The train driver in the courtyard

It was almost evening when we came back from the locomotive depot.

Snowflakes were falling in the sky again.

Li Aiguo tightened his collar, clutched the cold handlebars with both hands, and raced along the streets full of era characteristics.

Walking all the way, you can feel the environment and atmosphere unique to this era.

When we entered the alley, we saw smoke rising from the roofs of every house.

These green smoke floated gently in the air, gradually dissipating into the dusk. This sight makes people feel extremely comfortable and relaxed, as if all their worries have been taken away by the gentle smoke.

It's not yet dinner time, everyone has lit a fire, and it seems that they are preparing to light the fire bed.

Materials are scarce these days, and many people are reluctant to pay a few cents per pound for coal, so the time to start burning the kang is also particular.

If there are elderly people at home, the fever should start earlier.

As the saying goes, "If a silly boy sleeps on a cool bed, it depends on his vitality." People can't help but feel cold when they get older.

A discerning person can tell at a glance whose children are filial or not.

There was a damper at the door of the house early, and a cotton curtain was hung, and the windows were papered tightly with white paper.

Touch the heated kang and your hands will feel warm. The old man's face is good, his complexion is full, and he talks energetically to others.

Everyone praised the sons and daughters-in-law for their filial piety.

There are those who are heartless and don’t serve the old man food and don’t even heat the kang. The pot is clear and the stove is cold, and the kang is cold in the middle of the night. If you catch a cold, you won't eat much, and the old man won't be able to survive for a few days.

There is a saying that goes well: "No matter how good your child is when you are a child, if you love him and despise him, he will pull you down on the cold bed sooner or later."

Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru are both young people. They do exercises in bed every night. Since they are warm, they naturally don't need to light the hot bed so early.

Aunt Liu's house had a fever early.

It's just that now every household is burning a fire bed, and it seems that a cold wave is coming.

Thinking of this, Li Aiguo was also anxious to go home and burn the kang, and the speed of his bicycle became a little faster.

Entering the yard, you can hear the noise of the third uncle's chickens and dogs jumping around.

"We can't stay here anymore, I'm leaving, I'm leaving, that's all."

Not a moment.

Yan Jiecheng threw on his clothes and ran out of the house angrily.

When Yan Jiecheng saw Li Aiguo walking in, he looked a little embarrassed, lowered his head and ran away without saying a word.

"Let him go, let him go, now he can earn a salary, his wings are strong!" Yan Bugui walked out of the house angrily.

The third aunt felt sorry for her child and wanted to hold Yan Jiecheng, but her legs and feet were a little slow, so she could only watch Yan Jiecheng leave.

"Old Yan, my child doesn't want to get married yet, why do you keep forcing him!" The third aunt stamped her feet and complained to Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui made a loud noise: "What's wrong with Liu Yuhua? Isn't he just a little stronger? Being strong makes it easier to have children. Look at the general grid, giving birth to seven or eight children is just like playing."

Isn't it just that I am nine years older? I know how to care for people when I am older.

As the saying goes, if a female college student holds a gold brick, our Yan Jiecheng can hold three gold bricks! "

"You, you"

The two were arguing, and when they saw Li Aiguo approaching, they quickly stopped arguing.

The speed of changing faces is almost the same as learning the special skill of changing faces.

"Patriotism is back. I heard it's going to snow heavily. Are you burning the kang?"

"Isn't it time to go back and serve?"

These three uncles are really shameless. They make noisy noises at home, but they still pretend to be fine in front of outsiders.

Li Aiguo said hello and pushed his bicycle towards the backyard.

The third aunt's mumbling voice came from behind again: "Old man, it's better now. Jie Cheng ran away. You can only generate electricity by yourself today."

Recently, because of Yan Jiecheng's blind date, the Yan family has been quarreling frequently, and everyone is used to it.

Don't mention the Yan family's affairs.

When Li Aiguo walked to the middle courtyard, he saw Liu Haizhong standing on the flower pond, with a big belly, and said to the residents who were washing clothes: "I just received instructions from the leaders that there may be a heavy snowstorm in the next few days, so, big guy They all have to light up the kang."

