The train driver in the courtyard

Remember to go to Tianjin Port to check the driving route.

The next morning, before dawn, Li Aiguo climbed out of bed.

The slight noise disturbed Miss Chen's sweet dream.

"Brother Aiguo, it's only a short time now. You're already up. Aren't you going to take the train to Tianjin?"

Miss Chen rubbed her eyes drowsily and yawned loudly.

"Yes, I took the train, but it was a train from Datong that was carrying coal to Jincheng Railway Station. This train passed Jingcheng Station at 4:30."

Nowadays, coal trains are much faster than passenger trains. I have urgent business going to the port city this time, so I must take a fast train.

Miss Chen wanted to get up to make breakfast for Li Aiguo, but Li Aiguo stopped her: "You can continue to sleep. Huang Jing is probably waiting for you in the section. When we get to Tianjin, I can just have a bite to eat."

As he spoke, he picked up two steamed buns and stuffed them into his canvas bag, put the food in an aluminum lunch box, and walked out of the house carrying the bag.

It was pitch black outside at this time, and the yard was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Li Aiguo pulled up his collar and pushed his bicycle out of the compound.

As soon as I walked out of the door, I bumped into a dark shadow.

The shadow was so frightened that his legs went limp and he almost fell to the ground.

When he recognized it was Li Aiguo, the shadow was still scared: "Brother Aiguo, why are you here so early?"

Li Aiguo took a look in the moonlight and saw that it was Xu Damao.

Xu Damao was carrying a canvas bag, wrapped tightly, with a veil on his face, and fear in his eyes.

Xu Damao took the cigarette and smiled awkwardly: "There is no white flour at home, I was thinking of going to the pigeon market to buy some.

It turned out that there was no one selling white flour in the pigeon market, and I ran into an inspector. Fortunately, I ran away quickly, otherwise I would have been arrested by now. "

It turns out that he was just being chased by someone. No wonder he was so scared.

"I have to go on a business trip today. I'm going to be late, so I'm leaving first." Li Aiguo raised his wrist to check the time. He didn't bother to chat with Xu Damao. He got on his bicycle and disappeared.

"Train drivers have a great life, they get to go on business trips all the time..." Xu Damao muttered and walked into the compound.

Just as he lifted his foot, he suddenly stopped and slapped his forehead: "What a stupid person! I was just thinking about buying some flour from Aiguo, how could I have forgotten it?"

When Li Aiguo arrived at Qianmen Locomotive Depot on his bicycle.

Lao Zheng, Liu Qingquan, and Huang Jing's driver team were already waiting at the station.

Seeing Li Aiguo coming, Lao Zheng pointed to the train that had already started and said, "Aiguo, this train is going to Harbin. It can take us to Beijing Station."

This time when going to Tianjin, all members of the two coach crews were mobilized to check the driving route thoroughly. Li Aiguo was worried about how to get to Beijing Station.

Now I think about it, I was worrying for nothing. How could the train driver not find the train to the train station?
There were six people in the two crew groups. They boarded the locomotive and rushed all the way to Beijing Station.

The coal truck hasn't arrived yet.

Li Aiguo and his companions waited for more than half an hour before the dispatcher in charge of train dispatch came running over and told them that they could get on the train.

The coal truck driver, Yang, happened to be from the Tianjin Railway Bureau.

Upon learning that they were going to survey the railway line of Jincheng Port, he immediately recognized Li Aiguo with the help of the dim light in the driver's building.

"Oh, isn't this Li Dache? No wonder the branch office notified me when I arrived at the last switch station that I must wait for you to get on the train at Jingcheng Station."

Driver Yang works on the coal transport line all day long. He speaks with the boldness of a coal truck driver and is very efficient in his work.

At that time, I asked the fire operator to take a few corn cobs and roast them on the furnace. After a while, the fragrance came out.

After all this trouble, Li Aiguo felt a little hungry, so he took the food and started eating it without hesitation.

Since corn cobs were not filling enough to satisfy one’s hunger, Li Aiguo put some steamed buns made of white flour on the iron plate on the side of the furnace.

