by Peter Rhodan
Arturo nodded. “Well yes. I said I don’t intend for it to remain all female, on the contrary, it will be our first mixed gender military style force. As you find chaps you think are suitable, probably from the ranks of new legionaries I would suggest, put them through Briana’s training program and if they make the grade they can join the organisation. Like the Legions though, any that would become officers will need to be able to read and write. Something Briana is going to have to deal with over the winter.” Arturo smiled evilly at some private thought.
Chapter 18
Trains and things
A few days later Arturo and company headed north for the opening of the rail line to Lugowalion. The initial, simple station building had been finished for some time, it was not a large building yet and eventually the completed section would be used as office space. The plans for the station building proper would result in in an edifice that resembled some old-style Roman temple more than anything else. It had been designed to be impressive with the front portico graced by eight Corinthian style columns rather in the style of the Pantheon in Rome, apparently. Or so the designer had told Arturo. The platform cover would be held aloft by two dozen more columns, if of a somewhat smaller and less ostentatious design, adding to the classical Roman feel. At the moment though, the platform was essentially bare.
The goods facilities were back down the line a mile or so where room for a large yard had been laid out with more land spare in case it needed to be extended later. For the moment there was little more than a couple of sidings and a stone-faced bank for loading and unloading. The foundations for a proper covered goods shed were being laid out although construction would probably have to wait till after the snows.
There was a brick shed for housing locomotives with a specially designed building where wagons with coal could be unloaded easily into holding hoppers from which coal would cascade into the tenders of waiting locomotives. On top of this building was a large iron water tank fed by a pipe from a pumping station on the river two miles to the north east. The pipe also served to bring water to Lugowalion in large quantities from a small dam that had been built across the river to back the water up a little and provide a pool from which the pump could draw its supplies. There were plans for a larger dam in the hillier terrain to the east to ensure the town’s water supplies kept up with the growing population.
Eventually Arturo hoped to have a proper water treatment plant built so that the water leaving there would be fit to drink but for the moment he would have to rely on people boiling it privately, something that did seem to be slowly catching on fortunately. Even the Selgovae refugees were starting to adopt this practice. Princess Morghanna was largely responsible for that he understood, personally backing the treatment of water by boiling before it was used.
The official train under the charge of the newest locomotive to come from Ceri’s works, the Scipio, was decked out in flowers and carried a large sign board at the front proclaiming Lugowalion as its destination. The locomotive itself was still what would be termed a 2-2-0 by a steam engine historian, Arturo reflected. Although the very latest in design, it was not that much bigger than the first two, but the machining of the joints and valves was considerably improved, practice makes perfect, Arturo thought to himself irreverently, looking at the beast standing in the platform. The boiler pressure on this locomotive was a little higher than the original locomotives which meant it was just a tad more powerful than them as well.
Better machining and tighter tolerances were possible with the steam driven lathes that were now in use. Tolerances were now tight enough in fact that new lubrication fluids were being tried to help overcome the surfaces overheating. Being the third of this new, larger type to be built, the Scipio didn’t have some of the teething problems the previous two in the class had. They had replaced the first two original locomotives on the Wern trains with the old original locomotive now being used as a works locomotive by the railway construction engineers. The second locomotive built was relegated to mine work but would probably be moved on as well before much longer as the first specifically designed goods locomotive was about to enter service as well, according to Ceri.
For the occasion there were the three carriages normally used on the Wern train, plus a spare carriage that had been built to supplement the normal three. This one had accommodation for both first and second class passengers, having one compartment for the rich passengers and two for the poorer ones. There was also a brake van that was used for parcels and mail. This was a traffic that was slowly increasing, people finding the quickness of shipping small parcels to friends, relatives or indeed business associates by way of the trains very convenient. On top of the regular carriages, the four horse wagons that had been built so far were added to the train for people to travel in. Not the best or safest way of travelling but it did enable a whole lot more people experience the journey.
The train left a little late, about ten minutes behind schedule, amidst a fair crowd of people who had gathered at Dervent station to see it off. The trip to Lugowalion took longer than would normally be the case due to the overloaded nature of the train. The engine had to take on extra water at Maglona and finally they arrived in Lugowalion about forty minutes late.
At Lugowalion the station was decked out in flowers and packed with a couple of thousand people or more. Men of the Second Legion were lining the right-hand side of the tracks keeping people back and also guarding the ends of the platform and preventing people from risking themselves by stopping them from spreading out down to the track level. The collected drummers and horn players of the Second Legion were drawn up at the far end of the platform and began belting out the Imperial March, which bore a strange resemblance to the old March of the Empire which had been the anthem of the galactic Empire and was still widely played at military events in the Federation. Arturo had spent some time teaching the tune to the musicians since the battle against the Selgovae. Mind you, the music sounded rather strange to his Federation ears, coming as it did from the eclectic mix of Roman and Brython musical instruments being employed.
