For the locomotive, Tom initially considered building a steam-powered one.
After all, this thing was simple and crude, and he had enough technical expertise.
But after much thought, Tom ultimately abandoned this plan, intending to take a single step and directly build an electrified locomotive.
The reason was simple: an electrified locomotive had greater carrying capacity, higher efficiency, and could be a bit faster.
Compared to a steam locomotive, it offered many advantages.
However, Tom's decision to launch an electrified locomotive was not solely for these reasons.
Another reason was that since various ores would be transported on a large scale in the future, not only the consumption end needed to be scaled up, but the production end also needed to be scaled up.
Relying on the previous manual mining methods was absolutely impossible; even if the Clones worked themselves to death, they couldn't achieve it.
Various mining machinery had to be introduced to excavate enough ore.
This meant that the Iron Mine, oxygen ore, and thorin ore sites also required the use of a large amount of machinery and electricity.
So, should he build power plants at each of those locations?
This plan was rejected by Tom.
At this stage, instead of building more small power plants, it was better to focus all efforts on building one large power plant and then supplying electricity to various bases.
Thus, building power lines became inevitable. And since there were lines, the problem of power supply for trains was incidentally solved.
The second reason was that Tom's future plan involved large-scale mechanization.
Only through mechanization could his technological development truly be propelled. Relying on manual labor would, at best, result in a handicraft workshop.
Mechanization in the Earth era relied on coal and oil.
But Loshen Star had no such fossil fuels.
To achieve mechanization, the only solution was to directly bypass the fossil fuel era and enter the electrical era.
And, since he had already decided that future large-scale mechanization would be achieved through electrification, and the current electrified locomotive had so many advantages, why not use it?
Besides this, there was another relatively important factor, one that was extremely beneficial for electrification.
This factor was something people in the Earth era could only dream of.
Superconductivity.
Because of Loshen Star's extremely low temperatures, a superconducting environment was naturally present without the need for special creation. Tom only needed to put a little effort into the cable materials to mass-produce superconducting lines, achieving lossless transmission of grid power.
This would further increase efficiency.
Combining all these reasons, Tom finally made this decision.
Inside the No. 1 Mechanical Plant, more than twenty Clones were continuously handcrafting parts, assembling them by hand, and constantly testing.
They were researching how to build an electrified locomotive.
During this process, their brains operated at high speed, constantly combining with reality, continuously trying and correcting, and thus, knowledge was generated in their brains, becoming Tom's knowledge.
This knowledge from different sources converged in Tom's brain, where it was thoroughly integrated, and then fed back in real-time to every Clone.
The twenty-odd Clones were silent, with no communication between them. However, a knowledge point summarized by one Clone through experimentation, such as certain connectors not being suitable for acid-dipping treatment as it would lead to insufficient strength, would immediately be synchronized into the minds of all Clones.
Without communication or notification, all other Clones would avoid this error when processing such parts.
If another Clone made a different discovery, it would also be immediately synchronized into the minds of the other Clones.
The progress of each Clone led to overall progress.
Under these circumstances, the manufacturing of the electric locomotive proceeded extremely smoothly. After all, Tom's requirements were not high at the moment; it didn't need to be that intelligent, nor did its performance need to be too high.
When the railway track laying was halfway complete, the first experimental locomotive was finished.
Tom operated it onto the tracks, carefully connecting the cable with the pantograph, and pressing the button. Instantly, surging electric power began to drive the electric motor, which then distributed the power to the wheels.
With friction against the tracks, the long train, dragging 30 carriages, fully loaded with 3000 tons of goods, and a total length of over 600 meters, began to move forward.
Initially, the speed was very slow, but it quickly picked up, reaching a maximum of 40 kilometers per hour.
Faster than an empty tractor's top speed!
"Not bad."
Tom was filled with satisfaction.
Now, with the electrified locomotive, not only was the goods transportation problem solved, but it also paved the way for his leap into the electrical age.
If I can build an electric locomotive for a heavy-haul train, is there any problem building electric crushers, mining carts, ore dressing machines, excavators, bulldozers, and the like?
There actually was a problem.
Some fixed equipment, such as crushers and ore dressing machines, could be directly connected to the circuit, which was not a problem.
But some mobile machinery, such as mining carts, trucks, and bulldozers, could not be directly connected to power lines.
But it didn't matter. Tom already had a solution.
If they couldn't be connected to lines, then use batteries!
Simple lead-acid batteries actually had no significant technological content; even with Tom's current technology, they could be manufactured.
Compared to Earth, the only differences were slightly lower energy density, greater weight, lower safety, and slower charging speed.
But it didn't matter, it was still the same phrase: as long as it worked.
There was also a more important point.
In the Earth era, for environmental protection, many toxic and harmful additives that could improve battery performance, such as metallic cadmium, could not be added.
But here on Loshen Star, Tom didn't care about that.
Can it improve performance? Just add it.
With such recklessness, Tom discovered that the first battery he almost handcrafted in the laboratory had an overall performance that could reach about half of a similar battery from the Earth era.
It should be known that Tom's overall technology was far behind Earth's. But even under these circumstances, the performance could still reach half!
This greatly surprised Tom.
"For now, I'll hand-make a batch and make do. Once the Steel Plant is at full production, a dedicated battery factory must also be built."
Tom made up his mind.
The work of building the railway was still in full swing.
As of now, another year has passed, and over 80% of the railway construction has been completed.
Later, not as much manpower would be needed, so, adding the 400 new Clones born this year, Tom allocated a total of 600 Clones to the three mining sites.
He wanted to build three sub-bases!