After a while, the white flour buns were baked to a golden brown color. When you take a bite, they taste like pot cakes.

Everyone who has driven a car knows to carry food with them. Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng also brought steamed buns and meals with them.

In less than a moment, the aroma of food filled the driver's building.

Li Aiguo had a vague illusion that the driver's building was no longer a driver's building, but a dining car.

Wuuwuwu. Eat like crazy, eat like crazy, eat like crazy. Wuuwuwu... The big guy opened his cheeks and ate everything...

It takes five or six hours for a passenger train to travel from Beijing to Tianjin, while a coal truck takes three and a half hours.

When the coal truck arrived at Jincheng Station, Li Aiguo and his companions said goodbye to driver Yang.

Before leaving the train station, I saw Director Zhang of the Tianjin Railway Bureau coming with dozens of young people.

"Driver Li, you are really punctual."

Director Zhang met Li Aiguo during a meeting in the department and extended his hand from a distance.

"The timing is perfect. Our maintenance team will be heading to the Tanggu operation area by car soon. Would you like to join us?"

Time was pressing and there was no time to waste, so Li Aiguo took his team members and followed the Jincheng Branch's maintenance team to the Tanggu operation area.

To Li Aiguo's surprise, this time the Jincheng Branch did not use a train, but instead transferred five buses from the bus company.

The buses in Tianjin are very interesting, with a "big nose" on the front of the bus.

In winter, the "big nose" has to be covered with a thick cotton pad.

The car doors are pushed and pulled manually, and the color of the car body is light in the upper half and red in the lower half.

This is a bus converted from a Prague truck imported from the Czech Republic by the bus factory in 1951. It was considered the most advanced bus in the country at that time.

After getting on the bus, Director Zhang briefly introduced the maintenance situation, and Li Aiguo finally understood why the train was not used.

It turned out that in order to ensure smooth transportation, the Jincheng Branch carried out emergency repairs after the railway line was built. Several sections of rails were dismantled, so trains definitely couldn't pass.

The bus sped all the way towards the Tanggu operation area, passed the south bank of the Haihe River, crossed Daliangzhuang, the old Dagu Shipyard, Kazimen, and the North Breakwater, and finally arrived at the Tanggu operation area.

There is a more accurate name here - Tanggu Pier 9.

As soon as I stepped into the dock area, a strong smell of sea mixed with the smell of engine oil hit my nose.

The sea breeze was blowing, bringing with it a hint of saltiness and moisture, causing pain on people's faces.

The pier was bustling with people coming and going, and it was very orderly.

There are several small and medium-sized cargo ships docked at the dock. Crew members are busy moving around on the decks, some are checking ropes, and some are carrying some small tools.

The ground on the shore was wet and covered with puddles of varying depths, which were formed by the long-term accumulation of seawater and residual liquid from the cargo.

"Tanggu Pier No. 9 started to be renovated last year. We have completed the Haihe River sluice gate project and a 61-ton berth. It is expected to be completed by . By then, the Tanggu operation area will have five -ton berths.

There is a 50,000 square meter storage area here, and the comrades in the operation area have already started to empty the storage area for the upcoming grain shipment.”

Director Zhang briefly introduced the situation in the Tanggu operation area.

At that time, Tanggu Port was mainly responsible for transshipping coal, and the dock was equipped with automatic coal loaders.

There is also a universal platform in the warehouse that is similar to the forklifts of later generations and is specifically responsible for loading. It is considered one of the most advanced terminals in the country.

"Originally, the unloading should have been done by cranes, but the four table cranes that had been planned for the dock have not been installed yet. Once the grain arrives at the shore, it will still require manpower to load and unload. Now the comrades in Tianjin have begun to organize personnel."

Director Zhang pointed to the hundreds of workers and members lined up neatly in the distance.

At this time, the comrades in the working group were talking about precautions.

These temporary workers and members were all delighted to be able to participate in such a glorious mission.

Li Aiguo squinted and looked. The railway track could lead to the dock, but it was dozens of meters away from where the ship was parked.

It would be easy if it was a sunny day, but if it rains heavily, it would not be easy to unload the cargo from the ship by human beings alone.