All the senior military people were there, Coel, Brennus, Julianus and Meries, as well as their senior Centurions. Cinbelin, the Mair of Lugowalion and other notables of the town were huddled next to the military contingent and standing next to them Morghanna with her old retainer Udo. The official party disembarked from the leading carriage amidst cheers from the crowd and then everyone began making their way to the area in front of the basilica in the centre of town, or at least what used to be the centre of town when the town had been originally planned.
Here there were tables laid out with simple fare readied by the men of the Second Legion for the party to celebrate the opening of the rail line. The couple of thousand people that had gathered at the station were joined by even more at the town centre, nobody wanting to miss out on free food and wine! Things went well for a couple of hours before Arturo finally had a couple of the legionary hornists below a loud couple of notes and he rose from his position at the main official table and moved up the steps at the front of the old temple next to the basilica.
Here he raised his hands and as the crowd quietened bellowed as best he could. “People of Lugowalion. I bring you a great day. A new age has dawned for Lugowalion, for the Roman Empire and more especially for your children. The rail lines will revolutionise travel, the movement of goods and chattels and speed up communication immensely. This is a great day, make no mistake. In the future you will be able to tell your grand-children that you were there the day the rail line opened to Lugowalion!” This last was said with a rising tone and the crowd cheered as he stopped and gave them a moment.
He waited a short period then held up his hands, palm outward and began making patting down type motions. The crowd got the idea and gradually quietened. “And to allow everyone a chance to experience train travel for themselves, for this first week all passenger travel will be free, at least for one trip per person only!” He w
aited and the crowd cheered again. He waved his hand in acknowledgement and went back to his table to where some of the others met his return with raised eyebrows.
“What?” He said, looking around.
Valerius glanced around and seeing everyone hesitating voiced their thoughts first. “Free travel for a week?”
Arturo smiled, nodding and sat down. “Oh yes. This is a common tactic in my land when introducing some new service or such like, especially something that is totally new. It is called a loss leader. You take a temporary loss for a period of time or such like in order to get your service or product into general use. Give people a chance to experience something they would not normally have bothered to try and having been shown how good it is, or however advantageous it is in some other way, it gets people used to the idea of employing the service or whatever it is you are promoting.”
Abraham, a relative of Jacob’s that was head of the bank branch in Lugowalion shook his head. “That is an interesting idea. I wish I could use something similar to get people to put their savings in the bank rather than in a pot buried under the floor.”
“Well I cannot think of anything that would get people to trot their savings out, unless you were to say, offer people a savings account based on the value of the coins they bring in, where the value credited would be the equivalent of their Imperial coins but in Republic coin values. You would put some restriction on it like they could not withdraw more than a third for six months or something like that. You would take a short-term loss on the coin exchange, but all those people would now have bank accounts and money in them they would have to come to the bank to take out. The idea being that while many will withdraw all or most of their new-found extra money at the end of the period, a great number won’t, and many will not withdraw it all but leave some remaining in there for future use earning interest.”
Abraham nodded looking pensive. The idea of losing money on a transaction obviously went against the grain with the Jew. “That is just an idea off the top of my head.” Arturo said. “Think about the concept for a bit. Discuss it with your staff. It is possible you can come up with a similar idea that is less costly to the bank.”
A fellow further down the table whose face Arturo sort of recognised but his name he could not remember spoke to him. “How far north are you going to take the rail line?”
“Only to the river that is the new border between us and the Selgovae. The main aim is to link the line to the main army base to the north of town. For the moment the rail lines are to remain a Republic monopoly and only available within the Republic controlled part of the Empire. If some barbarian can work out how to build his own steam engine and make the rails to run them on, well good luck to him.” Arturo smiled at the last and all those within earshot laughed. Of course, there was no reason the Imperial government in Ravenna or Constantinopolis could not copy his invention fairly quickly, once the advantages became obvious. They would always be behind technically now though and having to play catchup. The same with the gunpowder weapons when they were introduced and so forth.
“I have heard there is to be a line east to Segedunum following the line of the wall?” The same fellow continued.
“Yes. Hopefully if we can come to terms with Combrosius we can extend it south from there to Eboracum once the line is right through to the coast. The line south west to Voreda is already being surveyed and work will start on that soon as well, once the crew from the line south to Glannoventa has finished their work on that line.”
“But does the traffic justify the massive cost of building these lines? I know the mineral traffic down around Dervent and Wern is growing but I understand the passenger travel and long distance freight are only moderate.” Arturo still could think of the fellow’s name, but he sure was persistent!
“That is true. One of the reasons for the free travel offer is to hopefully encourage more travel by people. But there are other considerations. When the line is complete to Glannoventa and Segedunum, consider this. The Second Legion here will be able to load itself, or at least a large component of itself here in the morning and be in Glannoventa before lunch time. Similarly, the First will be able to load itself onto a train in the morning at Dervent and be at Segedunum by lunch time.”
