Chapter 15: The Iron Road – 1800–1805
The turn of the century brought both celebration and anxiety. The population of Zeelandia had reached 500,000, and the capital, Koningstad, was a bustling city of 80,000. The old wooden buildings were giving way to brick and stone, and the first gas lamps lit the main streets.
Frits, now in his fifties, turned his attention to a project he had dreamed of for decades: a railway that would span the kingdom, connecting the coal fields of Northmoor to the ports and the industrial centers.
He called Karl Brenner to the palace. "We have proven that locomotives can work. Now we need to build a network."
Brenner had grown old in the kingdom's service. His hair was grey, and his hands were calloused from years of work, but his enthusiasm was undimmed. "The Northmoor line was a start. But to build a true railway, we need capital, labor, and political will."
Frits smiled. "I have all three. The Future Trust has grown fat on war profits. The immigrants keep coming. And the parliament will do as I ask."
The Great Zeelandian Railway was the largest infrastructure project in the kingdom's history. It would eventually stretch from Port Victoria to the Northern Coast, with branches to the Eastern Highlands and Silverfield. Frits personally supervised the surveying, riding across the countryside with Brenner and a team of engineers.
One evening, they camped near the future site of the Central Plain junction. Brenner spread a map on a folding table. "Here is where the lines will meet. We should build a town here. A city, even."
Frits studied the map. "What shall we call it?"
Brenner shrugged. "Middelburg. It is a plain name for a plain place."
Frits laughed. "It will not be plain for long. When the railways come, this will become the heart of Zeelandia."
The work was grueling. Thousands of laborers—immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and China—cut through forests, built embankments, and laid track. There were accidents, strikes, and tragedies. But the work continued.
In 1804, the first segment of the railway opened: from Northmoor to Port Victoria. Frits rode the inaugural train, standing on the open platform of the locomotive. Crowds lined the tracks, waving flags and cheering.
When they reached Port Victoria, Frits climbed onto the locomotive's boiler to address the crowd. "This railway is more than iron and steam. It is the spine of our nation. With it, we will move our goods faster, our armies quicker, and our dreams further."
That night, he wrote to his son, Alexander, who was studying in London: The world is changing, my boy. The old powers are tearing themselves apart. But here, we are building something new. Come home. There is work to be done.
Alexander received the letter in his rooms at Cambridge. He read it twice, then began packing. The future of Zeelandia was not in Europe; it was in the island his grandfather had bought for a handful of guilders.