Railway Spurs

Railway spurs are the branch lines of the Grand Rail Line network: short, purpose-built connections that link individual work sites to the mainline spine. The mainline exists to bind districts together; spurs exist to make specific places productive. The distinction is deliberate and shapes the engineering.

Spur Standard

Spurs are built to a lighter standard than the mainline. Single track, passing loop at the midpoint if length demands it, stone bed without the brick edging, and freight-only operation by default. A spur earns mainline standards only by earning mainline traffic, which is a budgeting principle disguised as an engineering one.

Surveyed Spurs

Three spurs are surveyed and await construction, listed in priority order.

The Copper Pit spur connects the Dripstone Copper Pit to the Tortuga Foundry's copper wing, replacing manual ore haulage. It is short, flat, and will pay for itself faster than anything else on the plan.

The logging spur runs from the mainline's southern extent to the Spruce Logging Camp's collection pond, replacing the slowest road haul in the world. The camp's output figures are a standing argument for building it early, and the camp makes the argument standing, frequently.

The Gulch survey spur is provisional: a light line to the Scalloped Gulch bridge works, to move bridge materials during phase two construction, then to be lifted or kept as the bridge's maintenance siding.

Network Rule

Every spur junction is built with room for the spur to become a branch. The network rule — no district more than one junction from the mainline — applies to places that do not exist yet. That is the point of it.