Xu Damao said angrily: "Second uncle, you are a worker, where did you get the instructions from the leader? You didn't hear the news from the radio box!"

Liu Haizhong was trying to pull the tiger's skin to raise the banner, but Xu Damao exposed it, and he was so angry that he cursed his mother.

This courtyard is really lively.

Li Aiguo shook his head and turned back to his home.

At this time, the fire kang was burning under the busy work of Chen Xueru and He Yuyu, and the room was warm.

He Yuyu was busy at the stove for most of the day, his face was stained with soot and his hair was unkempt.

Seeing Li Aiguo come in, he was a little dissatisfied: "Brother Aiguo, you came back so late even though you knew we had to light up the kang today. You are not considerate of my sister-in-law at all."

Good guy, who is your brother?
Chen Xueru brought hot water, grabbed He Yuyu's hand, and rubbed it for her.

"Your brother has been too busy at work in the locomotive depot recently. Both of us can do this job. Aren't we now advocating equality between men and women? We can't just demand equality in status but not equality in work."

Regarding Chen Xueru's idea, Li Aiguo gave a thumbs up in his heart.

He Yuyu was just talking about it. After washing his hands, he turned around and ran away in the name of not disturbing the two of them in their world.

Chen Xueru went into the kitchen to cook, and Li Aiguo helped light the fire.

After meal.

Because it was the first day to burn the kang, Li Aiguo had to clean the bed surface.

The quilt was removed and replaced with a piece of tiger skin. The tiger skin was tanned and sewn into a mattress by Chen Xueru.

Spreading on the kang is warm and comfortable, and has a bit of a cottage style.

An extra foot and a half high "wall skirt" was posted around the kang surface. On the edge of the dado, use a small paintbrush to draw parallel double grids using a ruler.

After finishing everything, both of them were so tired that they were sweating profusely and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Li Aiguo lay on the bed and patted the tiger's skin: "Mrs. Yazhai, wait for the master to sleep."

"You're the only one who's out of shape!" Chen Xueru rolled her eyes cutely, picked up her pink fist and lightly punched the rough man on the chest.

Li Aiguo clenched his fist and pulled it, and Chen Xueru fell on him.

After Chen Xueru got married, her body became fuller and plumper due to adequate nutrition, and Li Aiguo couldn't put it down.

Chen Xueru, whose cheeks were red with embarrassment, had a low smile on her lips and whispered, "Then...just...come."

inside the house.

The heat is steaming.

night.

Quietly.

Pieces of goose feather snow fell silently from the sky, and the ground gradually turned white.

early morning.

Li Aiguo was awakened from his sleep by the sound of children playing. He took off the watch on the bedside table and took a look at it.

"It's only after six o'clock, but these kids are really making a lot of noise."

Chen Xueru was busy with breakfast when she heard the noise and walked in from outside. She said excitedly: "Brother Patriot, it's snowing heavily. Get up quickly. Yuyu is calling you to help her build a snowman!"

Heavy snow?
In this day and age, it is common for Beijing to snow in winter, nothing unusual.

Chen Xueru could describe it as heavy snow.

How big should this snow be?
Li Aiguo suddenly woke up, put on a cotton jacket and trousers, a sheepskin jacket, and large-toe protective leather shoes, wrapped himself tightly, and rushed out of the house.

Just one glance and he was stunned.

The outside turned into a vast white world.

The heavy snow is like goose feathers, flying one after another, covering the sky and the sun. Pieces of snowflakes fell from the sky, like broken pearls, dyeing the world silvery white.

Li Aiguo walked out of the house and stepped on the snow. The snow had already reached his calves and was seventy or eighty centimeters thick.

There used to be several steps in front of the house in the courtyard, but now they are all submerged.

Several families on relatively low ground were shoveling snow at their doorsteps.

The group of children were having a great time playing in the heavy snow with shovels. They were not building snowmen, but digging tunnels.

Well, that’s right, tunneling through the snow.

Such a heavy snow would be called a once-in-a-thousand-year snowfall in future generations.

As the saying goes, snow heralds a good year, and snow is a good sign, but Li Aiguo's mood is heavy.

Although steam trains are not afraid of wind and snow, everything has its limits. Such heavy snow will definitely affect the operation of the train.

At this time, the residents all got up, picked up shovels and shovels, and braved the heavy snow to clear the snow on the ground.

Zhang Gangzhu was busy for a while, then ran over with a shovel, wiped his sweat and said: "Patriotic brothers, Aunt Zhang's family in the courtyard next door has no strong laborers, and now the door is blocked by snow."

"Let's go, gather the members of the patrol team, let's help her clear it out first."

Li Aiguo didn't waste any time and blew the whistle. Soon seven or eight young men followed him to the compound next door.

There is strength in numbers, and it only took twenty minutes to clear a path that could be entered and exited.

Li Aiguo led his team members to help those residents with few manpower clear the snow.

Seeing that it was almost time to go to work, he told Zhang Gangzhu to let the team members who were not working today continue to help, and then returned home.

At this time, the Jia family also got up.

Seeing the heavy snow blocking the door, Jia Zhang was in trouble.

"Qin Huairu, hurry up and clear the snow, otherwise Dongxu will go to work later!"

Qin Huairu walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron and said with a smile: "Mom, I still have to cook. You and Dongxu will shovel it first."

Jia Zhang had no choice.

If they don't shovel the snow, their family really can't go out.

She held the shovel and muttered: "The wife you married is really lazy."

Jia Dongxu smoked a cigarette, yawned, and nodded noncommittally.

"Mom, you are right, Qin Huairu is just a lazy woman."

These words were like a poisonous snake getting into Qin Huairu's ears,
She felt depressed when she saw Li Aiguo leading a group of young people shoveling snow in the courtyard.

She regretted it a little.

In these days, there is no such thing as sweeping away the snow.

After their own snow is cleared, residents take the initiative to help their neighbors clear the snow.

Coupled with the help of the voluntary patrol team, when Li Aiguo walked out of the house with his canvas bag after dinner, every household had a "tunnel" leading to the door.

Being in it is like visiting the ice and snow world in Harbin, and it's free.

The street was also cleared by cleaners and comrades from the neighborhood office.

Seeing Director Wang leading a group of officers working hard in the heavy snow, Li Aiguo said hello and sped away on his bicycle.

Looking at Li Aiguo's back, Director Wang scratched his head: "Huo, these four-wheeled bicycles are not afraid of slipping."

When riding on streets covered with ice and snow, in addition to skill, luck is also important. The ground is extremely smooth, and it will drift if you are not careful.

Along the way, Li Aiguo saw seven or eight bicycle traffic accidents, in which bicycles hit people, bicycles hit bicycles, and bicycles got into ditches.

He was used to it.

But when he saw Yan Bugui, Li Aiguo couldn't help but take a breath.

The old teacher actually put the bicycle on his shoulders.

I was walking unsteadily at this time, and almost slipped several times because of the ice and snow on the ground.

Click and hold.

Li Aiguo gently pressed the bicycle brake, and the bicycle stopped steadily in front of Yan Bugui.

"Third uncle, what are you doing? Juggling?"

"It's patriotic."

The bicycle weighed seventy or eighty pounds. Yan Bugui was so tired that he took the opportunity to put the bicycle down to catch his breath.

"Isn't the ground too slippery? I'm afraid the bike will fall." Yan Bugui explained with a smile.

Li Aiguo: "."

He didn't ask Yan Bugui why he had to ride a bicycle today.

the reason is simple.

Yan Bugui suffers from the stinking problem of some literate people in these days. They think they are literate and can be superior to others.

In this regard, Yan Bugui is very frugal. He eats stick noodle porridge every day and wears the same clothes for more than ten years.

But he bought a radio box, a bicycle, and later the first TV set in the compound.

Radio boxes and bicycles are his face.

Li Aiguo was in a hurry to go to work and did not see Yan Bugui off. After saying hello, he got on his bicycle and drove away.

Yan Bugui carried his bicycle on his back and walked along the ice and snow road to school.

Although tired, my heart is warm.

Not everyone can afford a bicycle these days.

