Chapter 59: Rail Delivery and Locomotive Arrival

Behind the township government courtyard.

Yu Yang stood on the shore of Pingdong Lake, inspecting his own boat dock.

Because the buildings attached to the village-and-township center all required self-provided materials, this boat dock also adopted a steel-reinforced concrete structure.

With two stories, 100 meters long and 50 meters wide, resting upon hundreds of cast-in-place piles, it lay dormant on the lake surface like a high-end seaside villa.

Unfortunately, unlike residential houses, functional buildings of this kind could only be built once; otherwise, he would have loved to sell a batch of them.

Wrapping his military cotton overcoat tightly around himself in the biting northern breeze, Yu Yang walked into the boat dock.

A translucent interface appeared before his eyes, indicating that currently only fishing boats could be constructed.

Selecting the construction option, he had the arriving older brothers transport cement, fine aggregates, asphalt, and concrete admixtures into the designated warehouse.

Then, following the prompts, he lowered the waterwheel located beside the boat dock.

The next second.

A 3D rendering of a fishing boat emerged in his field of vision, displaying various parameters on both sides.

Including specifications, performance, lifespan...

Yu Yang tried adjusting the ratio of construction materials, and these parameters changed accordingly.

However, water could be categorized as strongly acidic, weakly acidic, strongly alkaline, or weakly alkaline.

Cement had different grades according to its strength.

Fine aggregates also came in various types based on quality and material composition.

As for concrete admixtures, they were even more complex.

Some could produce early-strength concrete, suitable for winter construction. Some could produce high-flowability concrete, convenient for pumping. Others could produce high-durability concrete, used for long-span structures...

This meant that he had to repeatedly swap building materials and even contact the county town to have them deliver a batch of reagents he didn't currently possess.

Finally.

Taking two days, Yu Yang found a slightly familiar set of proportions.

Cement: emulsified asphalt: river sand.

1 : 1.6 : 2

In addition.

Polycarboxylate high-performance dispersant: 1%

Defoaming agent dosage: 1%

Aluminum powder dosage: 0.2%

U-type expansion agent dosage: 12%

Among these, the emulsified asphalt needed to be prepared separately: heating the asphalt to 160°C, mixing in carbon powder and modifiers, stirring for 10 minutes, then high-speed stirring for another 10 minutes in a 170°C environment while incorporating an emulsifier...

"Thank goodness I used to do engineering general contracting and once contracted for high-speed rail projects, witnessing the manufacturing process with my own eyes. Otherwise, with not the slightest trace of memory left, how could I have ever made emulsified asphalt?"

After obtaining the formula, Yu Yang thought for a moment, removed a few admixtures from the recipe, and then, based on experience, added several catalysts to reduce the performance of the CA mortar by two-thirds.

Then he named the new formula CA-1 type mortar and added a remark: Dedicated to Ballastless Tracks.

"Later on, I'll set up a Three-Origin Agriculture Confidential Archives Room and lock it in a safe for someone to steal."

"If it really gets stolen and someone tries to copy it, I'll release the CA-1.1 type, with performance 10% higher than before."

"Then I'll launch the CA-1.2 type, with performance 20% higher than before."

"In short, whoever dares to make trouble, I'll use successive product iterations to ensure they can't sell a single thing."

As for patents and the like...

Just scribble something down to fool people.

Having settled these matters, Yu Yang went to the blacksmith's shop to make molds.

Traditional railway tracks required laying a subgrade, spreading ballast, laying wooden ties, and then fastening the steel rails to the ties.

Ballastless tracks did not require ballast or ties; they were somewhat like building a concrete road and somewhat like splicing together an elevated bridge.

Generally speaking: a rectangular block with metal component catches reserved at both ends was pre-cast, and then countless such rectangular blocks were spliced together into a concrete road. Afterward, steel rails were laid and fixed to the catches at both ends of the rectangular blocks using metal components.

