Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 881 South Patagonia ([-])

On August 1651, 8, although the coldest season had passed, a group of railway workers were still struggling to repair a section of track on the line of the Southern Cone-Ocean Railway.This is the railway branch line from the Heishan Coal Mine to Qingniwa Station. This 20-kilometer branch line is now facing many troubles, the most important of which are the frequent damage to the railway tracks in winter and the extremely high maintenance costs.

As we all know, the Southern Cone-Ocean Railway was built on the south bank of the Xingnan River, in the cold high-latitude Gobi region.When the westerly wind blows in winter, the temperature drops extremely quickly. If you are unlucky and there is another snowfall, the rails, roadbed, track bed, and sleepers on the railway line will face serious freezing and hardening problems, and will not be able to play their due buffering role.Especially when the heavy-duty trains pass frequently, the impact of the wheels on the rails is very strong. At this time, due to thermal expansion and contraction (often up to about 50mm) the ice expansion of the rails makes the load on the rails and sleepers very heavy. Uniform, deformed under the impact of the wheels, which has a great destructive effect on the railway.

Needless to say, the quality of the rails produced on the east bank is inferior to that of later generations. One of the main manifestations is that the material is not resistant to low temperature, so that the bottom of the rails will have a large number of comb-shaped defects after trains pass in winter, and a large number of sleepers will also break, causing economic losses. Not to be underestimated.This problem is not obvious in the warmer east coast, but in the colder southern Patagonia, it is very serious. The rails are frequently damaged, which not only costs high maintenance, but also affects driving safety.

To solve this problem, we still have to start from many aspects, including the technical research on rail materials, the heat treatment process in the rail production process, and the drainage problem of the railway track bed in winter. Although the precipitation along the Southern Cone Railway is scarce (every year However, since the evaporation is not strong, and the precipitation is mostly concentrated in winter and spring, the problem of icing on the track bed cannot be ignored.

After being aware of this problem, the Southern Railway Company has now begun to regret the sand bed used for petty gain. They have fully notified the railway line under construction and ordered all construction sections to stop the construction of the sand bed and replace it with a sand bed. Build a well-drained gravel track bed to avoid frost heave on the line in winter and affect the life of the rails on it.In addition, the railway lines that have been constructed will also gradually begin to be rectified—this is another huge project—to ensure that the adverse effects of frost heave on the lines are minimized.

In addition, research on steel for cold protection is bound to be put on the agenda.Regarding this point, the State Administration of Railways also attaches great importance to it. They contacted Pingan Iron and Steel Works and Tieling Special Steel Works and planned to conduct research from two aspects.First of all, Pingan Iron and Steel Works is responsible for the heat treatment process of the rails. It is almost the only metallurgical expert in China. Vest vaguely remembers how to solve the problem of how to eliminate the difference in thermal stress caused by the difference in heat distribution during the cooling process of the produced cast iron rails. In addition, the heat treatment of the finished product, the waste heat of the furnace, etc. are all factors that need to be considered.All in all, this is another scientific and technological research operation, which requires a lot of money and manpower. The cost of this part is currently paid by the Southern Railway Company, while the personnel are provided by the Ping An Factory, and the patents developed are shared by both parties.

Secondly, the material of the rails cannot be ignored, and the Tieling Special Steel Works is responsible for this.The factory has already received a request for assistance from the State Administration of Railways. At the same time, the South Railway Company has also sent a few personnel to bring first-hand information and a large amount of research funds to cooperate with the Tieling Factory to carry out research on low-temperature-resistant steel materials.This is more labor-intensive than the previous heat treatment process. The ratio of various elements such as carbon, manganese, and nickel in the steel is different, and the characteristics of the steel are different, which requires a lot of experimental data to improve.

Although the Pingan Iron and Steel Works had handed over to them some of the ratios of dozens of steel types with the highest levels of confidentiality (a considerable part of which was given by the vest himself based on memory), they wanted to use this as a basis to research the most low-temperature-resistant special steel. Steel—it needs to do a lot of low temperature resistance tests. If it is a rail, it needs to do a low temperature load test, which needs to be done on the experimental railway of the Southern Rolling Stock Works in Meilin County—it is still a very time-consuming and laborious task.After all, there is no shortcut for this kind of process and material matters. We can only carry out a large number of experiments under the guidance of theory and experience, and then gradually summarize, and finally select the steel composition ratio that best meets the requirements.

In other words, these crafts and ratios require a lot of money and time to spend, and there is no other way to go.Of course, once this is researched, it will have a significant role in promoting the metallurgical technology and material science of the East Coast Republic of China, and it is worth trying.Similarly, after the technology patent is researched, it will be shared by the South Railway Company and Tieling Special Steel Works.