Especially when a ship is drifting on the sea, it is difficult to stabilize it when a strong wind blows...

Thinking of this, Li Aiguo reminded Director Zhang.

Director Zhang was about to say something when a leader in a gray Zhongshan suit walked over.

"What?! We can't even unload the food? Don't underestimate us, little comrade!"

The leader was a middle-aged man with a square face, hair as short as freshly cut grass, and a muffled voice.

The middle-aged man looked angry and scary at the moment.

"Representative Zhang, you misunderstood. Our drivers are just worried that there might be unexpected situations that would cause trouble for unloading the grain. We don't doubt your ability."

Director Zhang took a step forward seemingly unintentionally, blocking Li Aiguo and the driver team behind him and separating them from the middle-aged leader.

"Director Zhang, you really look down on us. Are we Jincheng people so unreasonable?!"

Representative Zhang saw that Director Zhang was trying to protect his subordinates, smiled bitterly and shook his head, then extended his hand to Li Aiguo: "Comrade driver, I am the leader of the grain unloading team. You can call me Lao Zhang. Welcome to Jincheng Port."

"Hello, Team Leader Zhang." Li Aiguo shook hands with Representative Zhang.

"You just mentioned the rain. I'm going to tell you something now." Representative Zhang turned around and waved to the workers and members who were "exercising": "Chen Dapao, come here!"

Chen Dapao, who was directing the "drill", ran over and saluted Representative Zhang: "Comrade Representative! Commando Captain Chen Dapao reports to you."

Representative Zhang pointed at Li Aiguo and said, "This driver is doubtful whether we can complete the unloading task in time. Tell him now whether we can complete it or not."

Chen Dapao straightened his chest and answered in a thunderous voice: "There are a total of 1,320 members in our commando team. Each member is an activist in the unit, factory, and commune! We swore an oath to the flag. Even if knives rain from the sky, we will definitely complete the mission."

The words were spoken firmly and with a resolute attitude. Representative Zhang nodded with satisfaction and looked at Li Aiguo: "Comrade driver, how is it?"

Li Aiguo smiled and said, "Captain Chen has made everything clear with his attitude. I believe you can complete the task."

"Okay, Chen Dapao, go back to your place and continue training!" Representative Zhang nodded, let Chen Dapao go, and went to the dock with his hands behind his back.

Director Zhang looked at Representative Zhang's back and said in a low voice, "Driver Li, Representative Zhang is a responsible comrade in the city, and he has a bad temper."

"Director, I understand. Let's go check the tracks." Li Aiguo smiled and didn't say much.

It's not that he doesn't believe in the determination of Representative Zhang and the comrades in the grain unloading team.

Li Aiguo has worked in the Qianmen Locomotive Depot for several years and knows very well that his comrades are willing to risk their lives and try their best to complete the task.

In this day and age, man conquers nature is not just a simple slogan.

When you really encounter difficulties, determination alone is not enough.

We are not afraid of difficulties or hard work, but we cannot act recklessly.

Later, when inspecting the railroad tracks, Li Aiguo focused on the railroad tracks on the port side.

He discovered that the train track in the operation area was a double-track track, and in order to facilitate the transfer of goods, three switches and guardrails were installed.

"These tracks can accommodate two trains side by side." Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and walked along the rails to the dock. The rails were set horizontally, and the distance from the dock was only a few meters. If the truck crane could be used...
Li Aiguo estimated the distance between the dock and the railway track and had a rough idea in his mind.

"Master, what are you looking at?" Huang Jing, along with the assistant driver and the fireman, finished checking the nearby railroad tracks. Seeing Li Aiguo in a daze at the dock, she came over curiously.

"nothing."

Li Aiguo felt that the idea was not mature enough.

Moreover, their train drivers are responsible for transporting grain, and if they rashly intervene in the grain unloading work now, it will cause dissatisfaction from Tianjin.

The best way is to prepare yourself.

He stood up and asked, "Apprentice, how are the tracks?"