Because this type of track lacked a shock-absorbing structure, the rectangular blocks needed to possess characteristics such as buffering, vibration damping, and corrosion resistance. Therefore, they had to be made of composite materials, which led to the creation of CA mortar.

However, instead of making rectangular blocks, one could also pour a platform and embed the steel rails onto it using metal components to increase load-bearing capacity, though the construction speed was slower.

Since transporting vegetables and employees would basically never involve carrying heavy loads, prefabricated splicing was sufficient to meet daily needs.

This was also why Yu Yang only purchased standard 38kg per meter steel rails, and not 45kg, 50kg, or 60kg rails.

A moment later.

Under the operation of ten sturdy men, the blacksmith's shop finished forging 10 sets of rectangular molds.

Pouring the CA mortar into them, Yu Yang checked the time. This composite material had a relatively fast curing time and would dry completely in about 3 hours.

However, early-stage curing was required: sprinkling water once every 5 hours for a total of 3 times, and thereafter once every 7 days. In case of high-temperature weather, water had to be sprinkled twice a day.

Therefore, he would later need to have those chariot-modifying lunatics at the parking lot weld a few track water tankers.

They could be used for watering or firefighting.

"Done, wrap it up!"

Yu Yang walked out of the boat dock, had Chang Fu smash a hole in the ice with a long spear, and scooped up water to wash his face, instantly feeling refreshed.

...

Returning to the township courtyard.

The distant provincial highway was bustling with activity.

Crowds coming and going were either carrying wooden poles to unload steel rails with ropes, or using welded pushcarts to transport rails.

Yu Yang came to the roadside, looked around, and found the deputy township head, who hadn't been carrying many passengers lately and had come over to act as a site supervisor.

"Are these the steel rails the county gave us?"

"No, they were shipped by train from Fengtian Prefecture, but a dozen of them went missing along the way, resulting in a loss of over two thousand yuan."

"How dare they steal things from our Shili Camp! Get on the loudspeakers and tell the folks in the township to grab their weapons and launch an expedition to the Northeast!"

"Forget it, forget it." Knowing he was just joking, the deputy township head gave some perfunctory advice and changed the subject. "People from the county came yesterday, asking when you'll be free to go together with them to Shancheng in Bashu for investment promotion."

"Busy like this, where would I have time to run off so far?"

"We'll take a plane, all expenses paid."

"Oh?"

"I heard that over a dozen investment promotion delegations from nearby prefectures and cities gathered in Taishi, only to be rounded up in one sweep by Old Dong, who trapped them inside the Dongyue Hotel, welded the doors and windows shut, and only sent them two meals a day. The city administration is afraid some fish might slip through the net and recruit you away, so they're urging the county to hurry up and take you on the road."

"As expected of Old Dong, he certainly doesn't pull his punches."

"Are you going to the investment promotion or not?"

"Not going."

"Why?"

"Too busy. Once the steel rails arrive, the electric locomotives will probably arrive soon too. After laying the railway, connecting the cables, and installing the water pipes, we need to build plastic greenhouses, procure organic fertilizers, formulate planting plans, formulate harvesting plans, and assign employee responsibility zones. By the time I finish all that, it'll be time to pay wages, followed closely by the approaching New Year, where we need to boost production and make a big profit... I haven't even finished my own work, what mind do I have to help the county?"

The deputy township head curled his lips, tilted his head, his glasses sliding down slightly, "All excuses. I suspect that since you've hooked up with Old Dong, you look down on the county town now."

"Am I that snobbish of a person? If I were, would I be standing here talking to you for so long?"

"True that. Let's go, let's go get a drink."

"I've quit... By the way, that chairman of the City First Construction Company has been hanging around near my place lately. Have someone keep an eye on him."

"Understood."

...

Returning to the township courtyard, Yu Yang used the DIY blacksmith's shop to produce another 10 sets of molds.

However, the blacksmith's shop required 10 people to keep it running. If production was to be accelerated, more manpower would be needed.

