Transport in Halcyon

Throughout the city of Halcyon, there were countless methods of transport that became notable throughout the years. By the 1590s, the city was massively well connected, and there was a huge amount of choice in your method of transport around. The wide cobbled and paved streets were packed with horses, mules, carts, and carriages, with the occasional motorcars too. The canals were fairly rife with boats of all kinds, so much so that a fleeing thief could cross the river with well-timed jumps between the lanes of fluvial traffic. Overhead bridges and tunnels deep beneath the earth carried engines that chuffed out great clouds of smoke. 
Transport in the city was overseen by the Halcyon Board of Transport, or HBT. They controlled and regulated many other companies and groups. 
== Internal Trains ==
Within the city, there were several lines of steam trains. These ran overground and underground, on large iron bridges raised above the level of the streets, usually. In more rural areas such as the fringes of the city, the trains would run at ground level. In addition, they ran on bridges crossing the canals. There were several underground train lines too - most of the lines had parts or sections in tunnels. 
The steam engines came in many shapes and sizes themselves, manufactured by the famed Heartland Railway Company, but some more chunky, heavy designs were also brought in by the Darim company Råvfjäll Engines. RFE's trains tended to be geared for cargo or more heavier. Heartland Rail thus provided the vast majority of passenger cars, whilst RFE manufactured most of the flatbed cars, skip cars, and other freight carriages. Tickets for these trains were a little pricey, but remained stable - the standard train fare on all lines was 1 sterling waar (1sp). 
== Cross-Country Trains ==
From the station Halcyon Central, Heartland Rail trains also had several dedicated lines cross-country. The destinations were usually built-up cities, as it was costly to run and maintain such a line. Some destinations included Kol Darim, Hjarofjall, Naysayer, Datria, Charteyn, and Xinlelal. These trains ran over swathes of open country. Few lines went to the peninsula or Turmish due to the unforgiving rocky landscape of Turmish that made laying track hard. Additionally, a line was planned to Bracken but abandoned due to the dangers posed - instead Kol Darim was the nearest destination. Cross country train fares were more expensive, and varied by distance, but were often high, in the realms of several gold waar - for instance, a train to Naysayer or Jarren's Well would cost 5gp and two hours of your time, but a train to Hjarofjall, the furthest destination, might set you back 30gp and take a day. 
== Motorcars ==
'If me da Edward were still kicking about, I know what he'd say if he saw one of them motorcars. He'd ask how hard it were to steal'un.'- Maxwell Loveridge.
Perhaps the most striking and impressive inventions of the tail end of the sixteenth century was the motorcar. With the power of Electricity, soon it was used to turn motors, and the rest was history. One of these motorcars contained a small storage generator that used the secrets of electricity to generate energy, fed into a motor, that pushed and pulled pistons - these then turned a crankshaft, which powered the car. These cars did not spew out any smog or fumes, which was one of the design requirements that led several other prototypes to be rejected by the HBT.
Motorcars were expensive, and trundled along quite slowly. They were often temperamental too. Nonetheless, they were powerful, and as time went on, they became faster and safer. Still, the technology was limited by the time - in 1590, it was unlikely that a motorcar with power enough to pull cargo or a carriage would come along for some decades more. The intensive process to make them and fit the electric motors cost a lot, so they were rather expensive - in the upper hundreds or low thousands of gold waar. They were manufactured by a variety of companies, but the biggest three were the luxury Vortais foundry Mercator Autos, the dependable Halcyian foundry Capital Motors, and the innovative and interesting Bracken-born company Valley Vehicles. Each foundry had their strengths and flaws - Mercator's were luxurious and expensive, Capital motorcars were solid but standard, and Valley automobiles were unique, experimental, and weird.
== Canals ==
On the canals of Halcyon, many types of water craft could be found, from canoes, flatboats and dinghies, to sailing ships, and even occasionally a large, heavy steam paddling ship. Sailing ships were still the dominant type of navigation - most steam ships (save for a few special, expensive designs) were unfit for open waters and had a short range before refuelling was needed. These steam paddle ships used small electricity devices to generate steam - again, they were clean, and the designs of ones that burnt fuel were rejected by the HBT. There were also ferries that crossed the canals.
== Overland Stagecoaches ==
The popular and successful Charger Coach Company served Halcyon and its environs much as they had done for decades. They also covered most of the surrounding lands. They ran stagecoaches across the Danderillon and within the city too. The coaches were drawn by teams of two or four horses. They transported important people or those seeking luxury and rapidity, as well as sometimes carrying smaller goods such as money deliveries (which were robbed on occasion). 
== Other Personal Transport ==
Horses, personal carts, mules, and pack donkeys were still popular. In addition, some other cultures' mounts and pack animals were seen, like Darim mountain goats, Athasian llamas and camels, and even some more exotic ones like northern caribou were an oddity.
Category:Halcyon
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