The train driver in the courtyard

(The Yangtze River Bridge in 57, the towering tower is the bridgehead)

In the following days, Li Aiguo and Lao Mao inspected the bridge several times and adjusted the defense plan.

Additional patrol boats were added to the water, guardrails were built outside the bridgehead, and 500 guards were mobilized as reserve personnel to garrison both sides of the river.

The bridge's defense level rose sharply.

The defense is ready, just waiting for the enemy.

Just as expected, the attack did not come. Zhou Wenzhong was inevitably a little anxious, but Lao Mao and Li Aiguo were very calm.

They knew that the enemy must be watching this side secretly.

Moreover, Li Aiguo now has something important to do, which is to participate in the driving test work of the railway bridge.

On the third day after arriving in Hanyang, Li Aiguo and the 131 driver team, as well as comrades from the Jiang'an Locomotive Depot, attended a meeting held by the Wuhan Bridge Engineering Bureau (the predecessor of today's China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group).

According to the plan of the bridge command, the entire driving test will take three days. The test content includes a full passenger train, a full freight train, and even a train accident and stopping in the middle of the bridge.

"The experimental project has been sent to you. The experiment is related to whether the railway bridge can guarantee safety. I hope you will conduct the experiment according to the plan."

At the meeting, a leader in a gray Zhongshan suit stood on the podium and slowly stated the specific requirements for driving.

He was wearing a pair of round-frame glasses, looking particularly calm, with his hands in his pockets, giving people a gloomy feeling.

Although he tried his best to cover it up, Li Aiguo could still see that one of his legs was shorter than the other, and the pair of leather shoes on his feet must be specially made shoes.

Li Aiguo looked at this person and felt that he looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him.

At this time, Director Xing stood up and said, "Commissioner Liang, don't worry, our train drivers are all experienced drivers and there will be no mistakes."

Commissioner Liang Li Aiguo's eyes suddenly widened.

This person should be the modern decoder, inheritor and protector of ancient Chinese architecture - Liang Sicheng.

Of course, to the general public, the titles of Mr. Liang’s son and Lin Huiyin’s husband may be more famous.

Li Aiguo then remembered that Liang Sicheng was a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Yangtze River Bridge and one of the designers of the bridge.

Liang Sicheng is a very smart and insightful person.

He was a second-generation Beiyang scholar, but he did not pursue a career in government. Instead, through his own efforts, he became a second-generation scholar.

After liberation, those second-generation Beiyang people were swept away.

The Liang family, who did not interfere in political affairs and only focused on academic research, were not affected. Instead, they were valued and had three academicians in the same family.

Lin Huiyin is known as the most talented woman in the Republic of China.

Liang Sicheng is much smarter than Lin Huiyin. He knows that being low-key and studying hard is the long-term path.

Lin Huiyin has no long-term vision at all, and the people she interacts with always lead her into the wrong direction.

Liang Sicheng was elected vice president of the Architectural Society last year and is a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Yangtze River Bridge.

It is only natural for me to preside over today's meeting.

Seeing that Qianmen Locomotive Depot had taken the lead, Section Chief Meng of Jiangan Locomotive Depot was not willing to be outdone.

"Leader, don't worry, Jiang Shan and Liu Dali from our Jiangan Locomotive Depot are both the best train drivers, and they will definitely be able to complete the task."

Section Chief Xing stood up and continued, "Driver Cao and Driver Li from our Qianmen Locomotive Depot are both top-notch train drivers in the country.

They have performed hundreds of operations and have never had a problem.”

"Well, everyone has a mission to accomplish. If you have no objection, let's adjourn the meeting now!"

Seeing that the two were arguing, Liang Sicheng smiled graciously, nodded, and prepared to announce the end of the meeting.

Sudden.

A hand went up in the corner.

"Leader, can I make a small suggestion?"

Liu Dali, a train driver from Jiang'an Locomotive Depot, saw Li Aiguo raise his hand, and his mouth was so surprised that it could almost swallow a duck egg.

brave.

This train driver is really brave.

Do you really think this is the capital city and everyone will take care of you?
Commissioner Liang is a well-connected person who can talk directly with the big guys!
When he saw Li Aiguo raised his hand, Director Xing was so scared that sweat almost broke out on his forehead.

