Where is the Zhan Tianyou herringbone railway now
In 1909, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, China's first railway with completely independent investment, design and construction, was officially put into operation. As the pioneering masterpiece of Zhan Tianyou, the "father of China's railway", the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway embodies the wisdom and innovation of the designer, and successfully solves the problems of insufficient locomotive power and large terrain difference in the direction of train travel, laying a solid foundation for the start and development of China's railway industry.
Zhan Tianyou, a young returnee, was born in 1861 with the ambition of serving the country. At the age of 11, Zhan Tianyou was successfully admitted to the "Preparatory Class for Young Children Going Abroad" held by Qing ** because of his excellent academic performance, and went to the United States for further study for 9 years.
During his studies in the United States, he did not indulge in the life of drunken money, but devoted himself to the study of cutting-edge science and technology, determined to serve the motherland and promote the development of national industry with what he had learned.
In 1878, Zhan Tianyou was admitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of Yale University in the United States, majoring in railway engineering. He is convinced that in order to achieve China's development, the first task is to build a railway network extending in all directions, and with efficient means of transportation, it is possible to fully cover the factors of production, realize the complementary advantages of various places, and accelerate the speed of economic development.
This is also the original intention of his choice of this major.
Yale University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States, along with Harvard University. It is a member of the prestigious Ivy League, which gathers the best quality educational resources in the world.
In this fierce competitive environment, Zhan Tianyou stood out and became an excellent high-achieving student. He earned a bachelor's degree in railway engineering from Yale University in just three years, with the first grade in mathematics, and decided to return to his homeland after rejecting the high salaries offered by foreign companies.
In 1881, at the age of 20, Zhan Tianyou returned to his motherland after a nine-year absence. He saw the ruined scenes on the streets of his motherland and felt a great sense of responsibility. He immediately found the relevant departments of Qing**, reported his study abroad, and expressed his enthusiasm and determination for the construction of the national railway.
However, all the railways in China at that time were built by foreigners and maintained by foreign teams, and Zhan Tianyou's talent had nowhere to be displayed. Although Zhan Tianyou's railway design talent was not fully utilized, his patriotism remained the same.
Later, he spent 7 years in the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, during which he never wavered in his determination to dedicate himself to the construction of the national railway.
In 1884, in the Battle of Majiang, the Fujian Navy Division was defeated by the French strong ships and artillery, and many wounded soldiers fell into the water and their lives were in danger. At this critical juncture, Zhan Tianyou disregarded his personal safety and jumped into the river to save people.
He soaked in the river for a whole day and successfully saved the lives of countless compatriots. During the period of "unemployment", Zhan Tianyou was not idle for a moment. Whether he is working as an English teacher in Guangzhou or doing nautical chart surveying and mapping part-time, he can quickly reach heights that others would take decades to achieve through his super learning and practical skills.
With his hard work and talent, it took him less than a year to draw the most detailed map of the coastal situation in modern China. In 1888, Zhan Tianyou finally saw the moon and entered the China Railway Company as an engineer.
However, despite its name as the China Railway Company, all the railways built in China at that time were invested and designed by foreigners, and China was only responsible for providing cheap labor, and had no autonomy.
Despite this, Zhan Tianyou still relies on his talent and expertise to provide help and support to foreign designers.
China's railway industry is booming, and the construction of the Tianjin-Chongqing railway is full of challenges. The railway crosses the Luan River, requiring the construction of an iron bridge across the river at the junction of Luan and Changli counties.
However, after field investigation, it was found that the sediment layer of the Luanhe River was thicker than expected, and the drop between the middle and upper reaches was more than 700 meters, and the maximum flood discharge was 34,000 cubic meters per second.
To this end, Li Hongzhang hired Jinda, the top bridge architect in Britain, and recruited German and Japanese designers, but they could not solve this problem. Under such circumstances, Zhan Tianyou offered himself to undertake the task of building the iron bridge, saying that this is a Chinese railway and that the Chinese should solve the problem.
Jinda was initially skeptical about the difficulties encountered in the design of the Luanhe Bridge, but he understood that the project could not be halted, so he decided to give Zhan Tianyou a chance.
Zhan Tianyou seized this opportunity, with his rich experience and innovative thinking, invented the "pneumatic caisson method", solved the oxygen problem of underwater construction, and the piers of the iron bridge were completed ahead of schedule.
This achievement amazed many foreign experts, who called Zhan Tianyou an "incredible" figure.
Zhan Tianyou challenged the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway: the construction period was tight, the funds were small, and the difficulty was great In 1905, Qing ** asked Zhan Tianyou for help and asked him to preside over the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, the 44-year-old Zhan Tianyou was extremely excited about it, but he also quickly realized the difficulty of the challenge.
The person in charge told him that it would take at least 20 million taels to build the railway according to the foreigner's method, while Qing ** could only spend about 1 million taels a year at most.
However, Zhan Tianyou was not intimidated by this huge funding gap, and he immediately organized several competent students and workers to carry heavy measuring instruments on their backs and shuttle between the mountains to conduct field surveys.
In the dark, they determined the project plan, drew the railway design map, and constantly brainstormed to optimize and optimize the project budget, and finally succeeded in formulating a blueprint for the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway that could be realized.
