Benz, a senior engineer at Xincheng Heavy Industry, and his colleagues circulated the drawings on the conference table, feeling like their heads were spinning three times.
The name of a steam locomotive is very simple, but it is really difficult to put these scattered systems together and make it into a physical object.
The drawings were sent by His Highness the Special Envoy. They were not signed or sourced. No one could be found even if they tried to ask. No one even knew what the missing parts were.
Of course, just look at the overall picture. The front of the car is very beautiful and all parts fit together perfectly. But to build such a complex thing, only the big picture is not enough. In the exploded view below, only the transmission system is relatively complete, and the brakes and other systems have certain deficiencies. .
"Should there be a valve here?"
"The connection method is a bit weird."
"Can this part be made? Shouldn't there be more parts to assemble?"
The conference room was filled with the sound of engineers discussing in low voices.
After everyone had gone through the drawings, half a day had passed and it was still chaos.
There was a meeting the next day, and the engineers still could not reach an agreement. Some people thought that such a thing could not be built at all, and some people thought that it would be simpler to build it according to His Highness's instructions, but others opposed it.
The deputy director in charge of the meeting couldn't stand it anymore: "This can't continue like this. This task is very important and we must start work as soon as possible. Benz, you have been exposed to steam engines when you were young, so you will be the project team leader. You yourself Pick people. If you need cooperation from other manufacturers, please feel free to come to me for approval."
Benz did not refuse. In fact, he took the lead in saying that a simpler physical object should be made first.
He quickly recruited a few colleagues who usually worked together and were less likely to quarrel to form a team.
The special project office was rearranged, the original drawings sent by the special envoy were pinned to the wall, and the systems were arranged in groups.
Meetings are still needed to get the office done.
"Some people in the previous meeting thought that the drawings came from the ruins of the Ragus Dynasty, but I don't think so." Benz looked at the drawings all over the wall with some emotion in his eyes, "To tell you the truth, my ancestors came from there. , although the Ragus Dynasty is proficient in steam technology, they have not given up magic. Equipment of this complexity will use magic to make up for the mechanical deficiencies as much as possible, and can only be operated by steam mechanics with certain magical abilities.
No matter how you look at this drawing, it is a purely mechanical device, and the entire production and use process does not require magic to be involved. So what we are doing is not restoring ancient equipment, but probably creating a new steam age. "
I gave everyone some encouragement, and quickly switched to business before I exploded: "First of all, we should correct our own level. There may still be a gap between us and the masters who can conceive such a complex machine, so I don't think we can do it in one step. , the work should start simple first, His Highness the Special Envoy also means this.
I have thought about it in the past two days that the early work should be divided into two parts. One group of people is responsible for making a simple model of the trumpet to verify its boiler and power system. The second group is responsible for the braking system. There is no need to make a full-scale model. The premise is to make it as small as possible to facilitate testing, so that there is no need to trouble other manufacturers. "
After all, Benz was someone who had been in contact with steam engines very early. He realized that there were a large number of castings in the full-size prototype, which could not be produced simply by heavy work. By making it smaller, it can be processed with thinner steel plates and thinner steel rods, eliminating the trouble of coordination among all parties. It can only be dispatched in the factory, allowing everyone to understand how the entire vehicle copes with various processes as soon as possible. situation.
"Isn't it said that there is no limit to the funds for purchasing and reimbursing? Let's get it right in one step. Just make it according to the dimensions on the picture. We will try to make up for the missing parts."
"No." Benz pointed at the drawings and expressed his opinion. "The design concept shown in the drawings is very mature. It is definitely not something that people like us who have never been exposed to steam locomotives can follow. The supplementary parts we design will probably It becomes the weak point of the entire car body and brings additional danger. So I think we should make a relatively simple version at the beginning, which meets the basic needs of various works on the railway, and then consider improving this set of drawings."
The team members were convinced by this statement. The front of the car on the drawing was intended to tow a thousand-ton truck. Just placing it on the drawing gave people a sense of stability. However, everyone’s experience, theory and mathematical ability may not be able to keep up. Once there are design deviations in supplementary parts, it may cause the entire system to collapse, or even cause high-temperature steam leakage to threaten personal safety.
