Grantville Gazette, Volume 7

by Eric Flint

  Painting, Adornment & Naming

  Trains and engines are symbols of progress and of the power of the USE. They are highly visible throughout their daily travel. Before railroads settle into normality for the general public they will set the trend and be very much "en vogue." Trains or engines could be named. This will give the fearful and doubting public something familiar to cling to.

  The name for one of the very first engines will certainly be The Eagle = Der Adler. Names of towns, battles, states or mythical animals could be appropriate. Old biblical names might be a very good idea, too. But engines are items of business. Opposed to the contemporary style there will be no bright works. The color will be mostly black with some red part in the carriage. Black is convenient because the smoke will give the engines this color anyway. The red paint will probably be red lead (Mennige). It's easy to produce and not dangerous to man and environment if not subjected to abrasion.

  For accounting purposes, each engine will have a numerical designation. The number could look like < 01 004 > where the first two digits identify the type and the rest are the individual engine.

  The signs will be simple numbers and letters of brass riveted on plates. Thin brass, as we are on a budget.

  Operation

  One train per day for all major stations can be considered a good level of service, initially. An appropriate size for a regular train would be five cars. The trains will load only previously contracted freight because of the limitations of cars and space. But a "catch-all train" will collect goods from all those local branches and stopping points at least once per week.

  The basic economic measurement unit for every railroad is the price for carrying a certain good over a distance of one mile. Fares, utilization, revenues, costs and profitability will come down to the very figure of how much shall be transported how far. Fares will be published as so much per cubic foot per mile for "measurement" (low density) goods or so much per ton per mile for "bulk" goods. The price is usually set so that the fare is the same for one ton and for somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-100 cubic feet. Passenger fares, expressed on a per person and per mile basis, are in essence the same.

  Additional charges for special or dangerous goods, as well as for priority shipment will have to be considered. Big customers such as US Steel could negotiate special freight rates if they are willing to pay in advance for a large block of transportation capacity. Indeed, the railroad may find that it needs to grant rebates to customers that give it a lot of business.

  To reduce operating costs and ensure safety, the railroad will limit its operating hours and conditions. No trains should go at night or in really bad weather, when visibility is impaired. We can add illumination systems, and then extend operating conditions, once the trains are bringing in some revenue, and the cost of lighting has been brought down by industrial development.

  After heavy snow, we will have to accept a closure of some or all tracks as long as this condition lasts, maybe for some weeks. Eventually, purpose-built snow plows will alleviate this problem but for now keeping a track open immediately after a major snowfall boils down to the question: You and what army?

  Military use

  Theory says that railroads will enable fast moving of troops over long distances. Praxis will show that a major amount of testing and training will be necessary to use this capability effectively. How many trains will be needed to transport one regiment? Which sequence of loading men and material is the most efficient way to get a combat ready regiment to the other station? Has all the shiny new equipment been designed to fit on railroad cars? What about regiments with legacy stuff?

  I expect that rifle, cavalry and particularly artillery regiments stationed near Grantville will endure many loading-unloading exercises. They will make the trip between their barracks and an unloading place in their designated training area quite often just to give the generals some hard facts to count on.

  The military, besides using the civilian railroad for long-range, strategic purposes, will also avail themselves of the railway battalion to construct temporary, narrow gauge railways (TacRail) for smaller scale, shorter duration, operations.

  Timeline

  By early 1633 there will be two rail lines operating in the SoTF. One will be the local track around Grantville while the other will be the bar topped rail line to Halle, constructed by order from the government as a interim measure. Parts of the track around Grantville came with us in the Ring of Fire.

  Our first task will be connecting the coal mine to the power plant by rail. Over the course of 1633, the iron and limestone mines at Kamsdorf will be linked up as well.

  The track to Halle is a jury rigged, desperate attempt to get at least some transportation capacity to a halfway decent harbor. It will be ready in 1633 if resources permit. Initially it will use converted pickup trucks for engines and whatever can be improvised for rolling stock. Like most stopgap measures built on a shoestring budget, it will have a lot of issues from the start. It will have serious operational shortcomings and wear out fast. Maintenance problems for the track, like the use of poor or green wood, insufficient bedding, shortages of converted trucks and very heavy use, pushing the link to the limit, will see to a quick degradation after only a short time of operation. But it will raise the transportation throughput by about tenfold while freeing a lot of men, carriages and draft animals for other purposes. Reloading goods at Halle will be the limiting factor then. So the bartopped rail track will act as a bootstrap for the real railroad.

