I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1184 A Genius Who Questions Life
The following day at noon, Joseph and Marquis Lessar discussed the expansion plans for the Brest Naval College.

This is a school that teaches ship design and construction, as well as nautical astronomy, not a military academy.

However, this largest naval university in France currently only admits 130 students each year—covering 15 majors.

Joseph planned to double the size of the school. Especially after ships began using steam engines, the demand for skilled technicians increased daily, and talent development had to keep pace.

"We can hire some older technicians from the United Steam Engine Company to serve as instructors..."

As Joseph was speaking, Emmanuel strode over and bowed to him, saying, "Your Highness, Mr. Trevichk has arrived at the shipyard and brought two steam engines with him."

Joseph nodded: "Please have him wait for me in the main design room."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Half an hour later, Joseph returned to the front of the design studio building, where Trevithick and three assistants immediately came forward and bowed.

Joseph smiled and nodded to the group, then gestured toward the design studio: "I thought you should have arrived before me."

Trevich quickly caught up: "It rained heavily in Saint-Malou, and I was worried that the steam engine would get flooded, so I waited there for three days."

As he spoke, he pointed to the four carriages parked in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by more than a dozen guards: "Fortunately, they have all been delivered safely."

When can we install and test it?

"It will only take half a day, Your Highness."

“Very good.” Joseph walked into an office on the second floor, gestured for Trevichk to sit down, and waited for Emman to close the door before saying, “Your main task this time is to design a train. That is, a steam locomotive that runs on tracks.”

“I remember that you designed a steam locomotive six years ago, or perhaps even earlier.”

"If we were to improve upon it, using the latest 98-horsepower steam engine, what do you think..."

“Please wait a moment.” Trevich suddenly bent down, took out a stack of blueprints from his suitcase, and spread them in front of Joseph. “Actually, I have redesigned one in my spare time over the past two years, but I did not expect the power of the steam engine to increase so quickly, so the power is only 75 horsepower.”

Joseph glanced at him in surprise, then looked at the blueprints covering the table.

To be honest, this is a very strangely designed train, like four wheels stuck directly onto a horizontal boiler, with two small steering wheels at the very front.

The drive shaft extending from the cylinder is connected to a complex set of gears, transmitting power to the rear wheels. On the other side of the cylinder, there is a huge energy storage flywheel.

The driver's seat was located behind the boiler, where he operated the train via several control levers; there wasn't even a seat provided for him. He was also responsible for adding coal to the boiler.

Meanwhile, because the boiler was too tall, the driver could not see what was in front of the vehicle, so Trevichk had to set up a "lookout" position in front of the boiler.

When a special situation arises ahead, the lookout will shout to remind the driver to take appropriate action.

Fortunately, Joseph was prepared and smiled and nodded at Trevich: "Your design is excellent."

He meant no mockery. Trevichk hadn't cheated; he'd figured it out bit by bit on his own. To achieve that level was truly genius among geniuses. "However, I think there are still some areas for improvement," Joseph said, pointing first to the wheels.

The wheels on the drawing have a groove cut into the metal surface, clearly intended for the rail to be embedded in the groove to prevent derailment during operation.

"For example, here. Simply making the inner rim protrude is enough to ensure the wheel is locked onto the rail. This can significantly reduce the friction between the wheel and the rail."

Trevich pondered for two minutes, then finally nodded admiringly: "Indeed, Your Highness. How did you come up with such an ingenious design? It is definitely worthy of a patent."

Joseph thought to himself that it was obviously copied from later generations, but he just waved his hand and said, "In the future, you can apply for a patent for it as a part of the train."

"Oh, and also, the contact surface between the wheel and the rail should ideally be designed as a conical surface that is wider on the inside and narrower on the outside. This way, when turning, the outer wheel's rolling radius increases while the inner wheel's radius decreases, achieving differential steering."

Trevich's eyes were wide open. He pulled out his notebook and began copying.

Joseph had experienced similar situations countless times and was used to it. After he finished writing, he continued, "Mounting the wheels directly onto the boiler will cause the boiler to deform or even crack. It would be better to design a flat plate under the boiler to support its weight, with the wheels connected underneath."

"This way, the driver's cab can also be enlarged..."

"The driver's cab is where the person driving the train sits. If you're worried about the driver not being able to see ahead, you can make the cab protrude to the right, allowing the driver to peek out from the side and see ahead..."

"That way, the lookout in front can be eliminated."

"Instead, he should be put in the driver's cab and put in charge of adding coal to the boiler. That would be a very arduous job."

He gave the designer a moment to process his thoughts, then pointed to the boiler on the drawing: "The most important point. You can flip the boiler over, with the cylinder facing down, so the piston can drive the wheels directly, eliminating a lot of transmission gears. Of course, this will require some modifications to the steam engine, moving the chimney to the bottom..."

"Yes, it's up after you flip it over..."

At 7 p.m., when Trevithick walked out of the office with two densely filled notebooks, he was already starting to question his life.

The steam locomotive, which he had meticulously designed and repeatedly revised over two years, was, in the eyes of the Crown Prince, like a three-year-old child's scribbles, riddled with problems and shortcomings.

He was certain that, after the improvements described by the Crown Prince, the performance of this steam locomotive—or so the Crown Prince called it, a train—had improved by at least 40%. As for its stability and durability, they had increased many times over.

He glanced at the notebook in his hand again, shook his head and sighed, "Did I even design this thing?"

Starting the following day, Trevithik instructed the shipyard technicians in the mornings to familiarize themselves with the structure and performance of the LJ98 steam engine, and from noon onwards, he received guidance from the Crown Prince to improve the train.

That evening, following the Crown Prince's suggestion, he and his assistants redrawn the diagram to facilitate further revisions the following day.

In fact, Joseph didn't really know anything about trains; he was just describing to Trevich what old-fashioned trains looked like from his memory.

After a busy week, Joseph looked at the wooden train model Trevichk made and finally smiled and nodded.

(End of this chapter)