The Grand Creosotian Railway

The Grand Creosotian Railway (Formerly The National Railway Company, and nicknamed Hudson's Racetrack) was the nationalized railway system of the Creosotian Republic. Created shortly after the formation of the Republic, it's origins lay in the railway companies operating in the British counties that made up the new nation. It existed for the entirety of the Republics existence and is considered by both historians and political commentators to be a perfect model as to how a nationalized system should work. It is often used as an example of what the Republic achieved and the merits of its short lived existence.

### Origins

The origins of The National Railway Company (NRC) lay in the myriad of railways that operated through South-Eastern England. When the Republic was formed these companies continued to run the services and President Jeremiah Creosote originally intended to "let em keep at it" because the provisional Republic Government had "enaff on it's plate at the moment", within the first month the problems were clear. Long and numerous delays at border checkpoints were commonplace due to Creosotes strict border policy in the wake of independence, and in some cases services were abruptly stopped due to lack of military personnel for such duties. Eventually George Hudson advocated an intervention and headed a committee that created a plan for the nationalization of both infrastructure and rolling stock with the intention of forming a Creosotian Railway. This plan came into force only two months after the Republics founding, with The National Railway Company paying off the British operating companies around 30% of the value of the seized property.

### The National Railway Company (1886 - 1894)

With an administrative committee in place headed by George Hudson, the NRC then faced the gargantuan task of consolidating and modernizing the mess of systems and equipment that it had inherited from the previous railway companies. Using connections in Manchester, he 'acquired' the plans for the London and Northwestern Railways Coal Engines. He then authorized the construction of several of these (both Engine and Tank versions) which would form the basis of the locomotive fleet. This was augmented by purchases of redundant stock from both British and Continental railways as well as private builders in the first year or so of operation. This patchwork fleet would get the job done, but suffered badly from maintenance issues, a problem exacerbated by the wild range of manufacturers involved for spare parts.

### The Grand Creosotian Railway (1895-1897)

In the midst of the political dogma surrounding the 'Phoney Jeramboah War' and during an effort of the Creosote administration to strengthen party loyalty, boost President Creosotes image, and to reduce the public image of George Hudson, the National Railway Company was renamed by Parliamentary Decree in November 1894 to The Grand Creosotian Railway (GCR). This came into effect on New Years Eve 1894 and included a large series of celebrations, revolving around trains filled with makeshift bars (and 18 new pub carriages commissioned by the new committee of the GCR) and incredibly cheap and often free alcohol being served.

### Post-Republic (1898 onwards)

Following the collapse of the Republic, the companies that had operated the systems prior to Creosotian independence petitioned the UK Government and remaining administrators of the dead Republic for the re-acquisition of their property. Hudson himself was instrumental in this position and was rewarded with a position on the board of the London, Brighton, & South Coast Railway afterwards. Both historians studying this as well as contemporaries from these railway companies at the time have commented on how beneficial this ended up being for railway operators. An unidentified source from the South Eastern & Chatham Railway is reported as saying "Well quite frankly it all worked out rather well. We were paid around 40% the value for our infrastructure and got it back anyway and George Hudson managed to reform the system to make it around 120% more profitable. What more could you ask for out of political upheaval?"