novelsite Chapter 23 Difficulties in Modification
Chapter 23 Difficulties in Modification
Wang Zhengyang turned the tablet towards Chen Yishang and Lin Luoer, displaying a 3D model of the redesigned train carriages. "Engineer Chen, Luoer, I've reorganized the functional layout of the carriages from the third carriage onwards. The core idea is modular division of labor, risk isolation, and reserved scalability. Listen to what I have to say, and see if there are any adjustments needed from an engineering and practical perspective."
He pointed to the structural diagram of the third carriage: "We plan to use the third carriage as the core material depot for the entire train. It stores the most non-renewable and most valuable strategic assets. Therefore, the protection standards are the same as the command center, and I've divided it into two independently protected compartments:"
A 50-square-meter area for heavy equipment and precision instruments: storing main weapons, ammunition, precision machining equipment (small CNC, 3D printers), communication and detection equipment, and spare parts. All equipment is secured to professional shock-absorbing frames.
On the other side, a 30-square-meter area is under constant temperature and humidity control, storing all medical-grade medicines, special reagents, and some high-value "hard currency" supplies. The temperature- and humidity-controlled medicine cabinets contain advanced antibiotics and surgical consumables.
Looking at the complex structural diagram, Chen Yishang pondered, "The safety level and zoning management are fine, but this places high demands on the independent control of internal fire protection, ventilation, and humidity."
"Yes, so a separate environmental control system needs to be designed." Wang Zhengyang nodded, then switched to the fourth section.
"Hydroculture and Life Support Experimental Chamber." Wang Zhengyang paused for a moment. "Lin Gong will be in charge of the technical design and system integration for this part. You guys should complete the basic structure construction first."
The screen displays a 3D diagram of the multi-layer vertical planting rack and a pipeline layout diagram: 304 stainless steel frame, full-spectrum adjustable LED plant growth light array, nutrient solution circulation and filtration pipeline system, and temperature, humidity and CO2 concentration monitoring sensor interface.
"Is this... growing vegetables on a car?" The youngest apprentice, Liu Qiming, couldn't help but ask. He was only twenty-four years old and still had a youthful look on his face.
"It's the core production unit of a closed-loop ecological cycle system," Wang Zhengyang explained calmly. "According to the design specifications, this carriage, under optimized operation, establishes and maintains a small, closed ecosystem capable of supporting the basic survival needs of 80-100 people." Wang Zhengyang turned the tablet towards Lin Luoer, pointing at the screen with his finger. "This system needs to be highly self-sufficient, capable of recycling over 90% of water and oxygen, producing at least 500 grams of fresh vegetables per person per day, providing the team with essential vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber, while absorbing CO2 and releasing oxygen to improve the air quality inside the carriage. Your current work involves building the main structure of the planting racks, laying pipes, and pre-installing circuits—the software components such as the intelligent control system, spectral adjustment algorithms, and nutrient solution formula optimization will be implemented later after Lin Gong completes the shield system." Simultaneously, the train's water purification system is also installed in this carriage, collecting and filtering rainwater in extreme environments and achieving full-vehicle water system circulation.
"I understand, I will try my best to do well," Lin Luo'er nodded seriously.
"Next is the fifth section," Wang Zhengyang swiped the screen, "dining car, conference room, and primary storage center. The blueprints show that the interior of the car is divided into three distinct areas—the front is a compact food processing area, equipped with two 3000W industrial induction cookers, a reverse osmosis water purification system, and a combination of refrigeration and freezing cabinets; the middle is a fixed seating area for twenty people to dine at the same time, with foldable seats and retractable tables; the rear is a primary material storage area, equipped with three rows of heavy-duty shelves and twenty categorized storage cabinets."
"All furniture and equipment must be securely fixed to the car body frame using chemical anchors or continuous welds, with seismic resistance requirements three times that of railway freight standards, meaning they must withstand a continuous lateral acceleration of 1.5g," Wang Zhengyang emphasized, pulling up detailed drawings of the fixing nodes. "Heavy-duty explosion-proof doors are installed at both ends of the car. The door body uses a composite structure of 12mm steel plate sandwiching 30mm bulletproof fiber. The door hinges must be made of 40CrNiMoA special alloy steel and undergo surface nitriding treatment—these materials also require special procurement. The shelves are welded with 80×80×6mm national standard angle steel, with each layer designed to bear a load of no less than 300 kg, and the entire shelf must be welded to the car body."
