Chapter 303: The Small Steam Engine

Li Di’s private possession, a small American steam engine, was successfully imitated under the concerted efforts of Jiang Ye and the others at the machine factory. Many of the special parts were handcrafted by the two fitters, Sun Li and Xiao Gui. The boiler of this steam engine was particularly small, and its design was very ingenious in many aspects, which gave the two fitters quite a headache.

The imitation was 30% larger in size and 25% smaller in power. Overall, it was basically adequate.

“Don’t underestimate it. Compared to the portable steam engines we brought, its output efficiency is much higher,” Zhou Bili said. “Fortunately, we’re imitating it now. If it were a year ago, we really wouldn’t have been able to.”

In the past year and a half, the machine factory had continuously added various specialized equipment for its own use, and the tooling had gradually been completed. Coupled with constant production practice, their skill level had improved rapidly. They had become more and more proficient in using the tools at their disposal and had also gained a lot of experience in selecting substitute materials.

This small steam engine was quickly finalized and put into mass production because it was light enough to be equipped on sampans, and the motorization of such small boats was urgently needed by the Transmigration Group. It was not only used for inland river transportation but also installed on slightly larger boats for port patrol and security.

Following instructions, the Industrial and Energy Committee installed this steam engine on the transport boats, converting them into tugboats. Then, according to Wang Luobin’s blueprints, they manufactured special shallow-draft small barges. Zhan Wuya was shocked when he saw the blueprints.

“Chief Engineer Wang, is this a barge?”

“Of course, it’s a barge.”

“To me, it looks more like a coffin,” Zhan Wuya said. “The dimensions are a bit larger, and the waterline is slightly streamlined, but basically, it’s a floating coffin!”

To reduce the weight of the vessel, this small barge was made of riveted iron plates, which looked much flimsier than the wooden transport boats, but of course, its draft was also much shallower.

“That’s how it’s supposed to be,” Wang Luobin said. “The British built these for transporting coal on their canals.” Britain was the first country to systematically develop canals on a large scale. The early canals did not have much water, nor did they have reliable power. They were often towed by a single horse, so they couldn’t accommodate large boats. In some places with large differences in elevation, special boat lifts were used to pull the barges over the drop, so the barges were not large and their draft could not be very deep. A small, converted tugboat was enough to tow 10 of these barges, with each barge having a payload of about 2.5 tons.

“2.5 tons is not its maximum capacity. It’s the payload set considering a safe draft. If the channel conditions are better, carrying 4 tons is not a problem.”

However, the draft of this thing was indeed shallow enough to meet the navigation needs on the Nandu River. The tugboats equipped with small steam engines could also barely pass through. Of course, the payload of the tugboats had to be carefully calculated. They couldn’t carry too much fuel, only enough for a one-way trip. In any case, they could refuel at the Hai family’s pier, so it wasn’t a major problem.

Zhan Wuya planned to convert 4 transport boats into tugboats. Each tugboat could transport 25 tons per trip. The motorboats were faster and could make two trips a day, so the daily transport of lignite from the Jiazi mine would be 200 tons. In addition, after the coal preparation plant was put into operation, they would be transporting clean coal, not the raw coal that originally contained 60% impurities. All things considered, this would increase the daily transport volume to a level equivalent to 550 tons of the original transport volume, which was enough for the coal coking combined plant.

“In reality, it’s impossible to maintain such a large transport volume,” Zhan Wuya said. “I don’t think the equipment availability of these steam engines will be that high. After deducting the time for regular maintenance and troubleshooting, we can probably keep 3 tugboats on the route. Even so, the daily transport volume will be 150 tons.”

“You’re too optimistic. If you ask me, if you can keep 2 of these tugboats running simultaneously after half a year, your machine factory will have had a major stroke of luck,” Wang Luobin said.

“Small steam engines will definitely be mass-produced on a large scale after half a year. If one breaks, we’ll just replace it!” Zhan Wuya was full of confidence. “We’re just waiting for the iron ore from Tiandu to be brought back.”

Wang Luobin smiled. The confidence was good, but things were obviously not that simple.

Landing 3,000 people on a barren beach was an operation larger in scale than D-Day, and they had to carry out construction in three directions simultaneously. The amount of supplies to be prepared was correspondingly much larger.

All of Lin’gao’s production capacity was running at full load, producing the various materials needed for the Yulin Fort landing. Just the work clothes alone required 9,000 sets. Mo Xiaoan had originally planned to make 6,000 sets, calculating that one set for each worker to wear and two spare sets would be enough. But when he reported the production plan, Ma Qianzhu told him the number was insufficient.

“You’ve never done infrastructure work. It doesn’t just wear out clothes; it eats them. Four sets per person is the minimum. And shoes, at least three pairs per person.”

“Damn, that’s a lot. The canvas and coarse cloth allocated to me by the Planning Committee won’t be enough.”

