Chapter five hundred and ninety first trial
Outside the south city of Beijing, a brand new building rose from the ground. This is the newly built Beijing Station. The source of the railway is here. On the tracks in the station, a steam locomotive stood there quietly, with several long and thick carriages dragging behind it, looking like a giant beast lying on the railway tracks.
Li Jie accompanied Xie Jin and Guo Zhenglin to the assembled steam locomotive. Looking at the crystallization of the highest wisdom of mankind in this era, he couldn't help but look excited on his face.
"Brother Jie, have you ignited the fire?" Li Jie finally calmed down his excitement and then asked Xie Jin next to him.
Before, Xie Jin and Guo Zhenglin actually looked for him specifically to let him see the assembled steam locomotive.
"Not yet, isn't this just to invite Brother Li, you to light the fire yourself?" Xie Jin smiled and replied to Li Jie. He and Guo Zhenglin also learned that Li Jie had come to the railway, so they specially left this memorable event to Li Jie.
"Then I'm not polite!" Li Jie couldn't help but itchy when he heard this. He didn't want to miss such an important thing.
So Li Jie and Xie Jin and others got on the front of the train and came to the most core area of the train, which was the place where the boiler was burned. This was equivalent to the heart of the entire train, and the power of the entire train will be output from here.
The charcoal for ignition was already placed in the boiler, and grease was poured on it to make it easier to ignite. Xie Jin took a burning torch and handed it to Li Jie, and then signaled him to ignite the boiler.
Li Jie was excited again with the torch in his hand. He immediately stepped forward and used the torch to ignite the charcoal in the boiler. With a slight sound of "puff", the boiler immediately started to burn.
With Li Jie's ignition, Xie Jin and Guo Zhenglin also took shovels and shoveled up the black coal next to them and threw it into the boiler. After all, coal is the main fuel of the steam locomotive.
As the boiler burned, the water in the boiler quickly boiled, and then the steam engine slowly began to be driven, and the chimney on the nose also sprayed black smoke.
Li Jie and the others came to the cab in front, and a driver had been waiting here. With Xie Jin's order, the driver also began to drive a steam locomotive slowly. Although the railway has not been repaired yet, after the steam locomotive is assembled, it will definitely need to be tested.
"Clang clang~" As the train collided with the rails, the speed of the steam locomotive became faster and faster. However, the power of the steam engine is limited now. In addition, for the sake of testing, the carriage is also pulled up behind the front of the car, so when the speed reaches a certain level, it can no longer accelerate. This is also the highest speed that the train can achieve.
"This speed seems to be similar to riding a horse?" Guo Zhenglin poked his head out the window, estimated their speed before saying disappointed.
Originally, in their calculations, the speed should be faster than now, and now they have only pulled a few cars, and there are no people or cargoes in the carriage, so the actual speed is definitely slower than now.
"This is also normal. The calculated speed is always slower than the actual one. After all, when we calculate, we ignore many factors that affect speed." Xie Jin also spoke next to him, but he was also a little disappointed when he spoke.
"The speed of being able to run a galloping horse is quite good. You should know that a horse is valuable. In comparison, the goods it pulls are limited. In comparison, our train only needs to consume some fuel to drive a large amount of goods and people. It is much more cost-effective than horses!" Li Jie smiled and comforted.
Li Jie remembered that in later generations, the speed of the first train was not as fast as that of a horse, and even when people walked quickly, they could drive side by side with the train. So compared to the steam locomotive they built was relatively fast.
The first test drive of a steam locomotive was very successful, which is normal. After all, the steam locomotive has done many experiments before, especially the steam engine as the core, which is even more perfect. Therefore, as long as the steam engine does not have any problems, the entire steam locomotive will not have any problems.
The railway was still too short, so the steam locomotive stopped after running out for several miles and also tested the car's brake system.
However, it is easy for the train to come out, but now I have encountered trouble when I go back. Because the train is not in reverse and the railway ahead is broken, so the train cannot be allowed to drive back by itself.
Xie Jin and Guo Zhenglin had not considered this issue before, so when they stopped the car, they looked at each other in a glance. In the end, Li Jie suggested sending someone to find horses and pull the train back.
However, because the train was too heavy, it was impossible to pull it back all over. I could only untie the car and then pull it back one by one. The front of the car was the heaviest, and in the end it was torpedo until dark, so I dragged the front of the car back.
Although I encountered some problems during the return journey, in general, the experiment was very successful, especially when the steam locomotive started running. Not only did Li Jie and the others on the car excited, but the officials and craftsmen involved in the construction of the railway were also very excited. Many people did not realize until this moment that the railway they built was to make this big guy run.
After returning to the station, Xie Jin and his team checked all the steam locomotives from inside to outside despite their fatigue, and recorded all the problems found. After all, although the steam locomotives started running, everything was not good. Some problems still occurred in some places, and some parts were even at risk of breaking, which needed to be gradually improved.
Li Jie did not go back, but accompanied Xie Jin and the others to find the problem and came up with a solution to the problem. As a result, the whole night passed without realizing it, but Li Jie did not feel too tired.
In fact, compared to other things, Li Jie prefers to study these mechanical problems with Xie Jin and others. After all, these problems are clearly placed in front of him, and he only needs to come up with solutions, and he does not need to think about the gains and losses of the problems when he was in Nanjing. Even if there is a solution to the problems, he still needs to consider some benefits, responses in various aspects, etc., which is simply too tiring.
Chapter completed!