The liege had temporarily left his loyal capital, but the land continued to prosper in the steel-like order.
There was no social unrest or disorder. The soldiers were still carrying out their orders, the security officers were still maintaining law and order, the market was still prosperous, and the night was still safe. People were once worried that Cecil would fall into a certain degree of turmoil after the liege's temporary departure, but it turned out that the government office system and strict laws established by Gwen Cecil worked. The liege was gone, but the law was still there.
And in the city of Cecil, which still maintained its prosperity and vitality, new things emerged one after another.
In the east of the city, at the edge of the factory district, at the end of the 'mechanical square', thousands of citizens who heard the news gathered on the platform and the open space. And more people were coming from the factory district, the dock area, and other urban areas by car or on foot, making the open space even more crowded.
It was already winter, and although the first snow had yet to come, the rain a few days ago still brought about a significant drop in temperature. At this time, there was a moderate northern wind blowing from the other side of the Whitewater River, reminding the people of the cold winter. But the low temperature did not dampen the enthusiasm of the citizens. More and more people gathered on the open space, gathered on the few open spaces on the platform, and craned their heads to look at the area in the east that was separated by the security team and the soldiers. And in their sight, a strange structure, glittering runes, and strange 'pillars' on both sides of the road stretched straight out to the end of their sight.
The citizens were guessing what the 'magic train' described in yesterday's broadcast was, or enthusiastically discussing how many new jobs and income this new thing could bring. And the sharper ones noticed that the reporters from Cecil's Weekly, Gossip, and Strange News and Natural History Weekly had come to the top of the platform closest to the east and set up a magic network camera facing the strange 'road' as if to capture the big news.
Cecil's Weekly was the earliest newspaper in the duchy with the largest circulation, while Gossip and Strange News and Natural History Weekly were two newspapers that gradually rose in popularity in recent months. The former was founded by a few scholars from the north, while the latter was founded by a local enterprising businessman and a few craftsmen who were keen on modern technology. As more and more people in the fief became literate, and people had different reading interests, the audience of these two new reading materials was increasing day by day.
The people crowded around, guessing, and discussing the new thing that was about to appear, and the new thing did not keep them waiting for too long. Just as the newspaper advertised, 'the concept of time is a characteristic of the glorious people of Cecil'. As the large mechanical clock in the distant 'Gear Square' rang loudly, a melodious whistle came into the ears of the people..
The whistle reminded them of the sound of the increasing number of arcanotech boats on the White Water River, but it was sharper and more high-pitched. As the whistle became clearer, more and more people on the platform and the open space ahead became more and more restless, accompanied by more and more exclamations and praises.
A huge, astonishing engineering and arcanotech creation made of steel slowly moved out of a large building in the distance. It moved forward majestically and kept accelerating.
It was a chariot, but it was definitely not a chariot that one could imagine. If the previous chariot was more or less reminiscent of a carriage that did not need a horse to pull it, this thing in front of them was a product of a completely different concept.
It was made up of steel carriages that were connected together. Each carriage was larger than the largest magic vehicle. When they were connected together, there were more than ten of them. They looked like some kind of steel python that was crawling on the ground.
At the front and back of the 'steel python', there were a few carriages in a closed structure. The white box was roughly rectangular, with neatly inlaid windows on both sides. There were also pillars with shining runes and hidden mechanical structures fixed on the steel plates between the windows. Metal brackets, magical crystals, lamps, and other ancillary structures could be seen on the roof.
The middle of the 'steel python' was an open compartment. They were also made of steel and had a dark gray paint. The top opening was like a huge 'box'. Their style was obviously rougher than the front and back compartments, but they also had a sense of mechanical and industrial power. The bottom half and both sides of the compartment had heavy and reliable mechanical structures, and numbers that were bigger than a person were painted on them. The smarter people would understand the function of the 'box' after seeing it: it was obviously used to transport huge amounts of goods.
This was the 'magic train' mentioned in the magic network broadcast. It was an 'artificial behemoth' that could send thousands of people or thousands of tons of goods to a faraway place at one time, running between the plains and hills.
It blew the whistle again, and the mechanical structures on both sides of the train worked together to adjust the angle of the pillars that were shining with runes. The humming sound of magic power and the creaking sound of the mechanical structures under tremendous force sounded together. The 'artificial behemoth' moved forward solemnly, continuing to accelerate, and accelerate …
It had carried some technicians and workers, and the freight carriages were also loaded with a certain amount of materials. It would go to the end of the journey, Quarryton in the east of the city, in half a year, where the mechanical structure would be checked and adjusted. Then, the iron ore from Quarryton would be filled in each of the freight carriages and transported back to Cecil City.
Heti Cecil, the mature and elegant Grand Consul of the duchy in a red dress, stood on a high platform nearby. She watched the steel behemoth gradually move away with the technicians and officials of the government office. She had a solemn expression on her face, but there was a hint of relief and relief in her eyes.
It had finally set off. A large-scale project that involved the painstaking efforts of countless people had finally come to fruition. She could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
The round Nicholas Egg floated beside her, and a humming sound came from the huge metal ball. "It's not far from here to Quarryton. It'll arrive soon. It'll stay for half a day and spend most of its time checking the mechanical devices and runic structures, as well as the various sensors and controllers. It'll then return with a full load."
