Darktrains

The smog belching bulwark of transportation.

I ran like I never had before. Over carts of cave eel I lept. Through perilous traffic of carriages pulled by lumbering dunebeasts that cared little for whether I would be run down as I made my way to the station. Finally, I had fought my way through the throngs of commuters to the station's small entrance. Entering, I saw it was a small cramped crowed cave with a platform of wood and metal adjacent to the tracks. Pushing to the front of the line, for my haste was great, I handed the droll railman a stub for it was the only denomination I had on me at the time. I had to help the dolt perform the arithmetic as he knew not how to produce the correct change on his own and the subtrain had arrived early. Early! It seems that the loathsome blackbelchers can never arrive at the appointed time. By the time I had finished getting my change the blackbelcher was closing its doors and spewing its sooty clouds into the cramped place. I pounded on the doors and begged to be let in as they had not even begun to move yet, but the uncaring conductor was deaf to my desperate pleas. Due to the failings of the transport system I was late to a very important business meeting. I believe there are significant improvements to be made by the municipality of transport and trafficking to the subtrain network and the procedures associated with its operation.

—Yaron Thialen

In a petition of the municipality of transport and trafficking.

Beasts of Burden and Bulwark of Bastion City Transit

Darktrains, usually referred to as blackbelchers or simply belchers, are the trains that bear the burden of much of Citradex Terminus's longer distance travel. Blackbelchers run on a network of rails under the city's vast sprawl through a system of artificial and natural tunnels and caverns in the upper Underlabyrinth. At the advent of the train, they initially ran on the surface, but after the Citramagæ the surface was simply too crowded. Eventually, under the control of the municipality of transport and trafficking a vast network of darktrains developed. This network of tracks was named the underail (sometimes called the darktrack or lowerway).

Power Generation

All blackbelchers use a coal powered engine to pull the train along. The engine lets off a thick plume of black smoke through one or more smokestacks. This is what gives them their most common name of blackbelcher.

Propulsion

Blackbelchers almost always are propelled along metal tracks by several metal wheels gauged to the track and driven to revolution by a piston. Though some darktrain variants are sometimes suspended from metal wires and propelled by wheels that sit atop it. These variants are rarely used due to weight limitations imposed by the strength of the wires holding it that limit its carrying capacity. These variants operate mostly above ground as well, technically disqualifying them from being darktrains, though most still refer to them as such.

Weapons & Armament

Though most darktrains operate under dangerous conditions and threat of ambush by lowgoers and underail bandits they rarely have any permanent armament. Many trains that operate along lines where ambush and attack is common may carry a complement of armed guards. Variants of the darktrain meant to retrieve and rescue trains that have been attacked often feature fixed armament of guns, rams, or ballistae.

Armor and defense

Darktrains servicing lines that commonly preyed upon by more well equipped threats may feature some armor to combat attacks with guns or explosives. However, the armor is usually concentrated on the engine car as the passenger cars are seen as nonessential to the train's safety and continued operation. Some darktrains under threat of attack, particularly with explosives, attach lengths of chain to their wheels to prematurely detonate explosives planted on the tracks when they whip in circles as the trains wheels spin. The whirling chains also serve to deter those bandits brave enough to attempt to board the train while it moves. These implements are not common since whirlers and rattlerails, as they are so aptly named, tend to be noisy and not well liked by their passengers.

Communication Tools & Systems

Darktrains have no standard long range communication devices carried on board. However, some lines can have miles upon miles between stations where a blackbelcher in danger may need to request help quickly since it would be hours until it would be due to arrive and some time after that before a rescue attempt could be mounted. Trains under these circumstances may keep one or more trained animal like a cave pigeon to carry messages ahead of the darktrain. However most darktrains make use of crankstation that are spaced at fixed points along a track and connect to the nearest station. Each crankstation has a panel of several circular cranks that connect to a series of gears, pistons, and spars that lead all the way to the nearest station where a receiving room monitors their status. Each crank at the crankstation corresponds to a predetermined and fixed message. When the crank is wound enough it forces a small flag in the receiving room to stand upright alerting the receiving operator of the message that the train wishes to send. When a train is in sight line of the recipient of its message it will usually use either signal lights in areas without light or signal flags in areas of better visibility.

Hangars & docked vessels

When stored or being serviced darktrains are parked in heavily defended caverns called sootyards. Sootyards usually have large gates or reinforced walls that seal the outside from would be raiders. It is common practice to brightly light the exterior as well to make sneaking up on the yard difficult. In addition it is common practice to have a garrison of sootguards who live for extended periods of time in the sootyard's barracks until another contingent is brought by train to relieve them. They regularly patrol the immediate area of the yard and stand watch for possible raids. Sootguards are usually tasked with doing the fighting during rescue attempts and can be used as additional guards for darktrains when the threat of attack is high. In addition, they are often solely responsible for maintaining the nearby crankstations or at least for escorting the technicians who are.

Nickname

Blackbelchers, belchers, subtrains.

Owning Organization

The Municipality of Transport and Trafficking

Price

A darktrain can cost anywhere from 10,000 glints to 25,000 glints.

Rarity

Blackbelchers are a common form of transportation, especially for traveling long distances over the city. The The Municipality of Transport and Trafficking operates a vast network of darktrains.

Length

A blackbelcher engine car is typically anywhere from 30' to 60'. Passenger cars tend to be 60' to 70'. The total length of a blackbelcher varies greatly on what its lines stations can accommodate, its average traffic, and what its engine can handle.

Speed

Blackbelchers can often reach speeds of 30 mph to 60 mph.

Complement / Crew

The typical blackbelcher has at least a crew of 2-6 men operating its coal powered engine, but as many as 10 additional crew members may be in attendance for each passenger car. However, most have at most 1 crew member per passenger car.

Cargo & Passenger Capacity

A normal passenger car is built to hold around 50-65 passengers on average. However, on the busier lines they are regularly loaded with 100 or more. Luxury cars hold around 25-35 passengers. Though, they often operate under capacity, as few can afford it.