Reducing the Train's Weight

As its course changed, the Flounder began to leave the busy shipping lanes, and there were fewer and fewer ships around.

The captain was somewhat worried, but the other party had paid the full amount in real money. If it was a scam by pirates, he only needed to throw the gold coins into the sea, and the robbers would lose everything.

Pirates may be cunning, but they would never plan a losing proposition, which rules out the possibility of a trap.

Especially since this was a request from the unicorn himself, the captain thought it over and dispelled his worries.

The Flounder's voyage continued until late the next night when Qiluo suddenly stood up. "The cargo ship has arrived. Please lower the sails and stop."

"It's nighttime, and you're just handing over the cargo like this?" the captain exclaimed in surprise. "That's dozens of tons of cargo!"

"It's alright, you can just stop the ship. You don't need to be responsible for the transfer." Qiluo's voice became even softer.

The captain's eyes instantly lost their luster. "Yes, sir!"

Following Qiluo's instructions, he gave the order, and the sailors lowered the sails, bringing the Flounder to a stop on the dark sea.

Qiluo suddenly shook her head, her long horns gathering light and dust, ripples enveloping the entire ship, and everyone fell into a deep sleep.

A white ship appeared on the side of the Flounder. It steadily approached and lit several extremely bright searchlights.

The zombies pulled out a cable, and two skeletons, one black and one white, traversed a distance of several dozen meters, dragging the cable as they jumped across.

Then more cables were thrown over and began to be pulled, and the two ships quickly came together. The zombies jumped onto the Flounder and tied the cables, while some set up gantry cranes and installed hoisting ropes on the White Triangle's side.

Younier took command of the factory, constructing logistics flow lines.

"You've worked hard, Qiluo." Hansite stood by the railing and lowered the gangway. "There's a late-night snack ready in the cabin; keep it hot."

"Hmm, what is this food?" The unicorn stepped forward.

"Noodles," Hansite replied.

"Noodles again?" Qiluo was a little unhappy. But when she entered the cabin and found it was mixed noodles with a big bowl of oily minced meat sauce next to it, she immediately smiled.

"Not bad, Mr. Hansite!"

"Leave a little for Miss Younier," Hansite instructed.

The zombie transport crew was very familiar with the process, hoisting the goods from the Flounder to the White Triangle one after another. First came the axle oil, then the heat-conducting plates, followed by clothes and miscellaneous items, and finally the food.

But this was never-ending, and Younier's brows furrowed even more. She quickly flipped through the list and discovered that Qiluo had added a full twenty tons of food, and it was all dried goods!

"Miss Sacred Beast, why is there so much food?" she quickly asked Qiluo.

The food list includes seven tons of boneless and skinless processed dried fish and ten tons of hulled wheat. This stuff is easier to preserve than flour and has 60 percent more calories.

The rest are all high-calorie foods like dried fruit, cheese, and oils.

"What's wrong? We can't go without food in the snowfield." Qiluo licked the plate clean; the table was now empty.

"This kind of high-density food, if calculated by dry weight, only requires 400 to 500 grams per person per day!" Younier asked, puzzled. "Even though Miss Sacred Beast, you are worth ten of us, this amount is enough for us to eat for ten years!"

Qiluo counted on her fingers, calculating for a while before sticking out her tongue, "It is a bit too much. Did Su Ming miscalculate the decimal point?"

"Mr. Su arranged this?" Younier asked, puzzled. "If it's just rescuing fifty-seven people, even one-tenth is far too much."

"It doesn't matter," she said casually. "Food is a valuable commodity in the heart of the snowfields— Su Ming probably took that into consideration."

"That's true," Hansite agreed. "In the winter in the Northern Lands, gold coins aren't as effective as food as barter."

****

After completing its resupply, the White Triangle continued north, crossing the mid-latitude seas and heading towards the Arctic Circle. As the temperature continued to drop, everyone on board put on the thick clothes they had just received.

Su Ming and Zijin were very busy every day, with a large amount of documents and drawings spread out in their workspace.

At the same time, a topographical map of the Northern Continent was also unfurled. Their plan was to land on the Jishou Tidal Flats from the Arctic Ocean coast, then enter the lower Sang River plain, cross the Lower Ridge Mountains, and enter the First Tier of the Icefield.

This route is about 2,000 kilometers long, with the altitude rising from zero to about 700 meters.

The journey then required traversing the Middle Ridge and Upper Ridge Mountains until finally reaching the plateau region at an altitude of 3,000 meters, a total distance of 7,200 kilometers. The design studio spent two days submitting its improved plans for the locomotive and body structure.

The client allowed him to use a lightweight ceramic material, the higher the proportion, the better. This material has a density only a quarter that of steel, yet its strength is comparable. The disadvantages are that its toughness, heat resistance, and elasticity are average, and it has no ductility.

What kind of magical material is this? Is it really so cheap that you can use it casually? The engineers have absolutely no idea.

And isn't ceramic heat-resistant?

The engineers were baffled, but the customer came first. They replaced more than half of the metal, and where the mechanical properties were not satisfactory, they used composite structures such as bone components inserted through metal pillars or metal shells filled with bone.

After these adjustments, the curb weight of a single steam locomotive decreased from 168 tons to 100 tons, and the weight of a single freight car decreased from 25 tons to 22 tons. Su Ming also completed the planning of the trainset configuration.

"Two locomotives, pulling 20 carriages. Total weight 2200 tons, of which 900 tons are coal."

Normally, trains refuel every 200 to 300 kilometers, but this time there were no fuel supply points along the way, so they had to carry enough fuel at the start of the journey.

"Such a high fuel ratio?" Zijin glanced at the loading list. "We should try to reduce it."

"There's no need to reduce fuel." Su Ming shook his head. "Most of it will be consumed in the first half of the journey, and the overall weight of the vehicle will continue to decrease as we go further."

Carrying a large proportion of fuel is beneficial for range—our focus should be on reducing the dead weight of the train.

Zijin did a quick calculation and understood it mathematically. "Of course, it's not about bringing as much as possible." Su Ming opened his laptop, launched the MATLAB software, and displayed an analytical model containing a large number of parameters and complex integral formulas. "For example, our current freight car weighs 20 tons and has a cargo capacity of 72 tons. With the current efficiency of steam locomotives, including the freight car, the fuel allocation is about 60%, which is basically close to the maximum range."

Zijin knew the concept of integration, but the formula Su Ming used was too complex and beyond her comprehension.

Su Mo was decent at applied mathematics, but he couldn't handle such highly specialized calculations. Fortunately, he now had the financial means to hire a studio to develop this train loading model.

Although there are restrictions on the amount of money that can be deposited in the bank, no one will refuse Miao Xin if she brings cash to their door.

"We don't have rails; the train has to travel directly on the snow," Su Ming continued, "The Youth Civilization must use a high cylinder cutoff ratio to operate with high traction. Our speed will not exceed 10 kilometers per hour, and our maximum range is less than 2,500 kilometers."

"That's way too much." Zijin ran her hand through her hair; she felt she'd started losing hair lately. "We need to further reduce the weight and improve the motorcycle's efficiency, right?"

That's right, so keep it up!

In the days leading up to this, the two had already done a great deal of work on the magic side, with Levitation being the first spell to be eliminated. Although Zijin could usually fly around easily, her own weight was less than fifty kilograms. If it were a behemoth weighing over two thousand tons levitating for more than ten days, the amount of magic crystals required would be enough to bankrupt the entire Western Continent.

The scholar suddenly had another idea, and she quickly began to make corrections on the drawings.

****

Su Ming analyzed the train's weight.

Excluding 900 tons of coal, of the total weight of 2,200 tons, 400 tons consist of crew, equipment, various supplies, and materials needed to execute the plan.

This is categorized as mission load and cannot be reduced.

The two locomotives weigh 200 tons each, and the carriages weigh 650 tons.

The last 50 tons is the water reserve in the water-coal truck, which is only enough for about two hours of consumption under heavy load.

The studio's efforts to reduce the weight of the train were far from ideal; compared to the original train, each carriage only lost a mere 3 tons of weight.

Su Ming examined the details. The workshop extensively applied structural mechanics, constructing the box sections with pure bone, reducing the weight of each section by 8 tons.

This part can be considered as fulfilling one's responsibilities.

The problem lies in the chassis. The elastic components of the suspension system must be primarily metal. Although other structures reduced weight by adding a lot of filler, the designers widened the wheel area and increased the number of axles, which actually increased the overall weight.

The engineers' intention was to reduce the load per unit area and prevent the train from getting stuck in mud and snow. However, this adjustment has negated most of the weight reduction results, and judging from the current load data, the train is still getting stuck.

Su Ming frowned deeply; the wheels and chassis, weighing over four hundred tons, were a major problem.

Zijin finished quickly. "We can remove the insulation layer from the steam locomotive," she said, handing the revised blueprints to Su Ming. "I have a magic array that can displace air by a few millimeters, creating a vacuum layer. Engraving it onto the boiler surface will provide excellent insulation."

Su Ming took the blueprints and discovered that the scholars had practically shaving off a thick layer of the steam locomotive, completely removing the outer structure of the boiler and piston, the inner insulation material, the refractory bricks of the furnace, and so on.

"How much Magic Power are you consuming?" Su Ming asked.

"I consume six slightly flawed crystals every day," Zijin replied. "I have over a thousand of this grade in stock."