The bridge engineering bureau must have gone through many discussions before finalizing the content of the driving test.

Today's meeting is just a formality. Does Li Aiguo really take it seriously?

Duanchang Xing quickly grabbed Li Aiguo's arm and looked at Liang Sicheng.

"Commissioner Liang, don't listen to this kid. He loves to make trouble."

Seeing that Xing Duanchang was trying to smooth things over, Liu Dali stood up and said in a sarcastic tone, "You have to know where to make trouble. It's too serious to make trouble in such a serious place.

It can be seen that driver Li is a person who does not like to abide by discipline. Such a person is not fit for any important task at all.”

This move was extremely vicious and it directly made the matter worse.

The atmosphere in the conference room suddenly became solemn.

Those leaders and experts were also aware of the conflict between the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and the Jiangan Locomotive Depot, and they all sighed in their hearts at this moment.

This train driver was too young, and he was caught before the competition even started.

To everyone's surprise, Liang Sicheng was not angry but waved his hand instead.

"Today we are in a meeting, so we should speak freely. Comrade Li Aiguo is a front-line driver, responsible for driving the train, so he can express his opinions."

Hearing this, Liu Dali's face turned embarrassed.

But he still said unconvincedly: "He is just a train driver. What good suggestions can he make? Commissioner Liang, you think too highly of him."

Duanchang Meng was also very angry and had no intention of stopping Liu Dali.

Seeing that he was getting more and more outrageous, I had to pull his arm and order him to sit down.

Liang Sicheng's expression did not change at all. He looked at Li Aiguo with a smile and said, "Driver Li, if you have any suggestions, you can bring them up."

Li Aiguo said slowly: “Commissioner Liang, you and the Technical Committee have considered very carefully, and have considered most of the problems in the operation of the train.

However, our railway bridge has two tracks, and I think we should also consider the situation where two trains are running at full speed opposite to each other on the railway bridge. "

After these words were spoken, Liang Sicheng's expression changed slightly.

Technician Zhang from the Technical Committee raised his hand, stood up and said, "Driver Li's considerations are indeed very thoughtful, but we have considered the relative running conditions of the train.

The speed limit on the bridge is 40 kilometers per hour, and at this speed, the two trains will not have much impact on each other and the bridge. "

Liu Dali wanted to refute Li Aiguo just now, but he didn't understand the technology.

Hearing what Zhang Jishi said, he quickly said loudly: "Li Aiguo, do you think that these senior engineers in our project team are better than you, a driver who graduated from a technical school?"

"Of course not. My knowledge reserves are far inferior to those of you here."

Li Aiguo changed the subject and said, "However, when I was driving a train, I encountered strong winds. Whenever two trains met on strong winds, the crosswinds between them were much stronger than usual, which always caused the train bodies to tremble."

"It's a windy day" Technician Zhang had a thoughtful look on his face.

Liu Dali saw that something was wrong: "There aren't so many windy days. Besides, every time the wind speed exceeds level 7, we will issue an early warning and reduce the speed again.

Li Aiguo, I think you are just nitpicking, finding fault with the technicians in the technical committee."

Zhang Jishu waved his hand at him and said, "The bridge is not like the ground. There is no shelter on the river, so the wind is much stronger than on the ground. A force 7 wind is very common."

He suddenly raised his head and looked at Liang Sicheng: "Commissioner Liang, I suggest that we conduct an experiment where trains run at full speed in opposite directions."

"Ah" Liu Dali didn't expect that Technician Zhang would actually betray him, and his face turned as red as a pig's liver.

Captain Meng grabbed his arm.

"Liu Dali, stop messing around!"

Section Chief Meng looked up at Liang Sicheng and the technicians.

"Leaders, don't listen to this kid. He loves to make trouble."

Duan Chang Xing: "."

This seems to be his line just now, right?

He looked at Li Aiguo.

This guy is really amazing. He actually found the loopholes of the technical committee.

Li Aiguo didn't think so much about it, he just wanted to make the bridge safe.

When a train runs on a railway bridge, the probability of an accident occurring is much higher than on flat ground.

In later generations, too many accidents occurred on railway bridges.

The third brother had cheats, and the train also had cheats, but the railway bridge did not have cheats.

