Holy Roman Empire

Before the construction of the railway, there was another problem before the Austrian government, the standard gauge of the railway.

This standard cannot be formulated indiscriminately. Whether a wide-gauge railway or a narrow-gauge railway is good is determined according to actual needs.

From the narrowest rail gauge of 610mm to the widest rail gauge of 2141mm, they are all options.Of course, if the reality requires it, you can continue to shrink or enlarge the gauge.

The advantage of the wide-gauge railway is that the stability of the train is improved, it is not easy to roll over, and the stability and comfort of the train can be improved.The disadvantage is that the turning radius is too large and the construction cost increases.

Of course, the track is wider, and the carriage can also be wider, and the load capacity will increase accordingly. The prerequisite is that the railway can carry a greater load capacity, which requires comprehensive consideration, not the light track distance.

In general, the cargo capacity of wide-gauge railways is larger. Due to other factors, the load capacity may not increase.

In terms of passenger transportation, the wide-gauge railway is clearly more dominant, with more spacious space and a more comfortable experience.

It is not necessary to consider the things that are high on the track change technology in this era, including the high-performance trains of later generations, which cannot be produced in this era.

Perhaps later narrow-gauge railways can also run trains that are more than three meters wide, which is obviously not possible in this era.If there is not much problem in the plain area, once you go uphill and downhill, it will be overturned in minutes.

In addition, political and military factors must be considered.For the purpose of national defense security, the purpose of constructing railways with different standards from neighboring countries is to prevent the enemy from using their railways quickly during the war.

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"Your Majesty, why do you have to unify the gauges of all railroads? Let's change to a fixed station, won't we?

In this way, we can build railways according to different needs and minimize construction costs."Minister of Railways Stein asked in doubt

Franz explained: "We have to have efficiency issues. Think about how long it takes to unload and reload the cargo from one train to another."

Stein thought about it and said, "Your Majesty, time is nothing at this moment. The speed of train transportation is much faster than traditional transportation.

Compared with the railway construction cost, the increased labor cost is not worth mentioning.Our funds are limited and there is no need to waste it here."

Franz rubbed his forehead, and he finally knew what was going on in the railroad chaos of various countries in this era.

Limited by the times, the thinking and cognition of people in this era is different from that of later generations.

People have not yet entered the era of fast-paced life, and everyone does not think how precious time is.The labor cost is even lower, which is not ridiculous, and the labor value is not felt.

However, Franz still had to find a way to convince them.Don't think that the Germans are stubborn, in fact, the Austrians are not much worse, especially the engineers with such low EQ.

As senior talents of this era, they have their own persistence.If they can't persuade, Franz can only force them to execute.

Obviously, this is not what he wanted.If these people are not allowed to do their utmost to do their work, the design of the railway will be slightly passive, resulting in tens of millions of losses.

In order to avoid being pitted, the core designers of the Austrian Railways are a group of technical houses in the country. Even if the external technical personnel are all from the German area, all of them are the masters of "three views are correct".

Franz replied: "The future development needs of the country are related to the country's next strategy. Are there any questions?"

"No more, Your Majesty." Stein replied

The difference in thinking and cognition was unclear for a while, and Franz was too lazy to explain it, just find a reason to fool it.

Anyway, Huyou, a technician with a slick head, is much easier than Huyou politicians. He also has to take the design basis given by the Ministry of Railways to convince the government.

There is no way, here the Austrian Empire.Although the imperial power is high, the ministers below also have a high status. If the emperor does too much, it makes them unhappy, and the people directly leave the mark.

Is it easy to change people?

It's really easy, people who want to be officials are everywhere.

However, it is difficult to find a minister who is capable, loyal, and prestigious.

If you want to do whatever you want, it will not take long before the custody is all a group of flatterers. The emperor's command is the decree, unconditional support.

Whether it can be carried out, no one knows.But Franz knew that 80% of the good policies in the world changed their taste when they reached the bottom.

If there is no strong government supervision, the bureaucrats will interpret it based on their own interests.

No one likes subordinates who adhere to principles. Such people often hurt the leadership's face. Since the emperor took the lead, they naturally have to follow suit. In the end, the rest of the government is smooth.

What the consequences will be, Franz dare not think about it.Anyway, as long as the upper layer rots, the lower layer will fall faster than ordinary people imagine.

To prevent this from happening, you can only formulate a set of rules. As the rule maker, you must also be bound by the rules.

"According to the actual situation in Austria, you have calculated a five-year annual economic growth rate, considered our transportation needs within 50 years, and designed a standard system suitable for Austria. Is there a problem?" Franz asked

"No!" Stein replied

Technically, he is still confident. As for the issue of economic growth rate, it is the government ’s problem, whether it can reach 5% or not, regardless of his business.

Franz seemed to think of something, and added: "Wait a minute, we must also consider connecting the Holy Roman League and the Balkans. In the future, we will promote this set of standards to them, and eventually everyone's railway network will be integrated. . "

The ultimate goal of the establishment of the Holy Roman League is to achieve economic integration, and the unified railway standard is naturally an indispensable part.

It is not necessary for other parts of the Balkan Peninsula, but Belgrade must be won. This is the gateway to the Balkan Peninsula. Once mastered, it controls the lifeline of the Balkan Peninsula.

The two principalities of the Danube Basin must also be in their hands. This is related to Hungary ’s grain exports, and it is also an important import and export trade channel for Austria.(Principality of Wallachia, Principality of Moldavia)

Before the railway was connected, Hungary ’s food was transported to the Black Sea through the Danube River and shipped to European countries for sale. The import and export trade in Hungary was also heavily dependent on the Danube.

This is why Austria is firmly opposed to Russia ’s occupation of the Black Sea Strait, which threatens Austria ’s national security.

Professional things are still left to the professionals. The Austrian railway project is still in a hurry.

Who made Franz underestimate the investment enthusiasm of the nobles?

Perhaps in many materials, the nobles are decaying and backward, but in fact they are also conservative and have progress.

Nobles have received the best education from childhood to most, received information that ordinary people cannot reach, and broadened their horizons.

In this case, how can the next generation of students be idiots?

They conservatively oppose political change. That is determined by their own interests. How can it be possible for those with vested interests to oppose their own interests?

The real idiot has long seen God. The 1848 Austrian Revolution also saw a major reshuffle within the aristocracy. Many aristocrats who were misjudged and blinded by greed have been removed.

At this time, the concepts of the nobles also changed, or the reality forced them to change.

In order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, Franz promoted the liberation of serfs and the redemption of land, which was actually a concession made by the noble class.

The French example tells them that if the concession revolution is not spread, the final loss will be even greater, so they make concessions while helping the government suppress the rebellion.

Some of the unlucky eggs in the revolutionary vortex chose to escape in this change. As a result, when the overall situation was fixed, the land had been forcibly bought.

After losing the pillar of land, these people took the lead in finding new projects to transform.At this time, the railway appeared, and many people saw the potential of this new type of transportation.

They need a new industry to maintain their family business. The railway is the choice of many people. With the efforts of so many people, the speed of railway construction has been artificially accelerated.

This is the case. The front line is already preparing for construction, and the standards for railway tracks have not yet been released.

The government has provided basic information on transportation requirements.It is not difficult for railway designers to calculate the capacity requirements. It is even simpler to determine the railway standards based on the capacity requirements.

Soon the design standards were placed in front of Franz, and he could not understand other parameters of his layman. The only thing that attracted his attention was the gauge.

The Ministry of Railways proposed four plans, namely: 1524mm standard system, 1600mm standard system, 1665mm standard system, and 1712mm standard system.

The main roads started in the early stage are all commercial and prosperous areas.Both passenger and freight demand are the highest.

When establishing a railway standard system, it was natural to focus on the requirements of this region, and after considering 50 years, this standard naturally rose a lot.

Without narrow-gauge railways, this era was limited by train manufacturing technology, and the transportation volume of narrow-gauge railways was limited. Due to insufficient stability, safety accidents are prone to occur, and they are rarely used in the construction of trunk railways.

The final choice is in the hands of the Austrian government. In theory, the above options are now feasible. Which one to choose becomes a problem.