Kaiserbahn

The Kaiserbahn (directly translates as the Imperial Railway) is the broad-gauge railway that traverses the European Empire. The railway travels between all the major cities of the Empire, with connections.

## Origin

In 1822, during the First Franco-Spanish War, the Berlin Palace was destroyed by covert Spanish forces on a mission to assassinate Emperor Ferdinand II. The attempt on his life was successful, the Emperor and severely wounding Crown Prince Leopold, who then became Emperor. After the attack, Emperor Leopold was left wheelchair bound from shrapnel embedded in his knee, as well as losing most of his left hand except for his index and middle finger.

After the attack, Emperor Leopold is believed to have developed severe PTSD about being vulnerable, and never officially lived in any Palace ever again. He moved regularly, never deciding where to go until the very last minute. He spent much of his reign in train cars, travelling across the Empire to move a lot. It is said that he got the idea to simply live on a train in the first few years of his reign.

The Emperor privately encouraged engineers to begin drawing diagrams and plans for a moving Palace, which would later be known as the Aurumbahn, the Golden Railway. These plans were then passed to the army, for consultation and adaptation to transport troops and weaponry if required. And with the military's seal of approval, the plans were fast-tracked through parliament. Due to the Second Franco-Spanish War, the military's emergency powers were used to push approval and funding through, two weeks before the official capitulation of the Republic of Spain.

Construction began on the Aurumbahn in 1827, with the first stage officially opening in 1839, even though the lines had been being used from as early as 1834. Emperor Leopold was taken on a tour when it became obvious that he was dying, as he insisted on seeing his product.

Emperor Leopold's successor, Emperor Maximilian I, was uninterested in the project, so progress began to stall during his reign. However, his son, Crown Prince George and later Emperor Maximilian II, had been very close with his grandfather, inheriting his suspicions. Maximilian II was also incredibly academic however, finding a lot of joy in engineering projects. His patronage allowed the Aurumbahn to be complete a few years after his coronation, and his continued patronage saw the further expansion of the network until the network's size allowed it to be incredibly useful to the military and imperial family.

## Network

### Golden Stage (1827 - 1839)

The golden stage was the first stage of the Kaiserbahn, built by Emperor Leopold. The first stage was original called the Aurumbahn, the Golden Railway.

The golden lines include;

* Berlin - Frankfurt - Paris - Bordeaux - Bilbao,
* Hamburg - Berlin - Konigsburg,
* Brussels - Paris - Marseilles,
* Frankfurt - Geneva - Lyon, and
* Berlin - Dresden - Nuremburg - Munich.

### Silver Stage (1842 - 1868)

The silver stage was the second stage of the Kaiserbahn, immediately commissioned by Emperor Maximilian II upon the opening of the Aurumbahn. Originally, the silver stage was due to be called the Argenbahn, the Silver Railway. However, as planning continued and several of the lines were being designed as branches and extensions, rather than new railways in their own right, it was decided to unify the network. The whole system was renamed to the Kaiserbahn, with the golden and silver stages being defined.

This stage focused mostly on increasing the connections within the French and German states themselves, rather than focusing on the rest of the Empire's expansion. Due to Emperor Maximilian's confidence in the network, he already began drafting ideas in private about the expansion plans for the rest of the Empire as part of the Bronze stage. It was in 1853 that he began to commissioning of the Channel Tunnel, to link the new British (later English) state with the mainland. Due to the engineer complexities of such a task at the time, the tunnel was not ready until far later than the rest of the silver stage.

The silver lines include;

* Stockholm - Malmo - Copenhagen - Hamburg - Dusseldorf - Brussels,
* Amsterdam - Dusseldorf - Frankfurt - Munich,
* Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Brussels,
* Calais - Paris (in preparation for the Channel Tunnel), and
* Calais - Luxembourg (in preparation for the Channel Tunnel).

### Bronze Stage (1865 - 1893)

The bronze stage was the third stage of the Kaiserbahn, also commissioned by Emperor Maximilian II, before the silver stage had even officially finished, as was his enthusiasm and belief in the project. This stage was the longest of the total stages, as one of the realisations of the network was the inefficiency of steam. The decision was taken, at great personal expense to the Emperor to completely electrify the Kaiserbahn network, to bring it into the modern age.