However, as the saying goes, long-distance water cannot quench near-thirst. Before low-temperature-resistant rails can be researched, on the Southern Cone and Ocean Railway, all the Southern Railway Company can do is to de-ice the railway in time—mainly when it is snowing. At that time, if there is no snow, the groundwater level in the area is low, and there is no fear of large-scale frost heaving of the road bed-at the same time, it is required to reduce the driving speed in winter.As for reducing the number of departures or even temporarily suspending services in winter, I'm sorry, this is simply impossible!

If you take a look at the 203 kilometers of the Southern Cone Railway that has been built (about 70% of which is open to traffic), then you will clearly find that in the Heishan coal mines——Qingniwa, A Laokan Port - Qingniwa, Xingnan Port - these three sections of railways have been in trial operation for a long time since Newcastle, and various materials have already been frequently transported and exchanged between various places through railways.Especially on the branch railway from Heishui Coal Mine to Qingniwa, the transportation of personnel and materials is very frequent. A large amount of Montenegrin coal is transshipped by railway to Port of Araucan, an important sea port, and then shipped to other places , or for personal use, or sold to the Spaniards, or shipped back to the local market (in fierce competition with Tacheng coal), creating excellent economic benefits.

Therefore, if they want to persuade the Southern Railway Company to give up railway transportation in winter and instead use freight wagons to take the road, let alone how to make up for the huge transportation gap of grain, building materials, and coal, the freight is not what they want. tolerable.Now that they have tasted the taste of cheap railway transportation, they are tired of expensive road transportation. Southern Railway Company would rather reduce the speed of trains and increase the frequency of rail repairs and replacements than give up this vital Inexpensive shipping methods - cost is everything.

For example, the current section of railway maintenance near Qingniwa Station is like this.Because this place is located in a swamp area and the groundwater level is high, the degree of frost heave of the roadbed and track bed is naturally higher than that of other places. In addition, it has snowed a few days ago, so the frost heave is generally 50-80 cm , the degree is not light.And after a heavy-duty coal train passed by, not only the sleepers under the rails had many cracks, but even the lower edge of the rails also had many irregular defects——under the low temperature and frost heaving environment, the east bank produced The quality of the rails is really not good enough, neither in terms of strength nor toughness.It may not matter on the east coast, but it is exposed in southern Patagonia. After all, this is not the warm east coast.

With the assistance of various equipment, the railway maintenance team of the Southern Railway Company, with dozens of staff members, finally finished laying the new rails. The Qingniwa Railway Station drove to.On the way, they encountered a steam locomotive that came to pull the train lying on the railway, and they were able to ride back for free, which saved a lot of energy.

After arriving at the train station, the train station master carefully inspected the damaged rails and sleepers they replaced, signed the inspection record, and then walked quickly to the telegraph room on the second floor, looking for someone to ride to the Black Mountain Coal Mine, Inform those there that the railroad has been restored.

A young operator nodded nervously, then grabbed his coat and hurried downstairs.Now the experimental telegraph line between Qingniwa Railway Station and Heishan Coal Mine is still being erected. The identities of these so-called telegraph operators are actually very embarrassing. No, what can be done with a telegram, now It is ironic that the telegraph operator should go there on horseback to notify.

The middle-aged train station master who was a veteran took off the sealskin hat on his forehead, and carefully checked the insulation in the room below—the South Railway Company stipulated that the room temperature in the telegraph room must be maintained at a certain level, because the temperature If it is too low, the voltage of the battery that maintains the operation of the telegraph system will be reduced, which will eventually affect its efficiency.Many lead-acid batteries have been shipped into the room, so the temperature inside must be guaranteed.

After finishing all this, the station master took out a cigarette pouch from his pocket, lit a pipe for himself, and then walked towards the goods yard outside the train station while puffing on his whale leather boots.The previous row of heavy-duty trucks was parked at the freight yard to add water and coal, and at the same time unload a batch of supplies that were in short supply—these are all necessary items to maintain the daily life of local residents.The conscientious webmaster felt that it would be better for him to go to the goods yard to check the materials in person. He was really worried about those Italian material custodians—they were all immigrants who came to the east coast at their own expense, and they had learned some rough mathematics. And some accounting methods, so it is easy to get a job at the train station-these people are all thieves in his eyes, and they are very greedy for petty gains.

"Barbarian origin is barbarian origin, and the black eyes can only recognize white money. If you don't pay close attention, these hateful barbarians will probably reap a lot of benefits for you. Damn, I really thought I had climbed to the upper class. You can do whatever you want if you grow up? I beat Jinan with Marshal Mo back then, you barbarians are nothing! I will send you to Montessori Port one by one to blow the cold wind." The station master smoked Smoking his pipe, he thought viciously.

(End of this chapter)