Decauville Railway Tien-Tsin – Tshing-Yang

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Tien-Tsin-Tshing-Yang
Demonstration of the Decauville railway on November 20, 1886 Decauville locomotive Fedora, N ° 26, 4.5 t empty weight
Demonstration of the Decauville railway on November 20, 1886

020 Decauville locomotive 'Fedora' N ° 26 de 4,5t poids a vide, a tender separe.jpg

Decauville locomotive Fedora , N ° 26, 4.5 t empty weight
Route length: 2 km
Gauge : 600 mm ( narrow gauge )
Legend
   
 Tien-Tsin , Tseng Laisun's home, Canton Road
   
 Cemetery, on what was then the BME site
   
 Electric Light Works, power plant
   
 Tshing-Yang , gate on Race Course Road

The Decauville Railway Tien-Tsin – Tshing-Yang was a Decauville narrow-gauge railway in China that was temporarily moved with flying track from Tianjin to Jinnan in 1886 .

history

A test track built with Decauville rails was officially inaugurated on November 21, 1886. The residents of Tiensin (now Tianjin) gathered in front of Tseng Laisun's house. He was the interpreter of General Li Hung Chang , who, as viceroy of Zhili , initiated numerous reforms to modernize the country. The square in front of this house served as a train station. The assembled visitors greeted the railway with enthusiasm, as it was recognized what advantages such a system would bring to the nation. No protest was heard.

On November 20, 1886, or according to other reports already on August 20, 1886, a test drive took place in the presence of Li Hung Chang and other dignitaries, including the chairman of the Salt Tax Commission ( s ) . This had been prepared by Gaston Galy. In the afternoon between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., the Chinese politicians were met by a large group of foreigners and foreign consuls . The locomotive, which was decorated with flags from China, France and England, pulled 1st, 2nd and 3rd class cars as well as a baggage car. The test drive was successful. The train took less than 8 minutes for the winding route. The fact that Li Hung Chang attended the demonstration was seen as a positive sign for the future.

The two kilometer long demonstration run ( French chemin de fer portatif, genre Decauville ) had an order value of 48,100 silver taels (269,360 francs ). With the support of the engineer Gaston Galy from the England-based commercial agency Jardine, Matheson Co. , with whom Decauville had concluded an exclusive ten-year contract for the sale of the Decauville system in China in 1984, in Hong Kong and in 1886 in Canton has been demonstrated

The French Thévenet and Paul Mignard, as reported in March 1887, had difficulties with the mandarins in the military administration because they opposed progress. Thévenet hoped to build a narrow-gauge railway from Tientsin (Tianjin) to Beijing . Since the Chinese Admiralty recognized the importance of the railroad in troop transport at Tientsin (Tianjin) and elsewhere in April 1887, it was assumed in France that there was a need for 4500 km of French-style narrow-gauge railway lines from Beijing via Canton to Hanoi.

There was also a German-style field railway nearby, which connected the Tientsin coal station with the provisions office 4 km away, for which a 20 m long bridge was also built. It was operated with horses until the arrival of the locomotives.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Memories of an Old Tietsin by hand. March 31, 1914.
  2. ^ The Railway. December 25, 1886. Quoted by PA Crush on page 6.
  3. ^ Guillaume Le Lay: Histoire d'industries: La saga du "chemin de fer portatif" Decauville.
  4. ↑ Faits Diverts. In: Journal de Monaco. February 1, 1887. p. 2.
  5. ^ A b The Decauville Railway Trial. In: The Chines Times. Tientsin, November 27, 1886. Quoted by PA Crush on page 6.
  6. ↑ Le premier chemin de fer français en Chine. In: A l'occasion des 170 ans de sa Création “L'Illustration”.
  7. ^ The founding of French syndicates and the intensification of inter-imperialist rivalry. In: D. Brötel: France in the Far East. 1996, p. 296.
  8. ↑ The Role of Diplomacy in the Face of Syndicate Rivalry. Attempts to reorganize French industrial interests: from the 'Association Industrielle' to the 'Groupe Industriel'. In: D. Brötel: France in the Far East. 1996, p. 332 ff.
  9. ↑ Short report: In: The Chines Times. Tientsin, March 19, 1887. Quoted by PA Crush on page 7.
  10. ^ Railways. In: The Chines Times. Tientsin, April 2, 1887. Quoted by PA Crush on page 7.
  11. ^ Victor Freiherr von Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System. Second edition, Volume 5, Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin, 1914, p. 57.