  1634 will be a breaking point for the railroad. While steel will be available then, there will be many demands for it. Because of the great military and economic importance of the railroad, it will certainly get some of that precious steel, but it will not be able to move forward with all of the proposed lines at one time. We have to make some very careful choices whether to update the Grantville-Halle track first or to start the Halle-Magdeburg section. About 25 % of track nominal length has to be factored in for sidings and connection to mines, mills etc. Building various tramlines for passenger transport in Grantville will make our raw material problems even worse. Hopefully we will eventually get enough steel to get the whole Grantville-Magdeburg line completed in late 1634 or the first half of 1635.

  In 1635, at least parts of a "Saxon Highway" should be built, too. Connecting Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and Gera will be an economic imperative by this time. Afterwards, we can afford to choose projects a bit more freely. Some rail construction may still be by government fiat, but a growing percentage of rail should be sold without a predetermined purpose. The companies will now know where they can enjoy good business.

  The two most likely options for expansion in the 1636-1639 timeframe will be going south to Nürnberg or going west to Kassel and eventually to Frankfurt and Mainz.

  When all of the lines proposed below have been built and demand is surging, we might think about improving the rail and rail telegraph systems.

  Possible System Improvements

  Heavier rails will enable both faster trains and heavier cars. So, over time, the major lines will certainly be rerailed and repackaged. The old rail could be put into some local branches. In the Grantville-Jena section double track will be started.

  If our business is booming and customers demand faster connections between our major stations and other points, then there are lots of possibilities for improvement:

  * Introducing an engine which needn't stop as frequently for water and coal.

  * Deploying some kind of lighting system could allow the trains to travel at night.

  * Changing train car mixes. (New express trains with only one passenger car and one for express freight/mail could go much faster, approaching the technical speed limit of the track. If the express has priority over the other trains, it should be possible to go from Magdeburg to Nürnberg during the day and back overnight by 1642.)

  Rail tracks in Germany

  These rail lines are suggestions for future railroad lines.
For obvious reasons Line No. 1 and No. 2 will be built first. The mentioned additional sidings are future updates to allow more crossings and overtaking of trains.

  Line No. 1: Grantville & Eastern Railroad

  Track length: 12 Miles

  We should first revive the railroad in Grantville. It can be used to transport both coal and commuters. We need coal brought from the mine to the power station. According to the maps of Grantville, we don't have a direct branch line to the mine. This must be changed first, to enable the transport of coal. Coal will go from the mine first south east , then change direction and reach the power station on the eastern rim. The coal mine line is a branch or "annex" line off the main line running from USE Steel to the power plant.

  A second big consumer of coal will be the steel factory. The construction site for the steel plant is just outside the eastern rim of the Ring of Fire. So the existing line will almost go there already; it needs only a small extension. Inside US Steel many things certainly will be moved by rail. So they will have to use heavy (up-time) rail, too. The coal mine will initially have an output of less than 50 ton/day of coal. We would only need a few railcars. A few (3-4) up-time rail cars with gravity assisted unloading would be absolutely marvelous.

  The continuing track of the main line (3.5 miles to northwest) will be abandoned and totally reclaimed.

  So we have initially four stations on line No. 1:

  Line No. 1a: Grantville Local

  Mile 0

  Grantville Junction

  near the USE Steel construction site outside the western rim of ROF

  Mile 1.3 (annex)

  Grantville Annex

  at the coal mine. Branched off the mail line at Mile 3.5

  Mile 3.9

  Grantville Central

  in downtown Grantville

  Mile 4.6

  Grantville Station

  at the power station near the eastern rim of ROF.

  As the existing line runs through the Grantville area, it seems worthwhile to use it for transportation of people, too. We need only some light rail cars and a small engine. Stations will be very simple, consisting only of a platform and some kind of shelter. The station track will consist of a siding for crossing trains or switching directions. An additional stop could be built near the North Central High School on mile 1.0. It would only be a walk of about 1/4 mile uphill.

  * * *

  Line No. 1b: Kamsdorf Mines

  Track length: 6 Miles

  The branch to the mines at Kamsdorf is the next logical step. We have to start at Grantville Junction, heading south along the western bank of the Saale to the northern part of Saalfeld. We could either cross the Saale via the Island in Saalfeld (with two bridges) or just north in one longer bridge. The latter bridge needs to be 65 feet long and should be usable for trains, carriages and persons. After that we go west along Weira creek to Gorndorf and Unterwellenborn / Kamsdorf. Constructing these tracks would allow us to use the railroad to feed US Steel with almost all needed bulk resources. Additionally we would be able to link up Saalfeld and Kamsdorf to our public transport system.