"What a coincidence, so many people suddenly arriving in the township has things in a chaotic uproar..."

Yu Yang immediately formulated a 'force-spawning' plan.

First, he would handle the regularization procedures for 100 well-performing laborers in Shili Camp, recruiting them as official employees of Three-Origin Agriculture.

A monthly salary of 680, a meal and housing subsidy of 300, five social insurances and one housing fund, wages paid before the 15th of the following solar month, holiday red envelopes, year-end benefits,

At the same time, he arranged for farmers to modify the kang (heated brick beds) for the official employees, and collected a technical support fee of 1500 yuan per month.

Accordingly, the number of farmers increased to 256, improved farmland increased to 25.6 mu, and true plastic greenhouses increased to 11.

Among them, 200 people were responsible for the plastic greenhouses, and 30 for the blacksmith's shop.

The remaining 26 people wandered among the households, sticking to the three-day ripening cycle to provide 'technical support', while incidentally bringing in 384,000 yuan per month.

In addition, these 26 people were also responsible for regularizing more laborers.

With a quota of 5 to 10 people per day, once regularized, they would modify their kang beds, occupy the houses, and increase the number of farmers.

In this way, his sturdy men would grow more and more numerous without attracting attention.

Yu Yang summoned his eldest brother and put him in charge of implementing the plan.

Then he detached 20 people to supplement the blacksmith's shop.

Almost instantly, the mold production speed tripled.

30 sets in ten minutes, 180 sets in an hour.

1,800 sets in ten hours...

Fortunately, the steel rails he had purchased could never be used up; whenever they ran short of metal materials, they could just throw another rail straight in.

After Yu Yang woke up from a nap, the blacksmith's shop had already accumulated 2,000 sets.

At the same time, the materials ordered from the city had also arrived.

With 2,000 sets of molds arranged along the lake shore, the laborers in the township were responsible for setting up steel reinforcement bars and erecting formwork, including securing the metal components at both ends.

Then mixing machines prepared the CA mortar, which was loaded into several tractor-modified hopper carts to pour into the molds in rotation.

3 hours later, the first batch of rectangular blocks came out of the mold, totaling 2,000 pieces, enough to lay 400 meters.

7 hours later, the second batch of rectangular blocks came out...

11 hours later, the electric locomotives that Fengtian Prefecture had half-sold and half-given to him finally arrived.

Their appearances were all somewhat weathered. Among them, 15 were passenger electric trams, styled somewhat like track trams from old movies, with a power of only 1,600 kW, but capable of speeds up to 160 km/h.

The other five were electric locomotives, driven directly from Fengtian Prefecture to Pingdong County, where they were dismantled and hauled over on semi-trailers.

The model was uniformly the 'Shaoshan SS3', with a 4,800 kW power output, manufactured in Nanhu in the year 1978, with a speed of 100 km/h. Having pulled freight in the Northeast for 20 years, they were nearing scrap age.

Yet even near the end of their service life, the Northeast brothers were looking out for him, because a single electric locomotive cost at least 5 million yuan. If they weren't scrapped, he truly wouldn't have been able to afford them.

Now that he had bought them back, he would soon spray-paint them all blue or all red, paint the white characters 'Harmony' on them, and they would instantly look high-end.

"He who masters the rails masters the future!"

Yu Yang picked up his brush and wrote this admonition, then went to Old Dong to apply for the 'Enterprise Self-Provided Freight Car Track Transit Permit' and the 'In-Plant Electric Locomotive Self-Operation Permit'.

Believe it or not, going to someone who played fast and loose like Old Dong actually worked.

For innovative projects belonging to private enterprises, if it were any other leader, even if they were willing to approve it, by the time inspection teams arrived batch after batch, audits were submitted layer by layer, and all the various procedures were walked through, that leader would have already been transferred, forcing you to reapply, taking no less than three to five years.

In contrast, Old Dong:

"I'll write you a document, you use it first. As for the certificates and things, once all the procedures are complete, you can supplement them later."