Rebecca, as the person in charge of the Magic Technology Department, was also present. The girl had a proud smile on her face. She put her hands on her waist and had a look of 'I've done a great job today' on her face. "If there's no problem during the operation, which I think there won't be. After all, I've tested it more than 80 times in the Origin laboratory. Then, we can continue to pave the tracks to the east of Quarryton and connect it to Gilan City. The station in Gilan City has already started construction. After receiving the order, they'll start paving the tracks at the same time. They'll pave the tracks in both the east and the west, merging it with the Cecil Line in the west, and going all the way to the White Sand Mine in the east... "
Rebecca still did not behave like a noble, but Heti was in a good mood at the moment and did not intend to be calculative. She just nodded slightly and said, "Everything will go smoothly."
It was not a long journey from Cecil City to Quarryton. The magical train was actually going on a trial run. On one hand, it was to test the train itself. On the other hand, it was also to test the energy supply system of the tracks. The train could only officially enter the stage of operation after passing this test.
Once the train officially started operation, the first line to be opened would be the Cecil -Quarryton -Gilan -White Sands Line. The first train to run on the tracks would also be a freight train. It would continuously send ore from the White Sand Mine back to the mainland to fill the metal gap caused by the recent construction of chariots, the addition of factories, and the expansion of the city. At the same time, the two arterial routes to the Rock Fortress in the north and the western region would also be started as soon as possible.
Heti looked at the silhouette of the train that was shrinking in her field of vision. She could not help but recall a previous argument with her ancestors and the changes to the train plan after the argument.
She rejected the train plan that her ancestors had already decided on. In the end... she installed "wheels" on the magical train.
Yes, the final production of the magical train actually had wheels underneath. In order to fit the V-shaped track, there were three sets of wheels. The wheels on the central axle and embedded at the bottom of the V-shaped track were the "main wheels" or "support wheels". They were used to provide necessary support when the train was stopped or under excessive load. The wheels on both sides of the train were inclined at a certain angle and were perpendicular to the two inclined planes of the V-shaped track. They were called "side wheels". On one hand, they were used to provide additional support to the body of the train. On the other hand, they were used to enhance stability and ensure safety when the train was swerving or experiencing left and right shaking.
These wheels were not powered. The power of the train still came from the repulsive structure on both sides of the train body.
She knew that the plan that her ancestors and Rebecca had finalized together at the beginning was a completely suspended train. She also admitted that such a train would indeed have a "magical beauty". It would fly at a low altitude, skimming over mountains and plains. It was fast, elegant, and reflected the power of magic everywhere.
But it required a lot of money, and the load was very limited.
As a Grand Consul who knew both technology and internal affairs, Heti not only understood the difficulties encountered during the development of the magical train and the principle of the final solution, but also knew how to calculate the cost. She knew that the idea of using the repulsive mechanism to propel the train was correct. It did solve the power problem. But in her opinion, the repulsive unit at the bottom of the track only needed to push the train up properly and let the force generated by the repulsive mechanism on both sides of the train be enough to propel the train forward. There was no need to let the whole train levitate at all. The excellent wheels were enough to make up for the lack of levitating force, enough to reduce friction and let the train move smoothly. It also made the body of the train more stable and safer, and the load capacity was also higher.
More importantly, the steel wheels were much cheaper than the repulsive runes that covered the entire track.
Of course, this would bring additional mechanical structure and wear and tear of the wheels (the repulsive unit hardly needed to worry about wear and tear). But compared to the reduction of the repulsive runes on the track and the increase in weight of the train, this cost was very cost-effective.
Fortunately and unsurprisingly, the ancestor finally agreed to her modification plan.
After rigorous calculations and repeated tests, the final product of the magical train was a balance between the 'wheels' and the 'track push'. It still retained about one-third of the track repulsive runes to reduce the pressure on the wheels, so that the relay piles on both sides could smoothly accelerate the train. When the train was empty, it could also let the train levitate slightly, making it easier for the empty train to be repaired, assembled, and transported. The wheels gave the train higher load and higher stability, so that there was no need to worry about a collision accident even when transporting a huge amount of goods or when the track energy was interrupted.
As for the 'repulsive pillars' on both sides of the train that provided power and the 'relay piles' on both sides of the track, there was no change. They were still the power source of the train moving forward.
After some calculations, the overall cost of the train and track was reduced by about one-third, and the load capacity was increased by a lot.
While Heti was thinking about the balance between cost and benefit of the magical train and its future development, Rebecca, who was standing next to her, was also quietly thinking about it.
From her point of view, the final model of the train was actually a magical engine with a special structure and a huge scale. It was essentially still relying on a repulsive mechanism to move the 'rotor', but its' rotor 'was a train running on a track. It moved along a line instead of rotating on the spot …
It could also be seen as a 'piston' that relied on relay propulsion and had a very long journey.
This specially designed 'huge engine' ingeniously solved the problem of insufficient power density of traditional engines because it no longer required the power of the entire train to be concentrated in a single head. Instead, the entire train, including the entire track, became part of the engine.
Perhaps this thing should be called a 'linear magical engine'? The third type of magical engine after the piston engine and the rotor engine?
On this day when the train set out and the wheel of history rumbled forward, the marquise's thoughts gradually scattered.
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