Because of the blizzard, the locomotive depot was noisy, and the employees were all busy shoveling the snow.

When Li Aiguo came to the passenger transport workshop, Captain Bai and Cao Wenzhi had already arrived, and the two were discussing driving matters.

Seeing Li Aiguo coming, Cao Wenzhi waved to him: "Aiguo, I just informed you that the snow along the railway is 70 to 80 centimeters, so let's slow down and drive slowly. The maximum speed is limited to 30 per hour."

Li Aiguo handed Cao Wen a cigarette directly. Just as he was about to say something, the phone in the workshop rang.

After Captain Bai answered the phone, his face turned ugly.

"A train stalled just after it left the capital. It may have been caused by too thick snow. Now the comrades of the rescue team have set off with maintenance workers, and the section is now closed. We still have to wait for notifications from the station before we can run. .”

Li Aiguo had long expected that something like this would happen.

Most of the trains in the locomotive depot are old and second-hand, and they are almost like an old man. He takes two steps to catch his breath.

It is really difficult for them to run in 70 to 80 centimeters of snow like young men.

unless
An idea suddenly appeared in Li Aiguo's mind.

At this time, the rescue team office was very busy.

Although the train did not derail and the rescue team did not need to be mobilized, the rescue team needed to send maintenance workers to carry parts and brave the wind and snow to repair the train.

In just one morning, three trains were down, affecting the normal operation of seven or eight trains on three main lines.

Moreover, this blizzard will continue for two more days. Who knows what accidents will happen.

"Commander Duan, I know you are anxious, but I advise you not to be anxious. The snow is getting heavier and heavier now. It is no longer easy for us to send maintenance technicians."

Ignoring the roar coming from the phone, after hanging up the phone, the rescue captain lit a cigarette.

Looking at the heavy snow outside the window, a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Since the reorganization of the rescue team, based on Driver Li's suggestion, a formal system was adopted and a lot of equipment was added. The rescue team suddenly became arrogant and had never been so embarrassed.

But he also knew that now that the city was closed due to heavy snow, the railway had become the only means of transportation.

If it is not cleared as soon as possible, not only passengers will not be able to be transported, but even supplies entering Beijing will not be able to be delivered.

In that case, the problem becomes serious.

"Team Leader Wang, I'll give you one hour to repair the 1267 train! Otherwise, you have to come to see me with your head high."

"Lao Zhang, even if you climb, you still have to climb onto the 172 train for me and move the train away."

At this moment, a voice came from outside the door.

"Brother, what's going on? It's imminent. I just walked to the door of the repair workshop when I heard your shout."

Rescue team leader Liu Qingsong saw Li Aiguo and asked the team leaders to act quickly.

Then let Li Aiguo sit on the chair.

"Patriotism is not burning my eyebrows, it's burning my butt. I'm sitting on the stove now."

The rescue team leader pinched his eyebrows in annoyance: "It's snowing endlessly, and one train after another is passing by on the road. I'm worried. Look, there are big blisters on the corners of my mouth."

Good guy, there are a few bright blisters on the lips of the rescue captain, as if they were inlaid with pearls.

Li Aiguo said: "Brother, that's why I'm here today. I remember that if it snows heavily over there, Lao Maozi will send out track snow plows first to clear the tracks."

"I've heard about this too."

The rescue team leader sighed and said, "It's just that people are wealthy and can afford rail snow plows. We don't even have enough locomotives. How can we afford rail snow plows?"

"If we can't afford it, we can save one. I've studied that thing. It's actually a large obstacle avoider hung in front of the locomotive. The design is relatively simple, and we can make it ourselves."

As soon as these words came out.

The rescue captain's eyes suddenly lit up.

If it had been anyone else, he might have hesitated for a while, but Li Aiguo had created a furnace not long ago and was praised by Lao Maozi experts.

Unconsciously, he has become an authority in the maintenance department - an authority who is good at using simple methods to solve big problems.

"Patriot, are you sure?"

"Sure, I've even finished the drawings!"

Li Aiguo handed over the drawings.

Although the rescue team leader couldn't understand, he still checked it in a ceremonial manner.

"I'm going to find Chief Duan now!"

