The railroad from Beijing to Zhangjiakou was 200 kilometers long, and it was a major transportation route linking North China and Northwest China. At that time, when the Qing government had just put forward the plan to build it, some imperialist countries came out to obstruct it, and they all wanted to compete for the right to build this railroad and wanted to further control the northern part of the country. The imperialists refused to give way to anyone, and the matter remained unresolved for a long time. They stopped asking questions. They thought that if they were blackmailed in this way, the railroad would not be able to start construction and they would have to turn to them in the end. The imperialists were wrong. China already had its own engineers, and Zhan Tianyou was one of them.
In 1905, the Qing government appointed Zhan Tianyou as chief engineer to build a railroad from Beijing to Zhangjiakou. As soon as the news broke, the whole country was in an uproar, and people said that this time we can fight for our breath. The imperialists, however, thought it was a joke. One foreign newspaper said contemptuously, "Chinese engineers who can build a railroad north of Nankou have not yet been born." It turned out that from Nankou to the north through Juyongguan to Badaling, all the way are high mountains and deep streams, cliffs and cliffs. They thought that such a difficult project, the famous engineers of various countries also dare not easily attempt, as for the Chinese, is not completed in any case.
Zhan Tianyou was not afraid of difficulties, nor afraid of ridicule, resolutely accepted the task, immediately began to survey the line. Where to open up the mountain, where to build bridges, where to level the steep slopes, where to change the curvature of the smaller, all have to be surveyed, thorough calculations. Zhan Tianyou often encourage the staff to say?quot;Our work should first of all be precise, there can not be a little sloppy.'' Probably', 'almost', such statements should not come from the mouth of the engineering staff." He personally led the students and workers, carrying a marker, carrying a latitude and longitude instrument, in the crags fixed point, mapping. Outside the plug often fierce winds, yellow sand in the sky, and the danger of falling into a deep valley if you are not careful. No matter how harsh the conditions, Zhan Tianyou always insisted on working in the field. During the day, he climbed mountains, surveying lines, at night, he drew under the oil lamp, calculations. In order to find a suitable line, he often consulted local farmers. When he encountered difficulties, he always thought: this is the first railroad built by the Chinese themselves, it must be repaired; otherwise, it will not only make foreigners ridicule, but also make Chinese engineers lose confidence.
The railroad had to pass through many high mountains and had to be tunneled, among which the two attempts of Juyongguan and Badaling were the most arduous. Juyongguan mountain high, thick rock layer, Zhan Tianyou decided to use from both ends at the same time to the center of the method of cutting. The spring at the top of the mountain seeped downward, and the tunnel was full of mud. There was no pump on the site, so Zhan Tianyou took the lead in carrying buckets of water to drain the water. He often lived and ate with the workers and never left the site. The Badaling tunnel was more than 1,100 meters long, three times as long as the Juyongguan tunnel. He discussed with the old workers and decided to use the central well-drilling method. First, a vertical shaft was drilled down from the top of the mountain, and then construction was carried out at both ends simultaneously, shortening the construction period by half.
The railroad passes near Qinglongqiao, where the gradient is particularly steep. How could a train climb such a steep slope? Zhan Tianyou followed the mountain, designed a quot;human"-shaped line. Northbound train to the south exit with two locomotives, one in front of the pull, a push in the back. Over the Qinglong Bridge, the train to the northeast, after the "human" shaped line of the switch will be reversed, the original push the locomotive pull, the original pull the locomotive push, so that the train folded to the northwest. In this way, the train is much easier to get up the mountain.
The railroad was completed in less than four years, two years earlier than originally planned. This event gave a powerful rebuff to the imperialists who had defied China. Today, when we take the train to Badaling and cross the Qinglongqiao station, we can see a bronze statue of Zhan Tianyou. Many foreign guests visiting China, see the great works left by Zhan Tianyou, are marveled at.