspension system we designed is better at shock absorption, and our rails are laid very well." Ward walked to the turn of the rails and pointed to the rails.

"In terms of curve design, we adopted a parabolic form for connection and increased the height of the outer guide rails. This design allows the train to remain stable when turning and prevent accidents from derailing."

Fremont pondered for a while, and then said to Liang Yao: "It's better that you are more thoughtful, I'm too impatient."

"Sometimes it's not a good thing to be too picky. Now that the relevant technology is mature, I think the railroad between San Francisco and Sacramento can also start."

Liang Yao said that the performance of Cal Railroad's engineering team has exceeded his expectations.

"Ward, what is the design speed of this train?"

Liang Yao asked Ward about the speed of the train.

"If you calculate it based on a load of 35 tons, the speed is about 56 miles ([-] kilometers) per hour." Ward replied.

"very good."

Liang Yao was quite satisfied with this speed.

Fremont was sure that when he was on the train, the train must have been traveling at a top speed of over forty miles an hour, but that was when the train was empty.

It can still maintain a speed of about 100 miles per hour with a load of 35 tons, which is already a very good result.

Whether it is passenger or freight, this locomotive has a lot to offer.

"Does it have a name?"

Fremont asked, pointing to the locomotive.

"At present, it only has an experiment number, and it is waiting for the two gentlemen to give it a name." Ward said.

"Let's call it Pioneer." Liang Yao thought for a while and said.

(End of this chapter)