Eric Flint Grantville Gazette Volume 7

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.Mile 112F�rthstationA industrial town.Mirrors, glass, furniture, needles and jewelry are being made here.F�rth is undersimultaneous rule of the bishops of Bamberg, the count of N�rnberg and the elector of Brandenburg.Abit complicated, even by German standards.The area between F�rth and N�rnberg is called Garlic Land (Knoblauchsland).Here is thebattleground of Alte Veste.Here Gustaph Adolph won, with the help of new guns "Made in Grantville," adecisive victory over the imperial troops.With the help of his American allies, he was able to breakWallenstein's army, having Wallenstein himself disabled by Julie Sims in the process (See 1632 by EricFlint).Probably some more permanent military installations will be built here, as the place remains ofstrategic importance.Just before N�rnberg, we cross the tributary river Pegnitz.The bridge has to allow for the passage ofoccasional boats out of the town.Mile 117N�rnberg (Nuremberg)station, water and coal supply, train depot, turning YIn N�rnberg, we will skirt around the southern part of the walled town and place the station on itssouthern outskirts.In view of its craftsmen's reputation for very fine and delicate work, it could be anexcellent place to start industries in fine mechanics.Nuremberg also has a well known trade fair and goodroad connections.Having no guilds here is also fortunate for business.From N�rnberg, one can go by road to various towns on the Donau (Danube).One of these roadscould be replaced with a rail line.We could choose either Ingolstadt or Regensburg as our railhead later.Regensburg seems to be a bit more appealing, but we would need to build the station there on highground because of frequent flooding.We should build this access as soon as resources and politicalsituation will allow, because a rail linkup to the Donau gives us access to the biggest trade network intothe Balkans, Turkey, Black Sea area and even southern Russia.If we ever come to more friendly termswith Austria this link will see a lot of traffic to Turkey and over the Brenner Pass to Venice and Italy.Until then, we will see a lot of military transports.The distance from N�rnberg to Regensburg is about 30miles.BibliographyRossberg, Ralf Roman, Geschichte der Eisenbahn, Sigloch Edition K�nzelsau 1977/1984Weisbrod, Manfred et al., Dampflokarchiv Bd.1-4, Transpress Berlin 1979Samter, Sr.Heinrich, Reich der Erfindungen, Reprint from 1901, Gondrom VerlachBindlach 1998Grosser Weltatlas, Planet Medien AG ZugHarnessing The Iron Horse: RailroadLocomotion In The 1632 UniverseBy Iver P.CooperRailroading in 1632 CanonAt the first "cabinet meeting," Mike Stearns says, "We got rail tracks leading most of the way fromthe mine to the power plant, but as far as I know there isn't a locomotive anywhere around.We mayhave to haul it by truck." (1632, Chap.8)The principal focus of this article will be on how the USE will design its first locomotives, but first Iwill explain what Canon (the entire set of 1632 series novels and anthologies) tells us about railroadingafter the Ring of Fire (RoF).Mike decides that Grantville's best survival strategy is to use its "modern technology, while it lasts, tobuild a nineteenth-century industrial base." Mike muses, "Steam engines, steam engines.The railroads areabout to make a big comeback in the world." (Chap.11)By the time of Becky's first cablecast (Sept 10, 1631), some kind of new track had just been laid tothe new foundry, "but the first steam locomotive was still being built." (Chap.33).That was still true as ofthe October 8 cabinet meeting (Chap.40).The next reference to railroads in "canon" is in the David Weber story, "In the Navy" (Ring of Fire).There, Eddie Cantrell lobbies Mike Stearns to turn over enough miles of salvaged railroad track to armorseveral ironclads, prompting complaints from Quentin Underwood about undermining the economy.Nonetheless, the up-timers did lay steel rails between Grantville and Halle.Although incomplete, theline was in use as of a September, 1633 cabinet meeting (1633, Chap.34).The trackwork was notmodern steel T-rail, but rather "dinky wooden rails with an iron cap." Quentin is equally contemptuous ofthe motive power; the "pathetic" cargoes are "being pulled as often as not by 'locomotives' made up of apickup truck or even a team of horses."By June of 1634, when Iona left Grantville, the trains were running all the way to Halle ("Until WeMeet Again," Grantville Gazette, Volume 4).Besides the civilian railroad, there is also a railway battalion in the U.S.Army, commanded by MajorElizabeth Pitre.Its mission is to build and operate narrow gauge military railroads (TacRail).Pitre'sactivities are described in "Elizabeth" (Grantville Gazette, Volume 4).TacRail will not be discussedfurther here.However, there are a few important references to the civilian railroad in "Elizabeth." At the beginningof the story, in summer 1633, Frank Jackson complains that the rail line to Halle had not yet beencompleted.Nonetheless, at that point Charlie Schwartz had already "worked on the railroad link to thecoal mine and helped to build the steam locomotive." The story ends in spring 1634, when the railwaybattalion rides civilian flatcars to Halle.Grantville Railroading KnowledgeHaving some track is nice, but it is not enough.We have to know how to plan out a rail network,manufacture and lay track, build locomotives and other rolling stock, and operate the railroad.Naturally, there will be some information on railroads in the public libraries.Of the documentedsources (those known to exist in Mannington, or mentioned in canon), the most useful from a locomotivedesign standpoint are the encyclopedias (especially the "Railways" [EB11/R] and "Steam Engine"[EB11/SE] articles in the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition) and Alexander's Iron Horses:American Locomotives 1829-1900.* * *There is more knowledge of railroads than just book knowledge stored in the libraries, of course.The first group to whom would-be railroad barons may turn for help are the retired railroad workers.According to the Up-timer Grid, there are ten such people in Grantville.These people have practical,first-hand experience with real railroads.They may also have souvenirs of interest.But bear in mind that aticket taker isn't going to know how to build a firebox.* * *Next, there are the mineworkers.Some of them may have laid narrow gauge track to service themines, or operated and repaired the mine cars or even locomotives.("Elizabeth" says there were a coupleof locomotives used in the Joanne mine.)* * *The third group are "rail fans." They may go out and watch (and perhaps photograph) real trains inoperation, try to ride behind particular locomotives or on particular tracks, collect books, videos andrailroad memorabilia, or build and operate model railroads.There are at least three rail fans (Hardy, Pitre, and Szymanski) so identified on the Grid; there maybe additional hobbyists.A town the size of Mannington (the model for Grantville) is likely to have five toseven model railroaders (Atlas Model Railroad Forum).Of the rail fans, "Monty" Szymanski is of particular interest because he "helped restore locomotivesfor the Cass State Park Scenic Railway and had built several one-eighth scale models of steamlocomotives." (Up-timer Grid)* * *Even up-timers who are not retired railway employees may have something to contribute.There arethe steam engine buffs, of course.People who rode a scenic railroad may have home videos of theexperience [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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