The design of the steep slope of the Badaling section of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway originally required the excavation of tunnels in the mountains according to the ideas of foreigners, but this was not only time-consuming and costly, but also extremely difficult to construct. Therefore, with his courage to innovate, Zhan Tianyou abandoned the traditional design and tried the solution of the herringbone railway.
This method takes advantage of the terrain and does not dig tunnels to build railways, which avoids the difficulty and cost of engineering. However, this design also brought a problem, that is, the built railway slope was too large, and the existing locomotive did not have enough traction, which threatened the safety of the train.
If a train derails on a steep mountain slope, the consequences can be devastating. In the face of doubts, Zhan Tianyou smiled slightly and confidently said his solution: "One front of the car can't be pulled, what about the two front cars?" ”
His idea is unique, the herringbone track line used by the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway realizes the problem of fast head change and insufficient power on steep slopes, which is the principle of the turnaround line downhill, which makes the train run more efficiently and safely.
The early completion of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway reflects the excellent management and top-level design of Zhan Tianyou and his team, and also reflects the importance and financial support of Qing ** to railway construction.
Compared with other railways built in the same period, the construction cost of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway per kilometer is only 4860,000 taels, but its construction is much more difficult than other railways. As the founder of China's "infrastructure madness", Zhan Tianyou definitely deserves his name.
The history of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has come to an end, and a new park has come into being After a hundred years, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway has carried important transportation tasks and has undergone several reconstructions and additions, witnessing the process of China's transformation from weak to strong.
In 2016, the preparation for the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway made this meritorious railway finally rest. In 2018, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was included in the list of China's industrial heritage protection.
In 2019, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou high-speed railway was completed and opened to traffic, and the train speed increased from 30 kilometers per hour to 350 kilometers per hour, witnessing the development of China's railways and comprehensive national strength, and imprinting the memory of an era.
Although Zhan Tianyou's Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway was "abandoned" due to the changes of the times, it is a symbol of our nation's indomitable spirit and should not be forgotten by future generations. At the end of 2017, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Heritage Park was officially established, and it is planned to rebuild the park on the original site, so that these "old objects" that carry China's industrial civilization and historical memory will be revitalized.
The park mainly includes three types of railway relics: one is Tsinghua University Railway Station, New Tsinghua University Station and Xizhimen Station, the second is the buildings along the railway, such as the Xizhimen Locomotive Depot Building Complex, the Rail Welding Factory, the New Station of Tsinghua Park of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Crossing Signal Booth, etc., and the third is the remains of railway construction, such as steel rails, turnouts, signals, milestones, ramp monuments, etc.
The design concept of the park is to bring the greenery of the suburbs into the city and create an "urban garden" in Beijing, and these railway relics are the embellishments of the garden, connecting them through pedestrian and bicycle paths, providing citizens with a good place to relax, relax and exercise.
With the active participation of the public and the joint voting of experts and citizens, we have determined the theme of the protection planning and design of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway heritage - "Three-line Tapestry, Beautiful Beijing-Zhangjiakou".
This theme is inspired by the three main lines of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Heritage Park - the history line, the life line and the innovation line. The historical line represents the commemoration of China's development process in the past, the life line symbolizes sharing and co-construction, and the innovation line symbolizes hope and rebirth.
These three main lines are intertwined with each other, like a "three-line tapestry", showing the past, present and future of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway. By preserving and utilizing the relics of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, we will provide a variety of facilities and services to make it a place of diverse living that can be shared across all bands.
We will also introduce scientific and technological innovation into the park to create a futuristic space for science and technology, making the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Heritage Park a place with both historical heritage and modern atmosphere.
The first phase of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Heritage Park is in full swing, and although it has not yet been officially unveiled, its high-tech content and rich cultural and artistic atmosphere are already full of expectations.
According to the plan, the heritage park will display the heritage of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway in the form of cultural performances, using modern and innovative methods to stimulate visitors' sensory experience and enhance their sense of interaction and participation.
For example, the space-time corridor created by holographic projection technology connects the past and the present, allowing visitors to distinguish between reality and illusion, as if they are in the interweaving of fantasy and reality, and re-experience the historical changes of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway.
Feel the charm of the slow life of the city, and the Zhan Tianyou train will take you to enjoy a different scenery. Retaining part of the tracks of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway, renovating coal-fired steam locomotives and carriages, and utilizing the S2 line, we offer a low-speed sightseeing train experience with one departure a day, allowing you to enjoy a unique train sightseeing tour on the Zhan Tianyou train.
During the Winter Olympics, the 800-meter route of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway (Zhangjiakou) has been put into trial operation, and if the long-term train can be successfully opened, then it will be a unique global train sightseeing and cultural tourism project, and there may be a scene of train tickets "hard to find" again.
In order to cater to the current "check-in" tourism mode of young people, we have also thoughtfully designed a guidebook and commemorative stamps for important nodes along the route.
Our goal is to increase the participation in the heritage culture of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway and create a mobile Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway Museum, so that more people can feel the history and charm of the railway.
Although the iron boss is no longer the mainstream of travel, the railway still plays an important role in urban development, and the value of railway sites in terms of history, culture, economy, environmental aesthetics and other aspects cannot be ignored.
Through static preservation, the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway excavates the value of railway heritage, perfectly integrates history and future, injects new vitality into the abandoned railway, and also provides inspiration for the protection of other historical sites.