The rescue captain knew very well that once the tracks were cleared, the train failure rate would be greatly reduced.

Duan Chang Xing is currently in charge of the dispatching room, and his head is full.

Seeing the railway line, the lifeline of the capital, painted with red paint, he felt very melancholy.

Just now, he received a call from the grain distribution center. Several trains transporting grain were blocked outside the capital.

The sky is big and the earth is big, and the full belly is the biggest.

At this time, when he learned about Li Aiguo's orbital snow plow plan, he agreed without hesitation.

Because of the experience from previous projects, making the snowplow was particularly fast this time.

All workers in the renovation workshop were dispatched. The staff of the Materials Department braved the heavy snow to transport the materials needed across the capital. Two forward locomotives were sent into the maintenance workshop.

It only took one morning to complete a complete set of snow clearing equipment.

Looking at the strange gadget, Duan Chang Xing frowned: "Patriot, is this gadget really useful?"

"Good job!"

Li Aiguo is very confident.

Although he didn't use the system this time, as a master of mechanical design, wouldn't it be easy to make such a simple gadget?
Of course, the orbital snowplow made by Li Aiguo wanted to be simple.

It's just a big snow shovel with a sharp corner on the front, which can shovel the snow on the rails to both sides of the rails like an icebreaker.

Due to the emergency, forward locomotive No. 1651 and your forward locomotive No. 8172 were equipped with snow plows.

Then after adding fuel, it docked at the station.

As usual, Li Aiguo will personally drive No. 1651 locomotive to clear the snow along the Beijing-Kowloon Line. The destination is Baoding, a distance of more than kilometers.

At this time, the maintenance crews had completely overhauled the locomotive. Li Aiguo picked up the maintenance hammer and inspected each link before boarding the locomotive.

Accompanied by two whistles, the snow-clearing train left the locomotive depot, leaving black smoke.

The sky is covered with heavy snow, and as far as the ground can be seen, everything is white.

A black train broke into this snowy scene, making the painting style weird.

As the train moved forward, two black railway tracks appeared in the picture, dividing the snow-white world into two halves.

Afterwards, trains drove along the railway tracks in the snowy scene. The whole painting was less poetic and more like human fireworks.

The track snow plow was surprisingly easy to use, and most of the snow was shoveled wherever it went.

Without the snow, the train resumed normal operation.

Seeing the miraculous effect of the simple snow plow, the Beijing General Administration got busy overnight, modified fifteen track snow plows, and started working along several main lines.

Li Aiguo's job these days has also become a full-time snow shovel driver.

When it was time to eat, because the train could not stop, Li Aiguo took out the copper pot he had prepared and sat on the stove.

It was steaming inside the driver's building.

Boil water in a copper pot, fill it with coarse salt, red pepper, butter, Chinese cabbage, vermicelli, dried tofu and other ingredients.

This is how train hot pot is made.

Lao Zheng couldn't help but put a chopstick of Chinese cabbage into his mouth, his eyes slightly narrowed in enjoyment.

“It’s really a pleasure to eat hot pot on the train in winter.”

There was nothing but snow on the railway track, so Liu Qingquan, the co-driver, no longer needed to keep a lookout, so he came over and picked up a piece of tofu.

Li Aiguo picked up the chopsticks and tapped the hot pot gently, feeling that something was wrong.

By the way, where are the bandits?

The snow-plowing train ran on the railway track for three days and three nights without encountering any bandits. Li Aiguo attributed the reason to the absence of the county magistrate's wife.

You see, Lao Zheng and Liu Qingquan look more ugly than the other, enough to be gangsters.

Three days later, the snow stopped and the sky cleared.

The archives room of the Beijing Railway Administration.

A typewriter clicked.

The printed words gradually appeared on the snow-white paper.

“In the winter of 1956, Beijing was hit by a heavy snowstorm and railway transportation was blocked.

Worker Li Aiguo designed a simple snow shovel.

The Beijing Railway General Administration and its affiliated locomotive depot dispatched snowplows more than 200 times to clear snow on the railway lines in a timely manner, effectively ensuring railway transportation work. "(End of chapter)