Steam And Diesel Nation

What if the world never left the steam era of the rail industry? Or better yet, what if diesels still came around, but instead of being found to be suitable replacements, they were found to be just as economical as steam locos, and therefore merely supplement them? What if, in America, the Interstates were never built in the manner in which they were in reality, and all the federal money spent on them instead went into other endeavors? What if the preservation movement still happened? What if...... I'm getting ahead of myself? It's probably best I not reveal to much of the story, lest I shoot myself in the foot on readership levels because I accidentally spoiled the general idea of the story and setting.

Well, it's here in this alternate take on history that we follow our protagonist, "Big" John Spagler, a Bible thumping, truth seeking, 6 foot, 6 inch tall hillbilly from Western North Carolina with an appreciation for everything railroad. From the very ballast underneath the tracks, to the machines that thunder up and down those tracks, to the stations and terminals, to the freight yards, to the very nuts and bolts and rivets and welds of the rolling stock, to the architecture of the railroad buildings, and last but certainly not least, to the people that keep them running smoothly.

Focus won't be on the rails for the first part of the story, mostly character and setting development and the interactions between the characters and other story elements. Don't worry though, the rails shall have their time in the limelight.

Please keep in mind that this is literally my first ever Wattpad story so it may or may not be all over the place.

All videos and photographs used in the story are not mine unless otherwise stated.