Labs / History
Canals and Rails
Drag from any mine or town to another to dig a canal or lay a railway between them. Barges and wagons start moving at once, carrying coal and iron to Millbury Works and finished goods on to Port Haven. Canals are cheap to run but crawl; railways cost more per ton yet collapse the journey from days to hours — the same choice that reshaped the 1800s.
Build —Freight —Delivery —Output —
What to try
- Replace the whole canal chain with railways. How many days does delivery drop by — and how much does the freight bill per ton climb?
- Turn on "colour by time to market". Which corner of the map stays darkest, and which new link brightens it the most?
- Erase the iron route to Millbury. Why does factory output collapse even while coal keeps flowing in?
- Push the coalfield output to 900 t/day. Does the mill make more goods, or does something else become the bottleneck?
- Can you reach Port Haven more cheaply through Kingsford or straight across — and does the fastest route also happen to be the cheapest one?