I find it very interesting to speculate on how railroads in Tolkien's Middle-Earth would have developed, especially scence he mapped out the world in such detail. I have even come up with the Sindarian Elvish word for railroad; Angasir or more literally in English Iron Way. Have you any ideas on this topic?
Found this on the internet - "Railway History of Middle Earth"
http://ken.wibsite.com/2012/03/16/towards-a-new-railway-history-of-middle-earth/
In the comments on the article is a link to this map which shows Railroads
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/misc/midearth.htm
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Before he built the largest subway in South (oops Should be North) Dakota Forum Member, BroadwayLion built the Eregion Railroad in Middle Earth
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Railroads in the Middel Earth may have had a difficult start in many areas due to the dependance on all that black iron. Elves do not like that stuff.
IN Terry Practett's Diskworld, it is a different story. The Ankh Morpork & Sto Plains Hygienic Railway is described in detail in the book Raising Steam. The Hygienic part is beacuse of the railway is able to transport food, particularly fish, across the hot desert bewteen Quirm and Ankh Morpork much quicker than horse and wagons resulting in less spoiled food to sell to unwary customers.
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
The first railroads in Middle earth were built by the dwarves. They were in fact underground subways, and were very reliable due to the low maintenance mythril roller bearings and GCC (gold clad copper) wiring. They were used mainly to move diamond shipments between Moria and the Lonely Mountain. Goblin herds used to be a problem, but the goblin catcher pilots later mounted to the fronts of the engines did a great job taking care of that.
Over time, man learned of these railways and began building their own above land, although their workmanship was crude in comparison to the expertly made dwarf trains. They ran mainly on steam with wood fuel, which angered Sauramon in Eisengard because of all the smoke and polution. It was then that Sauramon turned to Sauron for assistance, and raised an army of orc outlaws to raid and rob the trains passing by.
The trains were then rerouted through the Shire, where profits skyrocketed from pipeweed shipments. A creature named Gollum wanted to get in on all that, and invested a magic ring with the president of the Shire division, Bilbo Baggins. Unfortunately, a band of black riders messed up the tracks and the Shire division was forced to shut down. The vice president, Frodo, decided to take the magic ring to Mordor and use it to pay Sauron to call off the black riders so they could get their railroad back up and running. This of course made Gollum very angry since he wouldn't be getting his investment back, so he secretely followed Frodo all the way to Mordor.
Frodo eventually arrived at Mordor and setup a business meeting with Sauron. The business room had quite the view of an active volcano directly below, which was the main tourist attraction in the area. He pulled out the ring, but just then, Gollum jumped out of nowhere and grabbed it, but then slipped and fell through an open window and fell right into the volcano. The magic of the ring was released, which cause the volcano to explode, taking all of Mordor with it.
Fortunately for Frodo, Gandalf, a friend of the Shire and major investor in the railroad, has a hobby of flying on giant birds. He was just passing by when he saw Frodo about to get engulfed by lava, so he swooped down on his bird and grabbed Frodo, saving his life. With Mordor gone and no help for Eisengard, all of the railroads were back up and running in no time.
Bilbo retired and decided to live with the elves, away from all the industry and action. Frodo retired with him, and appointed his coworker Sam to take over the railroad's operations. And they all apparently lived happily ever after.
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Oh my God where did you come up with that!?!! It's good.
Darth Sante Fe - You outdid yourself with that. When's the movie coming out?
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
If this forum keeps on going the way it has been lately, there won't be any normal model railroaders left.
Charlie
Middle-earth railroads sound appealing to most of us, especially if we're fans of both the land and the machines. But if you stand outside the realm of fantasy and look especially at a Tolkien biography, you're reminded that he was a very conservative man who disliked modern civilization and the marks thereof--including locomotives. The chapter on the scouring of the Shire reveals his intense dislike of machinery as well. Trains lettered for, say, the South Farthing may seem a natural fit, but the professor would be critical.
One thing you could say for sure about Middle-Earth railroads: no interchange. The mistrustful nature of the Five Races toward each other meant each race would have its own track gauge, and probably wouldn't even build tracks anywhere near each other.
That said, Dwarves would probably be into narrow gauge. All those twisty mountain mining roads, you know.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
I mean realistically, within the legendarium. I'm glad to see you got it right, Steven Otte and DShmitt, even if Darth Santa Fe didn't (though he does have something going there with the pipeweed shipments...) And I really think Tolkien was more against the misuse of machinery by modern civilization, I.E. in warfare (it would do good to remember that JRRT fought in WWI, which probably colored [some would say tainted] his view of machinery greatly).
NP01 and tcwright973, you'd be surprised at what my mind can come up with when I'm half asleep.
I picture the rails for the elves being high speed, sleek and aero-dynamic. The orc would have coal powered heavy duty type trains for transport of troops, armor, and iron.
I image the wizards would be the rail traffic controllers. If a bridge is out or it snows, then they would set up signs reading "You Shall Not Pass"
In any case this would be an incredible layout for someone.
The Eregion Railroad was my prefious railroad.
The Timetables are here:
And the Local Timetable:
The Shire had its own timetables and service, but since that was not modeled and those trains never called at Bree, no timetables were printed.
You can see that these are very old timetables, done on a DOS computer with a dot matrix printer.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
charlie9 If this forum keeps on going the way it has been lately, there won't be any normal model railroaders left. Charlie
Normal model railroader. Isn't that an oxymoron?
Brother Lion, at least your timetables could be printed. All of mine had to be hand-scribed. Back in the mid-60's a computer that could print kanji and hiragana was a science fiction dream. Luckily, a modern scanner has no problem reading and reproducing the time-faded originals.
I know that J. R. R. Tolkein has a lot of fans. I happen not to be one of them. My focus is outward, and I embrace technology. ("Earth high orbit to Monolith high orbit is about a two hour run. That includes terminal maneuver and stabilization. Of course, it's only 2,000 light years...")
Chuck (Occasional SF author modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
tomikawaTTMy focus is outward, and I embrace technology. ("Earth high orbit to Monolith high orbit is about a two hour run. That includes terminal maneuver and stabilization. Of course, it's only 2,000 light years...")
Osgiliath would be the Chicago of Middle Earth.
So I guess the Rohirrim would become the 'Iron Horse Men of the Plains'..?
I wish I had such a fertile imagination. After 10 years constructing my layout, I still don't know how to name many industries and stores on it.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
tomikawaTT charlie9 Normal model railroader. Isn't that an oxymoron?
charlie9
Let's say "traditional" so as not to hurt any feelings.
I even have a Dwarven railroad name..
Orzammar & Frostback Mountains..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
bigpianguy wrote "So I guess the Rohirrim would become the 'Iron Horse Men of the Plains'..?"
I seem to recall that the Rohirrim in the early days bred horses just for pulling the early version of flat cars which they stacked straw and hay on to deliver to the kings stables for the Rohirrim. It was built across the plain and today the ancient road bed can still be found in some areas
YGW
This is all highly speculative.
T e d
Steven Otte tomikawaTT charlie9 Normal model railroader. Isn't that an oxymoron? Let's say "traditional" so as not to hurt any feelings.
Steve, I AM a traditional model railroader (handlaid specialwork, kitbashed and scratchbuilt rolling stock, inventive gadgeteer...) but I hardly consider myself 'normal.'
Normal NYC middle school students couldn't qualify for a seat at the Bronx High School of Science. I graduated in 1955
Quoting a favorite science fiction author, in the word of a character, "Don't bother trying to be normal. Be great!"
Aside to Broadway Lion - is that a Lockheed-Martin Interplanetary Commuter Transport? Can't be interstellar - no sleeping accommodations. Love the sign at right front.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - the old-fashioned way)