instead of cars or buses, as humans know them on earth, much of my imaginary world of lananara, and particularly cameroi and nolo gap on nations states, much of transportation consists of basically something like this. although i'll admit gauges of 15 to 18 inches a bit more common, and of course more heavily used lines are bit larger, though again, often not by much. for longer distance travel of course its common to transfer to larger equipment that is more comfortable for doing so. but for around smaller villages, for a trip to the store or to work, these are what would be most common.
one of my favorites from the time i furst herd about it, in a book called little railways of the world, sometime in the 1950s. though i've never been there and probably never will.
Kakori Train Robbery Most rail heists are inspired by blind greed, but many in India saw 1925’s Kakori Train Robbery as an act of political protest. The holdup was the work of the Hindustan Republican Association, a band of militant revolutionaries who sought to free India from British colonial rule. The HRA often resorted to robbery to fund their rebellion, and on August 9, 1925, they set their sights on a British train operating in what is now Uttar Pradesh. As the train neared the town of Kakori, ten armed revolutionaries led by Ram Prasad Bismil overpowered the guards, hijacked the locomotive and brought all the cars to a screeching halt. While the rest of the men stood guard, four robbers made their way to the guard’s van and used hammers to batter their way into a British safe filled with moneybags. All ten of the revolutionaries escaped without injury, but in the chaos of the heist one passenger was killed in an accidental shooting. The men eluded capture for over a month, but by September the train robbers had been arrested along with around 30 other revolutionaries. Bismil and three other men were later executed by hanging in 1927. Kakori conspiracy - Wikipedia You decide.
steam isn't really my thing. it beat the hell out of sore feat when animal husbandry was the only other alternative to them. vehicles guided by rails waste less of environment the vast expanses of pavement. there is something uniquely enjoyable as to their aesthetics, at least for me. and while subject to unique vulnerabilities, statistically the are still the safest way, short of walking short distances, of getting from a to b. nor has any human infrastructure been more fundamental since the invention of water craft. as i've attempted to show also, people make a big mistake associating them only with massive scale. perhaps they find this concept romantic, myself i find it more alluring the prospect of the same comfort while treading much more lightly on the land. and certainly more so then mass quantities of personal highway vehicles.
I rode the Detroit Zoo Railroad many many times with my parents and grandparents as a child and then many times as an adult with my own children.