On June 1981, 6, a fully loaded and fully trailered Indian train suddenly ran off the track and fell into a turbulent river while passing a bridge in Bihar.

The accident caused the death of 800 people and became the most tragic accident in the history of trains.

On July 1988, 7, the tragedy of an Indian train falling into a river occurred again. A train from Bangalore derailed on a bridge, and the carriage full of passengers fell into the lake under the bridge, killing 8 people and injuring countless others.

On September 2002, 9, an Indian train was traveling in Bihar, northern India, when an accident occurred while crossing a bridge over the Dehabi River, and at least 9-15 carriages derailed.

After the incident, the bridge collapsed and four carriages fell into the river, carrying at least 4 people, while one carriage carrying 250 people completely sank under the water.

A large part of these accidents were caused by unreasonable planning and poor quality of railway bridges.

The bridge has not yet been opened to traffic. Once problems are discovered, there is still a chance to remedy them. Li Aiguo naturally cannot sit idly by.

Liang Sicheng also realized the seriousness of the problem.

Technicians and engineers were immediately organized to conduct research, and combined with Li Aiguo's suggestions, a supplementary experimental plan was finally proposed.

"In order to ensure the safety of the bridge, we have to take an extreme experimental approach.

Suppose there are two trains, each pulled by a twin engine, traveling towards the center of the bridge at the fastest speed.

Both trains braked at the same time.

Assume that at this time, the highway bridge is full of cars traveling at the highest speed and they also brake suddenly;
Suppose that at this time, the biggest storm blew on the Yangtze River, an earthquake occurred in Wu Han, and the horizontal impact of 300 tons in the river hit the bridge pier.

The bridge must be as solid as a rock.”

The experiment can be carried out on a highway bridge filled with cars travelling at top speed and two trains travelling towards each other.

There was no way that these two conditions would be met: a storm on the Yangtze River and an earthquake in Wu Han.

We can only make inferences based on the bridge data obtained through experiments.

Liang Sicheng reported the experimental plan to the chief designer Mao Lao.

After discussing with several Russian experts, Mao Lao made a decision. "Notify the Bridge Engineering Bureau and the Railway Corps that we will conduct a large-scale experiment on the Yangtze River Bridge tomorrow.

Since the experiment was submitted by Commissioner Liang's team, Commissioner Liang should be responsible for it."

Liang Sicheng returned to the bureau, shook Li Aiguo's hand tightly and said, "Driver Li, thank you very much this time."

Liang Sicheng studied ancient architecture and was an architectural historian, but his actual design skills were not very good.

From the beginning, they wanted him to design the Great Hall, but they failed to come up with a plan.

This time, when he participated in the technical committee, most of his work was on the exterior design of the bridge, which was not particularly valued.

Now that he can participate in large-scale experiments and has received attention from the Engineering Bureau and praise from Mr. Mao, Liang Sicheng seems particularly happy.

“Commissioner Liang, you are too polite. I just made a small suggestion based on the practical considerations of front-line workers.

It was you and the technicians and engineers of the technical committee who actually planned the driving test."

Li Aiguo expressed his heartfelt respect for this master who insisted on protecting ancient buildings.

Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin witnessed the Japanese air raids burning down many buildings before liberation.

In order to protect historical relics, they used their own hands to draw nearly a hundred ancient temple ruins in an era without computers and CAD, leaving behind valuable architectural data.

After liberation, the capital was going to develop and the ancient city wall faced the fate of being demolished, which triggered a heated discussion between Liang Sicheng and his wife and Guo.

Guo advocates that the new world must have a new atmosphere and the old walls must be abandoned.

Liang Sicheng and his wife, both enthusiasts of ancient architecture, insist on protecting historical sites and antiques, believing that they are treasures bestowed by history on mankind.

In the end, due to various considerations, the old wall had to be demolished.

Liang Sicheng was a naive person. After learning about this, he said bitterly in front of [Mr.] and the old Russian expert: "Fifty years later, you will regret it."

Liang Sicheng's approach is extremely dangerous.

So much so that the gentleman had to recite a line from Li Shangyin's poem meaningfully: "The sunset is infinitely beautiful, but it is near dusk," to remind him.

However, Liang and Lin did not care about their situation. With their strong suggestions, they finally saved Tuancheng.

