African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 584 Hessian Railway Idea

"Ernst, I remembered a question. When I was immigrating to Chad recently, I wanted to know when you plan to extend the northern railway to the Great Lakes region, or build a super railway from east to west." Prince Karl asked road.

This is related to the work of Prince Karl. Now he is mainly responsible for transporting immigrants to the Chadian colony of Sigmaringen, so he needs to borrow the Northern Railway.

Although the Northern Railway is long, its length is limited and ends abruptly after extending to the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) area.

Chad only walked half the distance to Mombasa, and the remaining half had to be completed on land by foot or animal-drawn vehicles.

This is naturally a very painful thing, and this is just population migration. If you include pots, pans, guns and ammunition and all the items needed for colonization, then traveling long distances is quite a headache. That’s why Prince Carl came to Downes Special railway issues.

"Uncle Carl, of course I have had such an idea, but there is no need to implement it. The main body of the Great Lakes region is mainly developed along the periphery of the Great Lakes. Its transportation takes the Great Lakes as the core and then radiates to the four sides. Therefore, our Northern Railway in East Africa originally It will only be built as far as Kisumu, and the rest of the journey will be done by shipping first," Ernst explained.

However, Ernst’s explanation, which was almost the reason for the construction of the Northern Railway in the first place, did not satisfy Prince Karl.

“The turnover of Kisumu City is indeed not difficult for transportation along the Great Lakes region, but the area of ​​East Africa is huge! Your land does not stop at the Great Lakes region.” Prince Karl advised.

“Uncle Carl, there is indeed a long distance to the west, but there is no need to build a railway there at the moment.” Ernst replied.

 “Well, why?”

"First of all, our current development focus in East Africa is on the three central provinces, namely Matabele Province, Hohenzollern Province, and Swabia Province, which are the plateau areas south of the Congo rainforest. Therefore, various projects in East Africa Resources should be tilted towards the south.

Of course, this is not the main problem, but there is no need to start the northern railway extension now. Railway construction requires traffic. This traffic can be people or goods, and the populations of the northern provinces are not large. As for goods, except for food, There is no other demand, like the Central Railway in the South, which can not only transport grain, but also shoulder the task of transporting bulk minerals. "Ernst replied.

The cost issue has never been the most important thing in East Africa, but it will not be ignored. In Ernst's opinion, the northern railway is more than sufficient now. It is of course necessary to extend it to the west, but there is no need to start it now, but to wait a few years. Not bad.

Ernst believes that the development value of several provinces in the west and north of the Great Lakes region is not high and the population is sparse, so there is no need to build railways.

As for Hesse Province, you can consider it. The most important thing for Hesse Province in East Africa is rubber, and the prospects of the rubber industry are very broad. However, Ernst does not think that the Northern Railway is a good choice for transporting rubber from Hesse Province. .

So Ernst went on to say to Prince Carl: "Uncle Carl, railways are a relatively loss-making business in East Africa. It can be said that the construction of the Central Railway and the Northern Railway cost a sky-high price, but now extending the Northern Railway actually cannot give us East Africa brings tangible benefits.

However, the railway problem you mentioned reminded me of something, that is, the transportation problem in Hesse Province. We now have several industries in East Africa that require rubber from Hesse Province as basic materials.

The traffic conditions in Hesse are quite bad. I had never thought of solving this problem through railways before. Generally, after railway construction is completed, the possibility of natural interference is minimal. After all, it operates on fixed tracks, and fixed tracks need to be laid. Roadbed. ” ˆ ˆ The reason why Ernst said this is also because of the railway’s strong adaptability to the environment. Thick gravel must be laid under the railway, the roadbed is high, drainage and other facilities are in place, and maintenance is easier than that of roads.

Prince Karl: "That's not good. We can build the Northern Railway all the way to Hesse. Although this option is not as good as building the railway to Azande in the north, it is still acceptable."

Ernst shook his head and said: "No, on the contrary, I think solving the transportation problem in Hesse Province, especially the transportation problem of strategic products such as rubber, not only has nothing to do with the Northern Railway, but has a lot to do with the Central Railway."

 Prince Karl: “Why do you say that?”

Ernst replied: "It is mainly related to the industrial layout of East Africa. The rubber production in the Great Lakes region is enough to meet the needs of Nairobi and Mombasa in the downstream, while the cities and factories in the south require larger quantities because the cities and factories in the south are more numerous. many.

Furthermore, Hesse Province is located along the Mitumba Mountains, from north to south. It is naturally easier for us to build railways in this direction. The changes in contour lines are minimal, and it is easiest to build railways. In addition, this can take care of the large areas within Hesse Province. most areas.

On the contrary, if we extend the northern railway, we need to cross the Mitumba Mountains, and then we still have to build railways in Hesse Province according to the north-south distribution. That is equivalent to doubling the amount of work, and the result is still the same. This is a waste. . "

Prince Karl: "No way! If the Northern Railway is extended and connected with the Central Railway in Hesse Province, the Northern Railway can be connected to the Central Railway, which will be a good thing for East Africa."

Ernst: "But the price will be doubled, and we won't be able to use it in a short period of time, so we should just build a northern extension of the central railway. I think it is enough."

According to Ernst's vision, if the construction is completed, the Central Railway in East Africa will change from the original "T" shape to a "Ten" shape.

  In other words, the central railway can directly connect the navigable area in the middle reaches of the Congo River, solve the problem of difficulty in transporting rubber out of Hesse Province, and at the same time solve the problem of internal development of the Congo rainforest.

Of course, the development Ernst refers to is not really about economic construction in the Congolese rainforest, but it is to facilitate the East African government to send troops to inspect the interior of the rainforest and try to drive away the hidden indigenous people inside, or to facilitate the transportation of supplies to East Africa. Build some military strongholds to prevent other forces from entering East Africa.

If the construction of this railway in Hesse Province is completed, the transportation cost of rubber in East Africa will be reduced in the future, which will be of great benefit to the development of many industries in East Africa. It will also make use of the development of mineral resources in Hesse Province. It is said that the strategic mineral tungsten is worthy of building this railway in East Africa, but this is considered from the perspective of future development of military industrial enterprises.

After the completion of the Hesse Provincial Railway, the title of the Central Railway's East African Crossroads can also be implemented. In the future, a "meter" shaped railway pattern will be formed, which is of great significance in driving the economic development of the heart of East Africa.

 (End of this chapter)