"It's really bad. I've been driving for nearly a year and have carried out several missions, but this is the first time I've seen tracks like this." Huang Jing briefly described the condition of the tracks, and then said, "However, I am confident that I can complete the driving mission."

"Confidence alone is not enough. What's more important is whether you have the ability?!" Li Aiguo's face turned serious.

Huang Jing was frightened by his serious tone. After being stunned for a moment, she nodded heavily: "Master, I am capable of completing this driving mission."

"Well, let us fight side by side this time!"

Li Aiguo turned around and looked into the distance, only to see ripples on the vast ocean caused by the gentle breeze.

At the end of the ripples, the 10,000-ton ocean-going freighter was delivering life-saving food, and he needed to prepare in advance.

After checking the line and returning to Beijing, Li Aiguo took Huang Jing back to the locomotive depot.

Xing Duanchang followed the old rules and spoke to Li Aiguo on behalf of the organization. He asked, "Comrade Li Aiguo, the organization has entrusted you with such a glorious and arduous task. Do you have the confidence to complete it?"

"Please rest assured, I will complete the mission even if it costs my life." Li Aiguo stood up and said loudly.

"Okay, okay..." Xing Duanchang nodded with satisfaction, asked Li Aiguo to sit down, and asked, "Do you have any requests? For example, how do you arrange things at home?"

Arrange family matters? Li Aiguo immediately understood what Director Xing meant.

This mission is very dangerous. If something happens to the train, the driver will also be in trouble.

Before carrying out the mission, the organization has to ask the train driver who will take his seat in the future.

Some train drivers have four or five sons, and if arrangements are not made in advance, it will inevitably cause a stir.

Some train drivers would even write a suicide note and hand it to Duan.

Seeing that Li Aiguo had not expressed his opinion yet, Director Xing Duan had to take the initiative to propose it.

Thinking of his child still in his mother's belly, Li Aiguo sighed helplessly: "Let's handle this according to the usual practice in the section, but I do have a request."

Xing Duanchang thought that Li Aiguo was fearless, but now he became more excited after hearing this. He lit a cigarette and asked, "What is your request? Just tell me."

Li Aiguo said slowly: "I request to use the rescue train to carry out this mission, and also install a truck crane."

"The rescue train is indeed the train with the best condition and the most horsepower in our locomotive depot. As for the onboard crane, that thing was invented by you. There were five electric hoists last time."

When he heard that it was still about the mission and not involving personal issues, Director Xing lost interest.

He called the maintenance workshop and asked them to cooperate with Li Aiguo in the transformation.

Director Zhang from the maintenance workshop answered the phone and was a little confused.

"What's wrong with this driver Li? He's driving a relief train to load food?"

The rescue train has two flatbed carriages, with a carriage at the back that can carry food.

But why do we need to leave two carriages empty?
What made Director Zhang even more puzzled was that Li Aiguo brought another blueprint and asked him to modify the rescue train's onboard crane.

"Aiguo, the truck crane modified according to this blueprint can not only lift a car body, but the boom can be more than 50 meters long and more than 40 meters high when extended... Are you going to transform the rescue train into a large crane?"

Director Zhang is an old technician and has dealt with construction machinery a lot over the years, but this is the first time he has seen a crane mounted on a train.

Li Aiguo looked at the information on the system panel and grimaced in pain.

"Purchase a blueprint, deduct 896 points, currently remaining points are points."

He just spent 100 points to exchange this blueprint from the system. The blueprint has a formal name, called rail-mounted bridge crane.

This is a type of crane that moves along a preset rail route, usually with an electric or hydraulic drive, and can operate on fixed tracks.

In later docks, it was often used to lift cargo from cargo ships.

Of course, due to technical and modification time limitations, Li Aiguo made major changes to the rail-mounted bridge crane, and its lifting capacity and operating radius were far inferior to those of later generations.

This simplified version is then installed on a rescue train, which can travel long distances.

"This is a large crane with an estimated lifting capacity of ten tons, a lifting range of forty meters, and a lifting height of thirty-five meters. The maximum lifting capacity is limited by the power of the electric hoist, which is only about ten tons."

Li Aiguo briefly explained the parameters of the rail-mounted bridge crane.