As a result of the Emperor's patronage, the bronze stage became one of the most expensive and time-consuming parts, as third rails were laid along the line (overhead wires were infeasible due to the size of the trains). But, as a result, the Empire became one of the leaders in electric locomotive technology. And when Berlin hosted the World Exhibition in 1885, the primary attraction was the brand new, electric Kaiserbahn locomotives.

Another reason for the increased timeframe of the bronze stage was due to the First Franco-Russian War. During this war, many Kaiserbahn lines were laid into capture territory quickly to allow the military to transport supplies quickly. Retrofitting those lines to be up to the rest of the network's standard then led to considerable time requirements, along with a lot of controversy due to the newly conquered territory.

The bronze stage included the construction of the Leeber Gorge viaduct, in Switzerland. The viaduct was constructed as a bridge but also as a means of execution, with the rails' crossbeams deliberately being stopped in the middle of the bridge to facilitate the dropping of prisoners into the gorge below.

The bronze lines include;

* Tallinn - Kaunas - Warsaw - Czestochowa - Berlin,
* Czestochowa - Krakow,
* Tallinn - Riga - Klaipeda - Kaunas - Vilnius,
* Ventspils - Riga - Konigsburg,
* Poznan - Warsaw - Brest,
* Oslo - Gothenburg - Malmo,
* Aarhus - Esjberg - Flensburg,
* Amsterdam - Bremen - Dresden,
* Munich - Vaduz - Geneva, and
* London - Calais (via the Channel Tunnel).

### Copper Stage (1914 - 1924)

The copper stage is the fourth stage of the Kaiserbahn, commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand IV. The copper stage was the first stage to be given a non-metallic colour on the Kaiserbahn maps, being labelled as green to complement the existing gold, silver, and bronze colours.

After several years of peace and with the imminent joining of the north Italian states of Savoy and Venetia, Emperor Ferdinand was counselled that being visible as a family would be integral to keeping the Empire peaceful. As a result, the new lines focused on areas which had poor Kaiserbahn connections, such as northern and southern Europe, rather than central or eastern Europe. Emperor Ferdinand was the first commissioning emperor who was indifferent to the network itself and acted only on his advisor's advice, rather than actively campaigning for the network's expansion.

As a result, the copper lines were built to a far lower standard and budget. Much of the copper lines are speed restricted due to the poorer quality of the tracks. Additionally, some sections of track over bridges and tunnels were designated as shared with normal passenger traffic, restricting speed and also requiring the passenger lines to be closed to allow the far large Kaiserbahn trains to use the tracks.

The copper lines include;

* Paris - Nantes - Bordeaux - Toulouse - Marseilles - Nice - Genoa,
* Vallidolid - Zaragoza - Toulouse,
* Zermatt - Milan - Genoa,
* Nice - Turin - Milan - Venice - Trieste - Split,
* Munich - Venice,
* Manchester - Birmingham - London,
* Cardiff - Bristol - London, and
* Bergen - Kristiansand - Oslo.

### Cobalt Stage (1927 - Incumbent)

The cobalt stage is the fifth, and current, stage of the Kaiserbahn, commissioned by Emperor Maximilian III. The cobalt stage continued with the metallic naming convention, like the copper stage, but choosing non-metallic colours on maps.

Much like his father, Emperor Maximilian was mostly indifferent to the expansion of the network, only continuing the expansion as a political tool rather than as a means of engineering. However, having learnt from the mistakes of the copper stage, all the tracks are far higher quality, leading to a more selective approach to line choice. The speed restrictions on the copper stage cause the Emperor and other family issues with efficiencies, some lines being faster to bypass on others than to travel directly.

## Specifications

### Size

The Kaiserbahn was constructed to be deliberately incompatible with normal, standard-gauge trains. This was done to keep the lines free of non-imperial traffic and to make their use by foreign powers impossible.