Liang's persistence, which is unique to intellectuals, won the respect of worker Li Aiguo.

Liang Sicheng had thousands of shortcomings and was naive, typical of intellectuals, but his deep patriotism was undeniable, and that was the real reason why [Mr.] was so tolerant of him.

Even his lame leg was broken when he was hit by a car of a high-ranking official of the Beiyang government during the campaign against the "Twenty-One Demands".
The intellectuals of a nation are the symbol of the wisdom and conscience of this nation and the soul of this nation.

They stick to their bottom line in the secular world and are not shaken by power and status. They are the backbone of the nation.

“As mentioned above, we must come from labor and go back to labor.

Patriotic comrade, many of the suggestions you put forward seem to be obvious.

But only frontline workers like you can summarize it in actual work. This is worth learning from. "

Liang Sicheng had a good impression of Li Aiguo, so he took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to him.

"This is my address in the capital. I'm alone now after returning to the capital, and I'm looking for someone to chat with."

Li Aiguo then remembered that Lin Huiyin had passed away the year before last, and Liang Sicheng was now alone.

"Haha, don't worry, there's plenty of meat!" Liang Sicheng was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

Although Liang Sicheng had the protection of Mr., he still suffered from great pressure.

After the death of his lifelong friend, he fell into depression.

On weekdays, when talking to those engineers, I have to be very secretive.

In front of the worker Li Aiguo, he had no such concerns at all.

"I heard that every train driver will kill people. Come on, tell me about it." All men are interested in big trains, even Liang Sicheng is no exception.

He invited Li Aiguo to his office and personally poured tea for him. "Don't worry, I will definitely visit you when the time comes, but I particularly like to eat meat, especially braised meat, you see."

"There is no such thing as an absolute in the world. I have never killed anyone in my driving career.

But I can tell you about something else that happened on the train. One time a passenger lost a corn cob.

After the meeting.

Section Chief Meng of Jiang'an Locomotive Depot took Jiang Shan and Liu Dali away on bicycles.

When we walked to the gate, we saw Section Chief Xing and his comrades from the 131 driver team squatting under the shade of a tree at the gate.

Meng Duanchang stopped his bicycle and asked with a smile, "Old Xing, what's the matter? Are you waiting for the dinner from the bureau?"

Because the Engineering Bureau has so many external units, in order to avoid waste, it has been specifically stipulated that all personnel from other units who come to participate in the meeting are not allowed to eat in the Engineering Bureau.

Director Xing stood up and laughed: "You misunderstood, we are waiting for Li Aiguo."

"What about others?"

"I was about to go back, but Commissioner Liang invited me to his office." Duanchang Xing puffed out his chest and said with some pride.

Upon hearing this, Meng Duanchang got on his bicycle and left, cursing all the way.

After returning to the maintenance depot, Section Chief Meng criticized Liu Dali severely.

"You almost got into big trouble today, luckily Commissioner Liang didn't take it personally."

"Captain Duan, this is not my fault. Who knew that Li Aiguo knew so much knowledge?" Liu Dali felt aggrieved.

As a train driver, you just need to concentrate on driving the train. Why are you studying crosswind? Is that something you are capable of studying?

"Okay, the driving test will begin tomorrow. I hope you will cheer up and strive to surpass the 131 driver group in the driving test." Although Section Chief Meng was dissatisfied with Liu Dali's behavior, he had more important things to do now and did not bother with him.

The reason why Meng Duanchang tolerated him was because he could bring honor.

Liu Dali was keenly aware of this and was certain that if he failed to win the driving test this time, his situation in the Jiangan Locomotive Depot would be difficult in the future.

"Damn you Li Aiguo, don't be too happy too soon. I have been driving trains for ten years longer than you have. How can a cucumber like you be my opponent?"

Liu Dali felt that he could easily beat Li Aiguo in the driving test.

Li Aiguo stayed in Liang Sicheng's office for two full hours before leaving.

During the talk, Liang Sicheng talked a lot about protecting ancient buildings and described in detail the situation of the Japanese planes dropping bombs.

Li Aiguo asked Liang Sicheng: "Were you scared at that time?"

Liang Sicheng adjusted the frame of his glasses and said, "I am afraid. I am also afraid of death. To be honest, the first time I encountered an airplane bombing, I was so scared that I couldn't even stand up.