  Initially we should be able to service these tracks and US Steel with only 2-3 small engines.

  The planned stations for Line No. 1b are as follows:

  Mile 0

  Grantville Junction

  near the US Steel construction site outside the western rim of ROF

  Mile 2.7

  Saalfeld

  on the northern Border of Saalfeld near the bridge

  Mile 6.1

  Kamsdorf

  Near the mines and quarries. Another village nearby is Unterwellenborn.

  Line No. 2: The Capitol Line from Grantville to Magdeburg

  Track length: 156 Miles

  This line will be the backbone of the new CPE as it connects its two centers. While building the track we should attract additional transports as much as possible. Therefore, we will connect all towns on our way if they accept the offer.

  * * *

  Line No. 2a Grantville to Halle

  "The Lifeline"

  This line will be started at first as the bar topped wooden rail line to Halle. These pickup drawn cars are only suitable as stopgap measure. When demand surges up for the growing industries in Grantville this setup will not be able to cope. The line has to be converted to a real rail track as resources permit. The bar topped rails and rolling stock should be sold as horse drawn rail line to some secondary projects elsewhere.

  * * *

  Mile 0

  Grantville Junction

  major station, with water and coal supply, train

  depot, engine workshop, turning Y.

  This is the railroad HQ.

  From GV we head north on the western Bank of Saale to Rudolstadt. Just before Rudolstadt the track turns east, following the Saale, turning north further downriver. Notable places along the way are Burg Leuchtenberg, belonging to the Wettin family, and the town of Kahla with nearby resources of Kaolinite (white clay).

  Mile 2.9

  Rudolstadt

  stopping point

  The track will pass between the town wall and the river Saale. A station and additional track to provide access to the lumber mills is will be built. Rudolstadt should be part of Grantville's public transport system. Possible further sidings are Uhlstädt (mile 10) and Kahla (mile 17.5).

  Mile 27.8

  Jena Göschwitz

  station, water supply

  The station will be built a bit north of the actual town, bypassing it on its western borders. On the journey to Jena we follow the Saale closely . Sometimes the valley is rather narrow.

  Mile 40.75

  Bad Kösen

  Town with salt deposits and some industry. Possible further sidings are Camburg (mile 39) and Saaleck (mile 49).

  Mile 56

  Naumburg

  station, siding water and coal supply, harbor

  Here we are on the wrong side of the river. Naumburg is on the confluence of Saale and Unstrut. The Saale makes a turn from north to east while the Unstrut comes from the west. A bridge over Unstrut has to be built. The station should be just behind the confluence on the actual "north shore." It will be about 1-2 Miles to Naumburg. Here is the first point where reloading goods would start to make sense economically. So we should use the little harbor here. A new ferry over Saale to Naumburg city is also a good idea. As the valley widens, we stay hard on its left side.

  Mile 63.5

  Weissenfels

  About 10-15 Mile east from here are lignite resources. After it has been studied by the Geologic survey, the railroad company may wish to build a branch line and to buy a share of the mine. Ensuring a second source of coal is important.

  Mile 74.75

  Leuna

  On our way to Merseburg we pass by a little village named Leuna. In OTL this was the site of big ticket chemical industry. As geographic and logistic factors are the same now and then, this promises the village a great future. A branch line to the big resources of Lignite in this valley should be considered.

  Mile 76

  Merseburg

  siding, water supply

  Merseburg is known for producing and exporting a good beer. Good news for the Thurinigian Garden chain and all those thirsty fellows. The valley is becoming wider and also a swamp in some areas. We stay hard on the western side of the valley and the track will cut all those bends the Saale river does, but we will have to reinforce some ground before laying the track.

  Mile 78.5

  Schkopau (Buna)

  Here it's the same as with Leuna. Artificial rubber was invented here in OTL.

  Mile 88.25

  Halle Salineinsel

  major station, siding, water and coal supply, harbor, turning Y

  The station in Halle is outside the town on the western bank of the Saale. The Salineinsel is an island with wells of brine. On the opposite side is the center of Halle. A bit south of the town in Ammendorf are small resources
of coal, but bigger ones of lignite. Bigger resources of coal are in Wettin on the right (eastern) bank of the Saale about 12 miles to the north of Halle. Establishing some coal mines here would be very convenient because we don't have to carry our own coal. If a mine is being established it should be connected with the existing line. But for that we have to build a bridge over Saale or rely on transport with carriages.