The Albion Railway

In the history of Albion, no mode of transportation has held greater promise or potential than the Albion Railway. Hailed as a wonder of the modern age and the transport of tomorrow, it is transforming the very fabric of the nation - reshaping where its citizens live, how they work, and what goods and services reach their hands. While some lament the passing of a simpler, older way of life, many more embrace the changes wrought by the extraordinary power of the railway.

Wooden Rails and Wooden Horses

Before the advent of modern engines and wrought-iron rails, there were the wagonways - systems of wooden tracks that allowed heavily laden wagons to be moved more quickly and efficiently by teams of horses. These early rail systems were typically used in and around mines. Once construct horses became widely available, they began to replace their flesh-and-blood counterparts. A construct horse typically has a body of wood and leather, animated by a bound wind elemental. Though they never tired, they were not significantly stronger than mortal horses, so the work remained slow.

The Fiery Heart

The process for building constructs has been known for over a century. An artificer must craft a vessel, then summon an elemental spirit to inhabit and animate it. Over the decades, many types of constructs have been created using a variety of materials. Matching the material to the spirit is key to tailoring the construct for a specific task, and the construction of the vessel itself is a time-consuming and intricate process. For most of this time, it was believed that a useful construct had to be based - at least in part - on a living creature in order to achieve proper mobility and function. Millions of constructs were built to these specifications, and they can be found performing all manner of labor across the empire.

In 1804, one artificer broke the pattern. Rather than designing a fully articulated form that mimicked a living being, James Richthick created a simple brass sphere to contain a spirit of elemental fire. To many, the construct seemed useless - it could neither move nor perform any task on its own. But it was very hot, even when fed only minimal fuel. Richthick's insight was this: a construct need not perform work itself; it could instead generate the power for other systems to use.

He called it the Fiery Heart, and built it into a custom boiler of his own design. Steam boilers had been experimented with for years, and were often used at lower pressured to perform work. But higher pressure boilers often met with disastrous results - they were prone to exploding. But Richthick, an expert metallurgist, recognized that the problem lay in the materials used. He believed that a new generation of alloys, then emerging, would make safer and stronger boilers possible. In 1802, an Alban metallurgist had pioneered what is now known as the Dragon Process, a method for producing high-quality steel in large quantities. Richthick believed this advancement would allow him to construct a boiler capable of withstanding high pressures -and thus unlock the true potential of the Fiery Heart.

The Ashbel Engine

Richthick constructed the first high-pressure steam locomotive in 1805, in the town of Ashbel on Albion's west coast. Its trial run took place on the wooden rails of an old wagonway - but the rails shattered beneath the engine's weight. He tried again using cast iron rails, which proved sturdier and generated less friction than wood, but they too failed under the massive load.

It was not until late 1806 that the Ashbel Engine was tested on newly forged wrought iron rails - this time, it succeeded. The engine traveled nine miles in an hour, matching the speed of a trotting horse. Richthick knew it was only the beginning. Soon, he had the Ashbel Engine reaching speeds of fifteen miles per hour, while pulling a load far greater than any team of horses - living or construct - could ever hope to achieve.

The War Years

As Richthick was experimenting in Ashbel, the continent of Elbid was burning. The Little Dragon and his Cult of the Leviathan had launched a devastating war in 1803, and nation after nation fell before their armies and their magic. The Empire threw itself into the fray in an attempt to slow the advance, soon fielding massive armies of Taloi against the forces of the cult.

On the island of Albion, this meant that production for the war effort had to increase a hundredfold. Some criticized the resources Richthick was pouring into the Ashbel Engine, but he saw the truth - Albion would need his railway if they wanted to win the war.

Before the railway, raw materials were transported by wagon across the island, often along dirt roads riddled with potholes and mud. Even on the Empire's best roads, the process was slow. Construct-horse-drawn wagons could keep a steady pace night and day, but it still took considerable time to move the materials needed for the war effort from the point of extraction to the sites of production.

In 1808, Richthick convinced Parliament to authorize the Kilmar Line, connecting the iron mines in central Alba to the port of Kilmar. The initial route was only eighteen miles in length but dramatically outperformed the previous wagon trains, delivering iron to the city faster than it could be mined. The Kilmar Line was soon extended to thirty-seven miles, becoming the main artery for shipping iron and other ores across the Alban Highlands.

Over the next seven years, the Albion Railway expanded rapidly. By the time The Little Dragon was defeated in 1815, over four hundred miles of track had been laid, and goods were being transported across the nation at speeds of up to forty miles per hour. Many historians would credit the Fiery Heart and the Railway with enabling the Empire to continue the fight, doubling the production of wartime goods.

And though the war had ended, the Railway was just getting started.

A Shrinking World

In the fifteen years since the war ended, the island of Albion has been transformed. Rail lines now connect the major cities, and travel across the island is faster than ever before. All manner of goods are transported at speeds unthinkable just thirty years ago. And the people have changed as well.

Small villages that once saw only rare visitors suddenly found themselves part of a national network. They could travel to the cities - and city-dwellers could come to them. These villages have grown wealthier and larger - at least, those that lay along the line.

Other places were bypassed - and have begun to wither because of it. Seen as backwaters, their children have started to move away, seeking their fortunes in towns and cities connected to the railway. The increased productivity of the war years has also left its mark: agricultural constructs now fill the fields, displacing many tenant farmers. Some mourn the loss of unique local cultures; others celebrate the excitement of a new age.

City and factory workers no longer need to live near urban centers. A new class of commuters is emerging - workers who travel the rails daily, journeying from the outskirts of major cities into their hearts each morning, and back again each night. While currently limited to the wealthier workers who can afford the fare, some believe this trend will spread.

Regional rail companies have sprung up across the Empire, encouraged by parliamentary charters granting monopolies over various territories. These companies carry freight and passengers from the smallest villages to the largest hubs and back again. Journeys that once took a week now take a single day.

In a thousand ways, the Empire is growing smaller with every journey - and the engines grow faster every year.