But those ancient buildings are cultural treasures. If we don’t draw the architectural drawings before they are destroyed, the culture created by our ancestors will disappear.”

Li Aiguo nodded: "A nation without traditional culture is a tragedy. We should give civilization to the years, not give years to civilization."

"Give civilization to the years, not years to civilization!"

Liang Sicheng's expression slightly changed. He repeated it twice in a low voice, and felt that it made more and more sense. He said in a deep voice: "Patriotic comrade, this is very reasonable."

Liang Sicheng took this sentence deeply into his heart.

Li Aiguo smiled bitterly in his heart. Have I accidentally become a plagiarist?

But he is a train driver, a worker like the electrician, so the electrician should not mind.

When we left Liang Sicheng's office and arrived at the gate, Director Xing Duan and others were already waiting anxiously.

Seeing him coming out, he hurriedly came up to him and asked, "Aiguo, does Commissioner Liang have any tasks for you?"

"No."

"Ah? You guys have been chatting for more than two hours."

Director Xing was a little confused.

Commissioner Liang is a well-known intellectual in the country. He drinks Western ink and eats milk and bread. How could he have a common language with a rough train driver like Li Aiguo?

He watched the train driver striding toward the bicycle and felt increasingly unable to understand him.

******
On October 1957, 10, there were still four days before the bridge was officially opened to traffic.

On this day, the bridge witnessed its largest-scale experimental traffic.

Early in the morning, the Engineering Bureau dispatched more than 500 heavy-duty GAZ trucks to wait at the bridgehead.

There were railway soldiers on the GAZ trucks holding high red flags, the flags fluttering brightly in the sun, and the color of faith added vitality to the entire silver-grey bridge.

There were relatively few trucks in those days, and even though Wu Han San Town was a big city, it was difficult for citizens to see such a large fleet of vehicles.

They gathered together and walked towards the bridge.

This made Zhou Wenzhong, who was guarding the bridge, very busy. He immediately picked up the big iron loudspeaker and shouted to the crowd: "People, today we are going to conduct an experiment on the bridge. Passing on the bridge is temporarily prohibited. Please obey the order."

When the people learned that the purpose was to verify the sturdiness of the bridge, they were very cooperative and stood on both sides of the Yangtze River to watch.

The technical team led by Liang Sicheng came to the bridge one after another, set up various monitoring instruments, and prepared to monitor the condition of the bridge.

Liang Sicheng saw that it was already nine o'clock, so he stood on tiptoe and looked into the distance.

"According to the planned time, Driver Li and his crew should have already set off by now."

Located in the Jiangan Locomotive Depot, about ten miles away from the bridge.

Two freight trains loaded with coal are ready to go.

Today is the first day of the competition, so Section Chief Xing of Qianmen Locomotive Depot and Section Chief Meng of Jiangan Locomotive Depot both came to the station.

The two driver teams, Li Aiguo and Cao Wenzhi, Jiang Shan and Liu Dali, are ready and waiting to board the train.

Section Chief Meng looked at Section Chief Xing and said, "So you are a guest, Old Xing, please say a few words."

Old Xing raised his fist: "Let's go!"

Meng Duanchang: “.”

Cao Wen gave the order directly and immediately took the chief driver's team onto the train. Li Aiguo and the assistant driver's team also sat on the coal-water car.

(According to regulations, they are required to drive the train on the return journey)
Now Jiang Shan and Liu Dali from the driver team of Jiangan Locomotive Depot were in a dilemma.

Section Chief Meng is a leader who loves to speak. Section Chief Meng hasn't spoken yet. If we leave directly, it would be disrespectful to the leader.

However, Li Aiguo was already preparing to drive, and they couldn't afford to waste time.

Section Chief Meng also realized this and felt that he had been tricked by Section Chief Xing. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go."

"Yes!"

Two Patriot steam locomotives, each carrying more than a dozen trains full of coal, were heading off into the distance.

The wheels of the heavily loaded train hit the tracks with such a rumbling sound that the ground almost shook.

Is it really true that there won't be any problems with two such heavy trains running towards each other on the bridge?
Section Chief Xing and Section Chief Meng looked at each other and quickly got into the jeep.

(End of this chapter)