Railway campaign

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Targan

It's a 0.5MT (500KT) threshold isn't it?

So it is. I knew it was 0.5 something, but was too lazy to look it up.
500KT is a pretty big blast especially when you consider Hiroshima was only 15KT.

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

So it is. I knew it was 0.5 something, but was too lazy to look it up.
500KT is a pretty big blast especially when you consider Hiroshima was only 15KT.

500KT changes things. That SLBM territory. But it still doesn't matter. To get all the Class 4 rail lines in the Northeast or Midwest would leave most of CONUS as scorched earth. That didn't happen.

[Legbreaker]

Don't have to get the lines, just the transport hubs and choke points such as major river crossings. Don't even need to get all of them either, just enough to seriously disrupt operations - as if a general nuclear attack wasn't enough to begin with.

Don't know too many civilian workers willing to continue with their duties when they're sitting on a potential ground zero. Even the rumour of a strike upwind is certain to send most of the workers scurrying for wherever they think might be safe. Fallout from a strike a hundred miles away (or even more) could also contribute to keeping the workers away as nobody wants to risk radiation poisoning, even if the authorities say it's safe.

[Targan]

How resistant is 90s-era electric switching gear to EMP? (I'm guessing fairly resistant actually). How difficult and labour-intensive is it to move from electric signalling and switching along major rail lines to mechanical (human-powered) signalling and switching once the power goes out?

[Slappy]

This is an interesting conversation.

I think one thing being underestimated is how valuable a railroad would be if it went somewhere interesting. Any railroad. Even one with gaps and reliability issues. The advantage of rail over road transport is immense. Nearly as good as building a river between two points. In the century before the railroad, that's actually what happened. They were called canals. And the first railroads didn't rely on steam power. The carts were horse drawn and it was still ridiculously more efficient.

So, if you had a line that went somewhere interesting, there would be huge incentive to repair and maintain it. That's true even where you needed to move goods along the road or even ferries for some distance. A line from Norfolk moving inland toward Richmond and then Charlottesville or DC would be extremely valuable for Milgov.

As far as the PCs go, what's interesting about the railroad is that it's far easier to attack than defend. Commandos have the choice of location and defenders would need to control huge territories in order to keep the line safe. So, I think a raid would be a good adventure.

For a campaign, I'd have them reconing the route. "There used to be a line out that way. No one knows what condition it's in, but if we can make it usable, it will open up the whole state to reconstruction. We need you to find a way through, make contact with towns and groups along the way. And of course you'll be escorting these engineers and metallurgists. And watch out for the remains of the 301st which have been rumored to be out that way."

[.45cultist]

RW, 30% of U.S. cars are depoted since there is less manufacturing. Also one here's of old cars containing war material for WWII or Korea being discovered once in a blue moon.

[Targan]

One great thing about rail lines is that so much of the material involved is reusable. Track ballast, sleepers and rails on rail lines not in use can all be ripped up and used to repair and maintain more critical rail lines.