Passenger Transport

That morning, Little Franz home very Qing Dynasty to go to school. His home wasn't far from school, and normally he wouldn't need to leave so early.

But things have changed recently, because the nearest road to the school has been closed, supposedly because of some railway construction. Now, there are barbed wire fences everywhere, and National Guard soldiers in smart uniforms patrol back and forth, preventing little rascals like Little Franz from crawling in through the ditches under the barbed wire.

There were often signs hanging on these barbed wire fences with some words written on them, but Little Franz couldn't recognize them all. According to Huasite, who was two grades above him, the government was building some kind of railway, and to ensure construction safety, people were prohibited from crossing these areas.

Of course, the government has also considered the issue of pedestrian access, so they have left some openings in certain places to allow people to pass through in an orderly manner. However, getting to the openings requires a rather long detour.

Little Franz, being a mischievous boy, naturally didn't want to take the long way around. When the road closure first started, he took advantage of the fact that a few patrolling National Guard had gone far away and crawled into the drainage ditch.

Little Franz easily crawled over the barbed wire fence, but when he jumped out of the ditch, he wasn't careful enough and his schoolbag got caught on the wire. Just then, the patrolling National Guard turned back.

You can't run away from your schoolbag! It's so hard to get; Mom painstakingly sewed it together from scraps of cloth she'd saved up over many years. If you just lose it, you won't be able to go to school, and Dad will definitely give you a good spanking when you get home.

So Little Franz was arrested, schoolbag and all. A tall National Guard soldier searched his bag; his name and school class were on the textbooks. The National Guard then took him to a policeman, who handed Little Franz and his schoolbag over. Naturally, the policeman took him to school and handed him over to the headmaster, Mr. Lamadong. Little Franz was then severely punished by Mr. Lamadong with a ruler, and then handed over to his homeroom teacher Bila. After school, Mr. Bila kept him after school to write a self-criticism, which he did several times until Mr. Bila was satisfied before letting him go.

Then, when he got home, his father found out the truth in just a few questions, and Little Franz got another scolding. After that, Little Franz never crawled through the barbed wire again. Instead, he obediently took a detour.

Through the opening left for passage, Little Franz could clearly see what the workers were doing. They said they were paving a road, but first they dug a long trench. Then the workers laid large stones brought from other places in the trench, and after that, they laid smaller stones on top, until this layer was basically level with the original road surface.

But that wasn't the end. Then someone laid a thick layer of pebbles on top, until this layer of pebbles was noticeably higher than the ground, forming a tall trapezoid.

Then people laid sleepers and steel rails on top.

When Little Franz got home, he told his father what he had seen. His father thought for a moment and said, "These steel rails must be quite valuable. There will definitely be more police around here in the future, otherwise those foreigners would be stealing steel rails every day."

Later at school, Mr. Dulan, who taught science, had an article from the newspaper "Science Truth Daily" read to Little Franz and his classmates, explaining to them what this kind of railway was used for. The article also included a picture of a steam locomotive belching smoke.

After that lesson, Little Franz and his classmates became even more fascinated by trains, these magical things that could move on their own. However, every time they passed the intersection, Little Franz only saw railways under construction and those that had already been completed, but he never saw a steam train.

One morning, as he was crossing the intersection, Little Franz saw a train speeding along the railway tracks, but it wasn't the train in the picture. Instead, it was a strange little cart with two people pressing on something like a seesaw—clearly not the steam locomotive described in the newspaper.

But today's situation was a bit strange. When Little Franz arrived at the intersection that had been specially left for people to pass through, he found that it had been blocked off with a barricade. Several people in blue uniforms stood behind the barricade and shouted to everyone, "Don't worry, the train is coming soon. Once it's passed, you can go."

Hearing the shouts only made everyone more excited—after all, seeing the unusual is a universal hobby. So everyone pushed forward, vying for a good spot to see what this train was all about.

Taking advantage of his small size, Little Franz, like a little eel, burrowed in and out, and soon reached the very front.

"Where? Where?" Little Franz clutched his schoolbag tightly with both hands—he was afraid of breaking the straps while pushing forward—his eyes darted back and forth along the gleaming steel rails.

