Hi PeterZ,
18th century Terran wooden wagon roads show the way, and Delthak had wooden dragon roads before they were replaced with iron etc, a progression that was so obvious there was no need for any hints from Merlin.
The textev stated that South Harchong produced nearly all of the empire's increased weapons production, because most of the steel open hearth's etc were in the south.
This suggests coal, iron ore, and the other critical materials were quite plentiful internally, so SH isn't economically or industrially dependent on anyone else, including NH, so what Desnair can offer besides gold?
Just when SH becomes independent will be interesting, if the emperor ticks off enough southerners soon enough, it might surprise us.
Interesting times indeed.
L
PeterZ wrote:Julia Minor wrote:quote="phillies"
I would suggest starting with teak ties and softer wooden wheels, dragon drawn, with brakemen as needed. It's way lower tech, but it can be done entirely with local resources and builds you up for the next step. Iron straps on the rails are likely to be a PITA in many ways. Perhaps spying out open hearth steelmaking would work./quote
The CoGA got their hands on plans for Charis' steelworks when the Sword Rakurai set off that riot in Siddar City. Whether Desnair accepted a copy is more than I can say, but South Harchong should have them because CoGA took over their steel and weapon production.
I wonder where South Harchong gets their iron ore and coal? Heck, where do they get most of their raw materials? The flow of raw materials to those manufactories will be central to the politics of Howard. I do mean all raw materials; from lumber and agricultural products like steel thistle to all varieties of ores.
Rereading AtSoT suggests that Boiseau and the areas west of the Chiang-wu range is where the majority of the North Harchong forges are. That assumption is supported by the river network flowing from the mountain ranges in Omar and Thomas. There are also rivers flowing down from the Desolation Mountains into Cheshire. It was inferred that Boisseau relied on coastal shipping to export their production. The existing river network will also suggest that Boisseau relies on coastal shipping to get the ore into their foundries.
That suggests to me that the railroads connecting the cities of Boisseau, Cheshire and Chiang-wu to the river and canal networks of central Harchong will improve productivity immensely. It will turn the largely agrarian North Harchong into an industrial powerhouse. They have access to ALL the raw materials needed for an industrial economy. They have access to a larger population than just about any other nation. Desnair is bassackward and Siddermark is a mess. South Harchong isn't as populated.
Connecting the nations of South Howard together by railroad to the southern slope of the Crescent Mountains has the potential of doing the same thing to those nations. The raw material potential of those mountains may well be attractive enough to justify investment. The Inner Circle has to be considering ways to spread industrialization to as many places as possible to reduce the possibility of widespread rakurai attacks after the Awakening.