Director Zhang didn't take it seriously at first, but after listening to the parameters, he slapped his thigh and said, "Aiguo, do you know what the biggest use of this thing is?"

"what?"

"Build a railway!" Director Zhang looked at the blueprint with his eyes shining: "You have seen places where railways are built, some places are deep in the mountains and forests, and there is no road at all.

Ordinary lifting equipment cannot be transported through, but rail-mounted bridge cranes do not have this problem. They are trains themselves and can run on rails. "

Li Aiguo really hadn't thought about it so much, but after thinking about it carefully, this thing is indeed feasible.

In this way, the one hundred points spent just now would not be considered a loss.

The stingy little Li Aiguo finally felt comforted.

"If we really want to transform it into a proper rail crane, the material structure must be strengthened and the lifting mechanism must be redesigned. Let's modify the rescue train first."

Li Aiguo's words brought Director Zhang back to reality.

Although he didn't understand why a train transporting grain needed to be equipped with a crane, he immediately took the drawings and gathered the old masters in the workshop together.

"Everyone, come and take a look at Driver Li's new design. Old Liu, I think the steel pipes in our warehouse are strong enough for this support arm. Go and move the steel pipes over now."

"Master Zhou, welding work is very important. I want to see fish scale welding. This is the first rail crane in the country. Don't embarrass our maintenance workshop."

Realizing that they might be about to make history, Director Zhang and the old masters in the maintenance workshop became energized and full of energy.

Then, the sound of clanging was heard in the maintenance workshop.

Because the rail-mounted bridge crane has been greatly simplified, has a simple structure and low material requirements, the reconstruction work progressed smoothly.

Three days later, two trains equipped with rail-mounted bridge cranes stopped at the station.

The masters in the maintenance workshop added fourteen carriages to the back of the train.

Li Aiguo took Huang Jing to test the modified crane.

Although the lifting capacity is reduced due to the lengthening of the crane arm, it is still no problem to lift objects weighing seven or eight tons.

Afterwards, the masters in the maintenance workshop carried out a comprehensive inspection of the two trains.

The key parts were coated with the best butter, and the tender was filled with clean coal from Datong Coal Mine.

Huang Shuxian, who had just finished her maternity leave, took her colleagues from the Education Office to plant bright red flags on the two locomotives.

They also put "grain transport" signs on two trains.

Everything is ready, just waiting to set off.

The next morning, Chen Xueru got up from bed and cooked a pot of dumplings.

"Brother Aiguo, this is leek and meat filling, you should eat more."

Chen Xueru picked up a spoon and was about to scoop up the dumplings.

Li Aiguo leaned over and took a closer look, and found that the dumplings in the pot were different.

One is white and the other is dark in color.

"I just like eating soba dumplings."

Li Aiguo grabbed the spoon and scooped a few dumplings into the bowl. Before Chen Xueru could stop him, he had already picked up a dumpling and put it in his mouth.

When I took a bite, I found it was filled with radish. There was no meat, just radish.

"What's going on, Comrade Chen?" Li Aiguo frowned slightly.

"Dad sent me some fresh pork yesterday, just two taels..." Miss Chen lowered her head slightly and whispered, "I have a poor appetite since I got pregnant. I feel like vomiting when I smell meat. It would be a waste for me to eat these dumplings stuffed with leeks and pork."

Looking at Miss Chen's little face, Li Aiguo sighed.

Although the Li family's life was better than that of ordinary families, they could not eat fresh pork very often.

He slowly stood up, walked to the pot, gently stirred the dumplings in the pot with a spoon, and then served two bowls.

At this point, the dumplings are no longer distinguishable from each other.

"Come, wife, eat."

Li Aiguo handed the bowl and chopsticks to Chen Xueru, then picked up a bowl of dumplings and started eating.

Miss Chen wanted to take the white flour dumplings from the bowl, but she knew Li Aiguo's temper, so she had to give up.

Strangely enough, Miss Chen found the dumplings on that day particularly delicious.

That fragrance is not just the smell of the dumplings themselves.

(End of this chapter)