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The Trans-Oriental Railroad
Topic Started: Jan 8 2009, 02:20 PM (420 Views)
A.Q.
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The Trans-Oriental Railroad Company has today announced that it has been granted full legal dispensation , under the authority of the Emir of Al Qalaa, to construct its new line starting in Karachi and terminating in Guangzhou, in Chinese Qalaaistan.

The Emir's ministry also announced a large grant to the Company in order to construct the railroad. The new Trans-Oriental Railroad, which would stretch well over 1,500 miles, may cost up into the millions of dinars and require biblical numbers of workers to complete. The planned route for the line takes it through the harsh desert of Pakistan,through malarial jungles of India, over the Himalaya mountains, and finally crossing the plains of coastal China.

This planned route would allow cargo from mainland Al Qalaa to circumvent the increasingly dangerous Indian Ocean route, as well as European-controlled ports on the Straights of Malacca. Trade routes may be drastically altered and open up new markets for Qalaa'i manufactured goods, as well as to secure the vital supplies of food from agricultural Guangdong to the cities of Iraq and Kuwait.

This decision is not without controversy, however. Accusations have been leveled that this new railroad opens the door for a new wave of Qalaa'i colonization throughout India and China. Other concerns included the treacherous terrain for the construction crews, as well as the unprecedented cost of the line.

Emir Muhammad Shah Qajar himself attempted to assuage these fears, saying, "The construction of this railroad will employ countless poor workers in Al Qalaa, India, and China alike, while at the same time ensure the continued prosperity of Al Qalaa, economically as well as militarily."

Posted Image




OOC: The Company will handle non-Qalaa'i goods, but those will be subject to Emirate tarriffs. I wanted to give players a choice, whether to risk the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean, or to pay the extra expense for a faster and safer route for their commerce.
Edited by A.Q., Jan 8 2009, 02:21 PM.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
OOC: The second dot from the east. Can that be a joint for a railroad to run into Angelcynn's colony?
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A.Q.
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3 days later

After an exchange of telegrams with Cynn colonial leaders, an additional segment of rail has been added to the plans, from the Kunming Depot in China to the city of Hanoi in Cynn Vietnam.

The first spike was driven by the Emir's son, Ali Shah Qajar, in Karachi. An army of unemployed men have gathered at either end of the line, in Pakistan and in Guangzhou. The commission of the line has been seen as a godsend to many impoverished families, and men have been recruited by the dozen for the construction crews.
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New Harumf
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OOC: The Lambda League views this announcement as a threat against its business activities (pirating), and may take steps to sabotage the construction, particularly in Eastern India, where it comes closest to the sea. It looks to me there will have to be a whole lot of bridges and causeways in that particular area!
Edited by New Harumf, Jan 8 2009, 03:24 PM.
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Rhadamanthus
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OOC:

The Empire may be willing to covertly support such sabotage since this line would compete with our seaports and shipping lanes...
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Filo
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His Majesty the Shah-in-shah of Makuran will be interessed to connect a railroad with this great project.

-- Makuran official press
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A.Q.
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Posted Image

Karachi and Ahmadabad were quickly connected. With the hordes of poor Indian laborers recruited to build the line, it mattered little if two or three were caught too close to a TNT charge or died of heat stroke in the desert. Flushed with the efficiency of the project, more rail was ordered, all the way to Tehran and Al Qalaa City.

Ahmadabad's Sultan was an agreeable sort, big and jolly. He drooled at the prospect of his province becoming the "Gateway to India." The Sultan, Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji, was invited to meet with the Emir and discuss the terms of an alliance. Sorabji and Qajar emerged from this meeting with a treaty declaring Gujarat and the whole of the Sultan's domain to be a protectorate of Al Qalaa.

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A.Q.
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The eastern section of line reached the new Calcutta depot within a few weeks. Some difficulties in the swamps of the Bengal caused delays, and malaria caused several deaths, but now all that was left to be done was to cross India and attach the peripheral depots in Bombay and Hanoi.

OOC: those of you interested in sabotage, now would be the time. NH was going to attack in Bengal. The line is relatively unguarded now, but attacks will quickly convince the rulers in Calcutta to allow the Emirate to build a fort in the city.
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New Harumf
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In the Bengal lowlands, 75 men stretched out over about three miles of track, unprotected. Each had enough explosives to cause the rail to buckle and be useless, put they had other plans. Just above the lowest point on the line was an earthen damn, built in iniquity that kept the waters from flooding the lowland. This particular rise was seven miles long and the men spread out and planted their charges along the entire length.

Fuses were cut and timed for a synchronised explosion, and all were lit, while the pirates ran back toward their meeting area. Ten minutes later a series of explosions caused a rush of water into the lowlands, and the tracks were wiped out. The land also was flooded, and it might take years for it to dry enough to allow a rebuild of the line.

Pirates returned to their ships, and sailed back out to sea in the dark of night.
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A.Q.
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The sabotage in Bengal was seemingly a catastrophe, at least the public reaction in Al Qalaa and her Indian allies made it seem so. But Muhammad Shah Qajar was too clever to let a setback like this drag him down. Instead, he crafted a plan to turn it to his advantage.


From a speech given in Al Qalaa City, a week later.

"My children, I have been thinking long and hard about the pirate problem. They have insulted me personally by stealing my own personal property, and insulted the whole of the Qalaa'i people with their selfish destruction in Bengal. These incidents have set it firm in my mind that these brigands must be dealt with."

"To this end, I have activated the Arabian Sea Fleet to deal with the pirates, as well as several other measures to control the problem."

"I exchanged telegrams with the Raja of Calcutta a few days ago, and he came to us seeking help against these petty criminals, as well as Indian bandits on land. He requested that the Emirate construct a fort outside of Calcutta to guard against further attacks, and I hired native mercenaries to patrol and garrison the Bengal. Soon afterward, the Sultan of Bombay came seeking a similar arrangement, one that the generous Qalaa'i people will most certainly oblige."

"The Emirate and all her civilized allies must prove to the criminals and pirates of the world that their kind will not be tolerated. These rabble have disregarded the conventions of God and society, and must be punished. All I can ask from you, my children, is the same zeal in scourging this filth that I will show. As-Salaamu-Alaikum."
Edited by A.Q., Jan 16 2009, 02:56 PM.
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Ulgania
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Communique from Luciola Prestonovna of the House of Drenton, Overseer of Ulganian-India

I humbly request an extension of the rail lines, either by way of crossing the subcontinental area or south from the main Tran-Oriental line. This endeavor would be very profitable to all parties involved, and yet another way to bring our respective states closer.

Yours,
Luciola of Ulgania
Edited by Ulgania, Jan 20 2009, 07:31 PM.
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Menhad
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Telegram
To: Emir Muhammad Shah Qajar
From: Aleksey Sokolov

We are interest in connecting with your rail line in China. Our line will pass through The Eastern Empire, they may prove difficult. We will make the line to that point, but in exchange for our work and the flow of goods, we ask that you have no tolls on our trains.
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A.Q.
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OOC: Apologies for letting this sit waaaaay too long.
IC:
No reply was sent either to the UESS or to Ulganian-India, however, new snaking rail lines were lain down coincidentally on the perfect routes, both in India and China, to comply.
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