The Kaiserbahn trains are made up of locomotives, pulling 10 - 25 car trains. Cars are 42m x 6m x 7m, and the rails are set to a broad gauge of 4m. The entire network is single-tracked, however passing loops are situated every 5 km on most lines (every 7 - 10 km on the copper stage, due to budget contraints), which allow non-priority trains to stop and let priority trains pass. The passing loops are designed to be able to accommodate 45 cars (30 on the copper stage).

On some sections of the railway, the tracks are set such that two standard gauge passenger lines are laid so far apart that the inner rails are 4m apart, thereby allowing the Kaiserbahn trains to run down the same sets of track. However, due to the nature of this, a speed limit is enforced on these sections.

### Speed

The modern, electric Kaiserbahn locomotives have been tested as capable hitting over 270 km/h alone and over 250 km/h when pulling a train of cars.

However, the maximum in-service speed of the Kaiserbahn in 200 km/h, due to track limitations and safety concerns for the Emperor. Some areas of the Kaiserbahn are limited to 160 km/h, 100 km/h, or even as low as 60 km/h.

Some sections of the Kaiserbahn were unable to be electrified, so the Kaiserbahn trains have back-up diesel engines which allow them to run off-power. However, due to size and capacity constraints, diesel running can only reach 40 km/h, so is avoided as much as possible. Some sections are also at risk of flooding, so diesel running is used when flooding is possible and the power is cut to those sections of track.

## Trains

Trains running on the Kaiserbahn can only run with the permission of the Emperor, so access is incredibly exclusive. The only exception is in times of war, where the military can run any trains they require on the tracks.

Due to the single-track nature of the network, the trains are organised into a priority list. These dictate which train is required to wait in a passing loop to allow another to pass through.

1. War-time army trains,
2. The Imperial Train,
3. The Consort Train,
4. Dowager Trains,
5. High-priority army trains,
6. Principal Trains,
7. Low-priority army trains, then
8. All other trains.

### The Imperial Train

The Imperial Train carries the Emperor himself, and is typically the most important train. The only trains which out-prioritise his are war time trains.

#### Consist

The consist of the Imperial Train is varied on a regular basis. Both to change out any cars which may be needed, but also to make any targeting of the Emperor far more difficult.

Below is a to-scale exemplar Imperial Train consist.

Kaiserbahn LocomotiveKaiserbahn Locomotive Crew CarKaiserbahn First Servant CarKaiserbahn Second Servant CarKaiserbahn Utility Car
### The Consort Train

In the event of the Empress travelling separately to the Emperor (either due to different living circumstances or due to differing schedules), the Empress' train is referred to as the Consort Train. It has priority over most other trains.

### Dowager Trains

If there are any Empress Dowagers (empresses whose husbands have died), their trains are referred to as Dowager Trains.

### Principal Trains

Senior Princes and Princesses of the Empire have the right to run trains on the Kaiserbahn, so long as they undertake engagements in the Emperor's name. Their trains are referred to as Principal Trains.

Some junior Princes and Princesses also choose to run trains on the Kaiserbahn, However, their right to do so is not protected, and must be granted by the Emperor himself. These Principal Trains are lower priority than the running of the senior imperials' trains.

### Advance Trains

In front of every train containing a senior member of the imperial family, an Advance Train runs ahead. Usually by about two hours, but anywhere from one to four hours.

These trains carry extra supplies and surplus cars not required in their Imperial, Dowager, or Principal Train's consist. They also carry spare locomotive parts and an army reserve proportional to the following train's passengers.

These trains are designed to ensure the tracks are safe for the following train to run over. Any damage (sabotage or wear-and-tear) will be encountered by the Advance Train before the following train, thereby making it safer. The Advance Train is in constant contact with the following train to report any security concerns and to coordinate any changes to the itinerary.

Typically, when a lower-priority train's Advance Train is required to stop for another train, it will pull into the passing loop ahead of the following train's passing loop, allowing the following train to pull into the passing loop. However, in rare, unexpected cases, an Advance Train and following train will pull into the same passing loop.