The opinions were unified and the work was carried out smoothly.
The group responsible for the boiler and power system is more interesting. Although it is a model, in order to burn coal smoothly and start the boiler, ensure that all pipes are unobstructed, and the functions and structures do not need to change after enlargement, the model cannot be made too small. After discussion, we decided to do a 1:6 version first.
According to the standards of the Railway Administration, 1:6 means the track gauge is 25 cm, the maximum width of the car body is 55 cm, and the length of the car is according to the proportion on the drawing. The model alone is 3.7 meters long, but the model does not require coal-fired cars and can be shortened to less than three meters.
Of course, such a big thing can't be done indoors, so go to the material storage area to create an open space and start tossing around.
Building small model trains easily attracts people's attention. People come to watch it every day after get off work, and as the shapes of small railways and trains gradually come out, more and more people come.
Being watched would not be a good thing in an ordinary manufacturer, but Xincheng Heavy Industries has a special organizational structure. It is both a factory and everyone's home. Everyone has the dual identity of colleagues and neighbors at the same time, and the relationship is much closer than ordinary distant relatives. .
In particular, there are many technicians among the onlookers. If their hands are itchy, they will help on the spot, or they can use the rest time at work the next day to use the machines in the workshop to help make some small parts, which greatly speeds up the work progress.
Soon, a small steam locomotive with only a boiler and transmission system, a fully open cab and no trunk was completed.
When adding coal, hundreds of people came, embarrassing Benz who was using a small shovel to shovel coal.
Add a few spoonfuls and simply leave the ignition to the audience.
"Me me me!"
"Go away! The wheels are all made by me, I'll do it!" The parts of the 1:6 model don't need to be cast or forged, they can just be made directly.
In order to compete for the ignition rights, the crowd almost got into a fight. Fortunately, Benz directly called the workshop manager by name and stopped the riot.
A handful of hay was stuffed into the furnace to light the fire, and everyone just waited for the water to boil. Some people went back to get snacks on the way, so they set up a table next to them and started cooking.
The heating time of a steam locomotive takes only a few hours, and the model is not much better. After all, the furnace is smaller and the material is thinner, so the heat dissipates slightly faster.
Benz didn't bother to touch it, he just stared at the steam pressure gauge. This was one of the few things in the model that wasn't scaled down, taking up all the space in the cab that was originally used for the braking system.
After adding coal several times, when the pressure is reached, pull the handbrake in the open cab.
There is no whistle installed, the locomotive emits an exhaust sound from the side, and the transmission mechanism works to drive the wheels to move.
"It's moving, it's moving!" The melon-eaters gave meaningless praise.
Then wait for the impact.
Impact is not part of the test. It is really limited by the site. A nearly three-meter-long locomotive has a turning radius of tens of meters at least. It is too labor-intensive to drive such a long rail. Otherwise, you have to find an iron factory to customize the curved track. It's really not easy to do, so I plan to find another way later.
The length of the track is now just over twenty meters, with a large stone block blocking it at the end.
Soon, the locomotive hit a stone pier of more than 100 kilograms, and the result was a close match.
The stone pier moved slightly, and the impact caused the small rail to be dislocated. The Zhan type coupler in front of the train withstood the instantaneous impact, which was directly transmitted to the frame, without directly affecting the boiler and other components.
"Here, would you still be alive if you were hit by a real car?" Some people immediately learned effective information from the impact.
The 1:6 model only weighs less than one percent of a real car, and it can hit more than 100 kilograms of rocks. How can this be compared to a real car?
No one outside the group knows, this is the result of a lot of simplification. If the design on the drawing is followed, a model with a weight of 200% must weigh half a ton. A stone of more than 100 kilograms is nothing. With a long enough rail to accelerate, even a stone of half a ton or one ton can be used. Bump.
After the collision, the team members rushed forward, closed the transmission brake, released a small amount of pressure, and called on the people to help use sticks and feet to straighten the locomotive and the rails.
After placing it, pull the reverse brake and then open the transmission brake.
The train still moved in the same way, except that it moved backwards and overturned the rocks behind it.
"It's so awesome, so awesome." It wasn't just the crowd who said this, Benz himself was frightened.
You are a genius, remember in one second: Red Oasis:
