Appreciation of Prose "Building Lhasa Railway"

Zhan Tianyou is an outstanding patriotic engineer in China. Under his auspices, the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou was successfully built for the first time. This is the first railway trunk line designed and built entirely by China engineers and technicians. The railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou is 200 kilometers long, which is the traffic artery connecting North China and Northwest China. At that time, as soon as the Qing government put forward the construction plan, some imperialist countries came out to obstruct it. They all want to fight for the right to build this railway and further control the northern part of our country. The imperialists refused to let people go, and the matter dragged on for a long time Finally, they put forward a condition: if the Qing government used its own engineers to build the railway, they would stop asking questions. They thought that with such a threat, the railway could not be started, and finally they had to ask them for help. The imperialists got it all wrong. China had its own engineers at that time, and Zhan Tianyou was one of them.

1905, the Qing government appointed Zhan Tianyou as the chief engineer to build the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway. When the news came out, it sensationalized the whole country. Everyone says we can win a sigh of relief this time. The imperialists think this is a joke. A foreign newspaper said contemptuously, "China engineers who can build a railway north of Nankou have not yet been born." It turns out that from the south exit to the north through Juyongguan to Badaling, there are mountains, deep streams and cliffs all the way. They think that famous engineers all over the world dare not try such a difficult project easily. As for China people, they can't eat it all anyway.

Zhan Tianyou, not afraid of difficulties and ridicule, resolutely accepted the task and immediately began to survey the line. Where to cut mountains, where to build bridges, where to level steep slopes and where to reduce curvature all need to be investigated and carefully calculated. Zhan Tianyou often encourages the staff, saying: "Our work must be accurate first, and we can't be a little sloppy." He personally took students and workers, carried benchmarks, and carried theodolite to fix points and draw on the cliff. The Great Wall is often windy and dusty, and if you are not careful, you are in danger of falling into a deep valley. No matter how bad the conditions are, Zhan Tianyou always insists on working in the wild. During the day, he climbed mountains and surveyed routes; In the evening, he paints and calculates under the oil lamp. In order to find a suitable route, he often asks local farmers. When encountering difficulties, he always thought: This is the first railway built by China people themselves, and it must be built; Otherwise, it will not only make foreigners laugh, but also make engineers in China lose confidence.

The railway has to pass through many high mountains, so it is necessary to dig tunnels, among which Juyongguan and Badaling tunnels are the most arduous projects. Juyongguan Mountain is high and the rock stratum is thick, so Zhan Tianyou decided to adopt the method of simultaneous excavation from both ends to the middle. The spring water at the top of the mountain seeped downward, and the tunnel was full of mud. There was no water pump on the construction site, so Zhan Tianyou took the lead in carrying buckets to drain water. He often eats and lives with the workers and never leaves the construction site. Badaling Tunnel is over 1 100 meters long, which is three times as long as Juyongguan Tunnel. He discussed with the old workers and decided to adopt the intermediate sinking method. First, drill a shaft down from the top of the mountain, and then dig at both ends separately. At the same time, the outer ends were constructed, and the construction period was shortened by half.

The railway passes near Qinglong Bridge, with a particularly steep slope. How can a train climb such a steep slope? Zhan Tianyou designed a herringbone line along the mountain. When the northbound train arrives at the south exit, two locomotives are used, one is pulling in front and the other is pushing back. After crossing the Qinglong Bridge, the train went northeast, crossed the fork of the herringbone line and turned upside down. The original locomotive was pulled and pushed, making the train turn to the northwest. In this way, it is much easier for the train to go up the hill.

The railway was completed in less than four years, two years ahead of schedule. This incident gave a powerful counterattack to the imperialists who despised China. Today we go to Badaling by train and pass Qinglong Bridge Station. We can see a bronze statue, which is the statue of Zhan Tianyou.