"Yes, where? Where?" more people shouted.

"Over there, over there, look over there, there's smoke!" a sharp-eyed person shouted.

Little Franz quickly looked in that direction and, sure enough, saw a moving column of smoke in the distance, approaching them.

"That's smoke coming from the chimney of a steam locomotive!" Little Franz learned this from his science teacher and couldn't help but show it off to everyone around him.

But at this moment, no one paid any attention to him; everyone's eyes were fixed on the plume of smoke. The plume of smoke initially seemed to move very slowly, but it gradually sped up. At the same time, the sound of wheels hitting the rails began to reach everyone's ears.

"Look, look, they're here!" someone shouted again.

After rounding a bend, the train finally came into view. Perhaps because it was approaching a level crossing, the train slowed down slightly, and the driver sounded the whistle.

"Waaah..."

The loud whistle startled everyone.

"Oh my, that's more frightening than a hundred horses neighing at the same time," someone said.

"It's truly... truly magnificent!" some people remarked.

By this time, the train was getting closer and closer. No one had ever seen anything so huge before. It was moving at an astonishing speed, with the clanging of steel hitting the ground, and billowing steam and thick smoke, rushing towards them with an overwhelming force.

"Ah!" Someone turned around and tried to run away.

"Great!" someone cheered loudly.

But all these sounds were drowned out by the roar of the locomotive. The steam locomotive roared past everyone.

"It's still this long!"

"Like a long snake!"

Behind the locomotive were the freight cars. Some of these freight cars had carriages, while others were simply flatbeds. No one could really see what was inside the carriages, but everyone could clearly see what was on the flatbeds. Some flatbeds were towing horse-drawn carriages or something similar, and some were even more impressive, displaying all sorts of cannons—clearly exhibits from the Paris Fair being sent to the Free Palace.

The train sped by, passing by in the blink of an eye. Then several men in black uniforms came up and removed the barricades, and traffic resumed.

In the days that followed, people would always be there watching the trains along the railway line. Some painters even brought their easels, tripods, and small chairs to sit and sketch. For a time, this railway line became another scenic spot in Paris.

Meanwhile, * Science Truth Daily * and other newspapers began to focus their efforts on providing comprehensive coverage of the railway. * Science Truth Daily * even published an exclusive interview with Mr. Messier, the executive director of the French Railway Transport Company. In this interview, Messier revealed a secret—the primary purpose of this railway, running from the Champ de Mars to the Free Palace, was not freight, but passenger transport. The railway company would officially launch the world's first passenger train on the opening day of the "Second Paris Trade Fair." At that time, the people of Paris could buy tickets to visit the Free Palace and attend the grand event.

Regarding the ticket price, which everyone is undoubtedly very concerned about, Mr. Messier stated that the railway company is dedicated to providing better service to the France people. We operate passenger transport to serve the public without making a profit. Therefore, ticket prices will certainly not be high; just enough to cover costs is sufficient. Of course, the specific ticket price is still under study by the company.

Because Messier did not disclose the ticket price, many media outlets started playing a guessing game. Many newspapers began to seriously study the costs of the railway company and then speculate on the ticket price of this "unprofitable service to the public" based on their cost estimates.

However, through the deliberate arrangement of certain individuals, these newspapers intentionally exaggerated the railway company's operating costs, resulting in higher ticket prices. Although it was still much cheaper than renting a horse-drawn carriage, the poor at the bottom of society still had to grit their teeth to afford such train fares.

Then Mr. Messier released further information, stating that the railway passenger ticket prices were actually lower than the media had speculated, "fully affordable for Paris workers," because they would compensate for the loss of low-priced tickets with the tickets for high-class luxury carriages reserved for the wealthy.

"We run passenger transport to serve the public without making a profit," Mr. Messier concluded, reiterating this principle of the railway transport company.

I was supposed to make up for yesterday's update today. But as soon as I got to work today, a whole bunch of random things piled up, and I barely had time to write a single word. So I had to break my promise. Sigh, I'm already 80 kilograms, and I'm still like this, it's really a pain.