Portus Mid-Steam Era (3200-3400)

Two centuries of experimentation and accidents with rail and boiler integrity under pressure defined the limits of iron, ironwood, and steel use on Portus. The most common method of heat dissipation initially created hanging clouds of steam that soaked the train as it went, even creating small rain showers on misty days. Efforts throughout the 3200s to make the locomotive run cooler, and thus venting less heat, solved the clouding problem.

The solution to continued rail integrity proved to be better traction and weight distribution, partially solved after the discovery of rubber fungus in 3237, and its application to locomotive drive wheels in 3244.