He paused, then said, "The sixth section is the maintenance and processing compartment, which is equivalent to the train's medium-sized 'machine tool workshop,' ensuring our basic manufacturing and maintenance capabilities. Section 6: Equipment maintenance, processing, and spare parts storage compartment, equipped with machine tools, welding machines, 3D printers, and a full set of tools, capable of completing most maintenance tasks from parts repair to equipment manufacturing. It stores commonly used consumables, standard parts, cable conduits, etc."
The seventh to ninth carriages are standard passenger cabins, each designed for a capacity of thirty-two people. They feature a double-decker berth structure, with four people per compartment, making the best use of vertical space. Each carriage is equipped with a private bathroom area, a locker array, and a small common area.
"I've tentatively designated the tenth section as a 'multi-functional reserved compartment,'" Wang Zhengyang explained, showcasing the spacious yet structurally reinforced interior. "Currently, only basic reinforcement is underway, with heavy-duty interfaces and high-power circuits reserved on the roof. This section will serve as a multi-functional reserved compartment for now. The internal structure is simplified, but the wall reinforcement standard adopts a composite protective structure. The roof structure is particularly reinforced, with four heavy equipment mounting bases and six large-section power supply lines reserved. The specific purpose... will be determined based on subsequent needs."
The drawings clearly indicate the location of the mounting base on the roof and the route of the cable channel, which is obviously intended for some kind of heavy equipment, but now is not the time to say so.
"Section eleven is the core technology and also the most challenging part of the renovation—the power and locomotive compartment." His tone became serious. "We need to install a dual-purpose road-rail locomotive system here. It uses wheels on the track, and when it needs to leave the track, the hydraulic mechanism can lower the tracks within three minutes and switch to all-terrain mode. This is the most mechanically complex part of the entire renovation, and we need to work together to overcome the challenges of hydraulic control, locking mechanisms, and center of gravity matching."
"Finally," Wang Zhengyang zoomed out to the last twelfth section, "I've placed the energy reserves and bulk supplies in the twelfth section at the rear of the train. For safety and isolation reasons, all flammable and explosive materials should be concentrated as far away from the living area and core compartment as possible at the end. Four large explosion-proof diesel storage tanks will be installed here, with a planned total capacity of about 48,000 liters, providing approximately 30-50 hours of full-power operation reserves for the two main generator sets. The tank area has independent explosion-proof, ventilation, and fire-fighting systems. The remaining space in front can be used to store other equipment and prefabricated components and other heavy consumables. Oh, and four giant water tanks will be installed at the rear, with a planned total capacity of about 24,000 liters, connected to the water purification system in the fourth compartment for drinking water for everyone on board under extreme conditions."
Chen Yishang quickly did the mental calculations and wrote down a string of numbers in his notebook: "Dr. Wang, according to this plan, the entire train will increase in weight by at least two hundred tons after the modification! The original traction power, transmission system, braking system..."
"Everything needs to be upgraded accordingly." Wang Zhengyang took over the conversation, pulling up the modification plans for the power and transmission systems. "Therefore, the sixth carriage will be designated as an equipment maintenance, processing, and spare parts storage compartment, while the seventh to ninth carriages will be standardized crew living quarters. These can be modified according to the standardized procedures I provide. The focus now is on the eleventh carriage—"
He pulled up the design drawings for the eleventh car, his brow furrowing slightly: "The eleventh car, the modification compartment for the power, transmission, and running gear of the last car." Wang Zhengyang concluded, his tone becoming serious, as if announcing a major project, "This is the core technology of this modification, and also the most mechanically complex part."
A dazzling array of mechanical assembly diagrams and exploded views popped up on the screen: the original wheeled bogies would be completely removed, replaced by a brand-new "road-rail dual-purpose" tracked running gear. Each side had eight independently electrically driven road wheel units, each containing a high-torque permanent magnet synchronous motor, a three-stage planetary reducer, adaptive hydraulic damping suspension, and high-strength alloy steel swing arms…
"We need to add all-terrain off-road mobility while fully preserving the train's original rail travel capabilities." Wang Zhengyang zoomed in on the 3D diagram of several key nodes, showing the precise mechanical coordination. "This means that the new running gear must be able to switch between modes quickly—when traveling on the rails, the tracks retract, and the original wheel sets provide load and guidance; when off the rails for off-road travel, the tracks lower and tension, and the wheel sets lift off the ground. The switching time must not exceed three minutes."