Ernst and Prince Karl exchanged some views on railway construction in Hesse Province, but there was no way to implement the idea at present. Though the Hesse Province railway would only pass through Hesse Province before connecting to Swabian Province, its engineering difficulty would absolutely be the greatest East Africa had ever encountered.
The region it would cross received the most abundant rainfall in East Africa, and the transition from the Katanga Plateau to the Congo Basin involved an enormous drop in terrain. This further increased the difficulty of railway construction. Dense wetlands and forests covered the area as well, raising the obstacles to an even higher level.
Ernst said to Prince Karl, "The difficulties involved in building this railway would absolutely be the most severe in East African railway construction history. I estimate that without casualties numbering in the tens of thousands, it would be difficult to complete. Therefore, its planning and construction must be considered with great caution."
Prince Karl strongly agreed. There was no precedent in this era for building such a long railway through a tropical rainforest. Of course, Hesse Province lay on the eastern edge of the Congo Basin, so its environment was not quite like the depths of the Congo rainforest. Since the lower half of Hesse Province consisted of mountains and highlands, the main difficulties facing the Hesse Province railway would still be the terrain and topography.
Ernst continued, "As for the Northern Railway extension you mentioned, I have the same intention, but it definitely will not be considered in the next few years. In the future, it must be connected into the Central Railway network."
Ernst's reasoning was simple. Once the Hesse Province railway was completed, the Central Railway would have achieved the "four connections" of extending in all directions. Before that,