“Just have Guangzhou purchase another batch,” Ma Qianzhu thought of the last time Guangzhou had sent a telegram saying that there was a British agent there trying to sell a large batch of Indian cotton cloth at a very cheap price. Unfortunately, at that time, they had an overstock of domestic cloth, so he hadn’t approved the purchase.

“I wonder if it’s still available now,” he muttered to himself.

“What did you say, Commissioner Ma?”

“Nothing,” Ma Qianzhu covered up. “Go and get it done quickly.”

“But I still have the application for more sewing machines…”

“I approve it.” Ma Qianzhu glanced at the application, quickly calculating in his head how much of the inventory materials it would consume, and agreed.

“That’s great! But you have to tell Zhan Wuya and the others to hurry up for me, or we won’t have time to make the clothes.”

“I know, I know. You go and do your thing. I won’t see you out.”

After sending Mo Xiaoan away, he quickly called the vehicle factory to ask if the vehicle manufacturing quota could be completed on time.

“It’s definitely not going to be on time,” Li Chiqi shouted from the other end of the phone.

The vehicle factory, under Li Chiqi’s charge, was extremely busy. The factory had to produce three different types of vehicles simultaneously: one was the railway cars for the simple railway; one was the mine carts for the mining area; and the last was the “Zidian Kai” (Violet Lightning Modified) single-wheeled wheelbarrow.

Manufacturing three types of vehicles at the same time had Li Chiqi and Jiang Muzhi running around like headless chickens. Fortunately, the Bao Lei family, who had been recruited from Foshan, played the role of native technical backbone.

The Bao Lei family was entrusted with important responsibilities as soon as they left the quarantine camp, becoming the foremen of the wheel manufacturing team. The Bao father and son, who had gone from being “like beggars” to having food, clothing, and shelter, were extremely grateful to the “Australian masters” and worked particularly hard. They soon produced various wheels of different diameters according to the requirements of the vehicle factory.

After seeing their craftsmanship, Jiang Muzhi felt that the products were quite good. Except for the Bao father and son’s poor grasp of tolerances, the quality was perfect. The only drawback was the slow manufacturing speed.

The Bao father and son were fascinated by the “Zidian Kai” wheelbarrow designed by the Transmigration Group. The structure of the single-wheeled cart was simple and easy to build. The Bao father and son had built many in the past, but how the Australians’ wheelbarrows could be made so light and so easy to push was a secret he had always wanted to figure out.

In fact, Bao Lei still harbored some ulterior motives. After arriving in Lin’gao, having no worries about food and clothing made him grateful to the Australians, but the Zidian Kai had aroused his greed. If he could learn how to make this wheelbarrow, wouldn’t he get rich by opening his own workshop?

But he soon realized he was dreaming. Although Bao Lei was poor, he was very proud of his craftsmanship. However, one day, he found an excuse to sneak into the final assembly workshop and witnessed the assembly process of the Zidian Kai. His confidence was completely shaken.

The craftsman making the Zidian Kai used only a few simple iron picks with wooden handles to assemble the cart from a pile of loose parts. Bao Lei had built carts himself and knew that assembling a cart was the most troublesome part. You had to constantly adjust various parts, sometimes inserting wooden shims, sometimes taking parts off to plane them. Assembling a wheelbarrow, even if everything went smoothly, would take half a day.

Now, this craftsman had assembled more than twenty in less than half a shichen (one hour). Each one was completed in one go. This was a huge shock to him. Dozens of carts, and the parts of each cart were exactly the same size! The Australians were truly skilled craftsmen! From then on, his fear of Li Chiqi and the others as his employers was mixed with a kind of respect for them as fellow craftsmen.

Finally, when he saw the rolling bearings on the wheelbarrow’s axle, Bao Lei knew that he would never be able to imitate the Zidian Kai in his lifetime. Even the crudest imitation was a pipe dream. The Ming dynasty might have many skilled craftsmen who could make iron into small round beads and put them in a round box, but he could never purchase such round boxes in batches to install on wheelbarrows—if he did, no one would be able to afford the wheelbarrows he imitated.

From then on, Bao Lei was completely devoted to the Australians. He worked with all his heart and no longer held back his skills. He was also much more enthusiastic about mentoring apprentices—he knew that his skills were nothing compared to the Australians’.

When the machine factory, after consulting its records, specially manufactured several dedicated wheel-making machines for the vehicle factory, Bao Lei developed a great fear of these powerful machines that could knead hardwood like noodles. He knew very well that these machines could completely replace his craftsmanship—and do it better.

For this reason, he worked harder than other craftsmen to learn how to use it and soon became the most skilled worker in the wheel-making team. His young son, Bao Bohong, also improved his skills rapidly.

“It seems that traditional craftsmen can also fully accept new technology,” Li Chiqi said.

Jiang Muzhi sneered, “Hmph, that’s because he’s a pauper working for us. If he had his own workshop, do you think he’d be willing?”