“And this capacity will get better once all the lines are doubled up. Already the coach works at Dervent is building four special troop carriages for the army. They will be used to test out travel arrangements for the troops and then more will be built including any modifications that have been decided upon. We already have a specially designed horse wagon, ten of which are now being built for transporting a company of cavalry in one go. More will be added in time so we can move even more at once. The rail roads are as much a strategic weapon as they are a boon to communications.” Arturo finished.
The man nodded although he did not seem entirely satisfied by Arturo’s answers. Arturo wondered what the fellow’s agenda was. Ah, looks like the first job for Imperial Security, Domestic branch, he thought to himself evilly.
Another man, down the table on the other side now took up the questioning. “I have heard you are mounting a steam engine on a barge?”
Arturo nodded at the fellow. “Yes. It is going to power a dredge device sort of like a water wheel only in reverse. The engine will make the wheel rotate and the buckets will pick up stuff of the bottom and dump it in a container in the rear half of the barge. We are still working on how to make the thing move. It is just a trial you understand but the harbour at Wern could do with some dredging as could the harbour at Glannoventa. The inlet here could do with some dredging too, I’ve been told.” And the trial will lead to side paddles being added to power it and thus produce the first steam driven ship. Arturo decided for the moment to keep his future plans to himself. Besides, that innovation would not happen till next year and by then there would be a couple of regular sail powered warships in service, that was providing he could find the money and the crews to carry out the creation of a navy.
The man nodded in acknowledgement of this explanation. “Ah, I think I follow. That actually sounds like an interesting project. It is rather a clever concept. A waterwheel being used to lift stuff up! These steam engines of yours have so many uses. And the other things you have introduced, like the printing press. Yet you charge nothing for your knowledge. Why is that?”
Arturo looked at the man, puzzled by his interrogation. Why these questions? Where was the fellow going with this? “Well I do not offer everything for nothing in reality. I have shares in the Dervent Iron Works, The North Britannia Rail Line and in a couple of other enterprises. I expect these shareholdings to keep me quite well off once I give up politics. And besides, everything I have introduced is not my idea merely my, sometimes hazy, memory of things from my own land. I am not an engineer so a lot of the time it has been the people I was putting the idea to who really did the work of making these things happen. If it’d been up to me to build the first steam engine we’d still be waiting!”
The man smiled although the mirth did not reach his eyes. “Ah yes, these companies you have introduced. I do not quite understand the need for these. Is there some advantage I am missing?”
This was a good question in a way. He had explained the advantages of companies to his inner circle but not the general population. “Several I think. One, they allow people who are not rich themselves to participate in a big financial task like a rail line by taking up a share of the capital being raised when a new company first offers the shares on the market. Even a relatively ordinary person could probably find the purchase cost of one share in a company like the North Britannia Railway. At least when it they were first offered.” The shares in the railway were selling for about a third more than their original purchase price but that was more about the lack shares for sale than the perceived value of the railway. That would hopefully change now the line reached Lugowalion.
“But the other real advantage of a company is that the thing goes on even if
the investors die of old age or sell out and go to live somewhere nice or whatever. The company’s operation is independent of the owners. This is unlike a normal small business where if there is no son to take over then the business disappears or gets bought by someone else. With a properly registered company the business keeps going just the same as long as it is being run at a profit. Thus, the widow of the man who starts a company making something, widgets shall we say, does not have to know how to make widgets herself to reap the benefits of her husband’s knowledge. The company will continue to run, making its widgets without her imputing anything, but the shares she inherited ensure she still owns whatever percentage her husband had and gains the requisite advantages that accrue from that ownership.”
This time the man did smile properly. “Oh. I see. I had not thought of that. That is certainly an interesting idea.” He nodded deferentially to Arturo.
Arturo still had no idea of what the man’s angle was or where he had intended going with his questions, but this seemed to shut him up. Finally, the luncheon finished and the train travellers made their way back to the station where their ride back to Dervent was waiting. As Arturo was leaving the area he saw Morghanna and her old retainer standing at the corner of the basilica waiting for the crowd to disperse.
He headed over to her. “Princess Morghanna. All is well with your people? As far as can expected that is?”
She smiled. “Yes, thank you. Your soldiers have been very helpful as have most of the Roman people. It is quite astonishing really given what happened in the spring.”
Arturo waved his hand. “It would perhaps have been different if your force had overrun the north of the province looting and pillaging. But that didn’t happen.” He paused and nodded to her. “Anyway, I am glad your people are not being harassed. Are you going to go for a ride on the steam train?”
The old man next to her got a sour expression on his face but she nodded. “Yes. I think I will. Mind you the first time one of them made that high pitched shriek I nearly fainted. It was the engine being used on the works, hauling a train of wagons full of the crushed rock and the wooden logs the rails sit on. How do you get so much crushed rock?” She asked.