The Economic Magnet

Twenty minutes later, Ernest and Arthur walked out to Platform One.

Locomotive BNR No. 3 stood idling beneath the train shed, coupled to six passenger coaches. Unlike the heavy six-coupled mineral engines, No. 3 had been built with larger driving wheels—trading starting tractive effort for a sustained cruising speed of fifty-five kilometers per hour.

The coaches featured varnished hardwood bodies, riveted steel underframes, and internal steam-heating pipes fed directly from the locomotive boiler.

The conductor raised his brass whistle. "Passenger service for Harrowfield, Elster, and North Teucher! All aboard!"

Ernest watched the boarding crowd. Prosperous merchants carrying leather portfolios stepped into the first-class compartments; university students crowded into the center coaches; and near the rear, an elderly farmer in mud-splattered boots and a rough wool coat climbed aboard, holding a wicker basket of eggs and an official printed railway ticket.