A slightly flawed crystal costs ten gold coins; it's not cheap, but they can afford it.

Su Ming quickly calculated the effect, "Not bad, each steam locomotive can cut 12 tons!"

The scholars were very dissatisfied, asking, "Only 24 tons were reduced in total?"

"It's worth it," Su Ming replied. "The replacement can improve the system's thermal efficiency, especially in such frigid regions; the effect in this regard surpasses the weight reduction itself."

Zijin then pointed to the steam outlet, "I plan to cast a constant Rainfall Spell here to condense and recycle the water in the steam, consuming about 9 to 10 crystals per day."

This consumes a bit too much energy, but after weighing the pros and cons, Su Ming realized it could indeed save time searching for pure water sources.

Zijin simply pointed to the water truck, "If the water recovery rate reaches 90%, we can carry only 10 tons of reserve water, which reduces the load by 40 tons."

Su Ming jumped up excitedly, "You're a genius!"

"That's who I am." The scholar rolled her eyes at him.

Because the water tank is smaller, two axles can be removed from the coal-fired power truck, which further reduces its weight by 6 tons.

****

The two continued working. The studio's understanding of bone materials was far inferior to that of Su Ming, the necromancer, so he made further drastic replacements, reducing the weight of the motorcycle by more than ten tons.

The workshop door suddenly opened, and Qiluo burst in on all fours, bringing in a gust of cold air.

Su Ming and Zijin quickly reached out to press the blueprints on the table, but it was too late; more than a dozen blueprints had already been blown into the air.

"Hey everyone!" The unicorn slammed the door shut with its tail. "Let's see what new creations we have today!"

A drawing floated to her side; it was a panoramic perspective view of the train drawn by the studio. Qiluo's eyes lit up, and she transformed into Human Form and grabbed it.

"Can I have this?" she asked, clutching it tightly to her chest.

"No!" Su Ming reached out to pull, but it didn't budge. The unicorn's weight was there, and the little girl didn't even flinch.

She pouted, "Fine, I'll pull a snowplow for you!"

Su Ming had no choice but to give up, watching Qiluo skip away, her little feet making the cabin floor tremble.

A new picture of Zijin has been printed out, which has become the norm these days.

Su Ming took the blueprints. "How about changing the wheels to sleds?"

"The carriages are too heavy; the load capacity is still insufficient." The scholar shook her head; she had thought the same thing.

She handed her draft to Su Ming. The drawing had removed all the axles and wheels, and the suspension was directly connected to six wide-board skis. Su Ming couldn't help but make a few changes, modifying the scholar's drawing to better fit the mechanical design.

"The load on the sled is too high and will damage the snow surface," the scholar explained. Especially after the vehicle in front causes damage, if the following vehicle continues on top of it, it will quickly create deep ruts, causing subsequent vehicles to get stuck in the snow.

Su Ming glanced at Zijin's calculations; a fully loaded truck bed exerted over 0.3 kg/cm² of pressure on the snow. "That's indeed too high."

Zijin pulled out another draft, which suggested lowering the height of the carriages to reduce the load. This meant that the number and length of the train carriages would need to be increased, but the contact surface pressure would still be 0.2 kg/cm².

"Let's use this plan," Su Ming suddenly said.

Zijin looked at him, her forehead practically covered in a question mark.

"We can improve the snow's load-bearing capacity." Su Ming added a snow groomer behind the steam locomotive. "After the locomotive passes, the snow groomer will flatten and compact the loose snow, thus ensuring sufficient load-bearing capacity!"

"This is great!" The scholar was overjoyed to find that his proposed plan had become feasible after adjustments, and he even jumped up and down on the spot, which was rare for him.

The two men went further. To accommodate the sleds, the length of the carriages also needed to be shortened, reducing the load per carriage. This resulted in the entire vehicle being adjusted to sixty carriages, making it more maneuverable on the snow.

Overall, the weight of the carriage increased by 100 tons, but more than 400 tons of axles and wheels were removed!

"A low-intensity Nether Shield can be deployed on the underside of the snowmobile, providing protection on rough terrain," Zijin suggested. "The shield can also provide lubrication, reducing friction."

The low-drag characteristic of the Nether Shield has been demonstrated multiple times in its sea-ship form.

Is the energy from the White Bone Mark sufficient?

Zijin did the math, "Not quite enough. We'll be traveling for two or three days, then we need to stop for a day to recover our energy."

"It's a good deal!" Su Mo concluded.

With increased speed under low resistance, the vehicle can travel farther in two days than it did in three, not to mention the coal savings.

Su Ming opened the software and re-simulated, quickly concluding that after such modifications, the Youth Civilization's top speed increased to 20 kilometers per hour, and its maximum range increased to 6,000 kilometers.

The two gave each other a high five!