Non-magical fantasy subways

[Old Fezziwig]

Alternately, you could use some kind of waterfall. It's something people could do if they lived in a place that had an unreasonably conveniently situated waterfall.

This is what I was thinking, water wheels and floodgates. Might be too much Dwarf Fortress, though. (Not that I've ever gotten to try this in Dwarf Fortress. I have too much fun before I get to anything like it.)

 

[Bedrockgames]

In what time period? Because if you don't use magic, then you need something of steam engine power levels.

Some of the first subways were railcars drawn by cables using stationary team engines running the winches at the ends of lines.

Could you do a chain drive that uses water power rather than steam power ?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

If you go the chain/cable drive system, there are several options. You could have horse or ox-pulled capstans power the system. Alternately, you could use some kind of waterfall. It's something people could do if they lived in a place that had an unreasonably conveniently situated waterfall.

Since this would be Zork-inspired, water power would make a lot of sense.

 

[MNblockhead]

So gravity powered rail systems, water-powered systems, pulley and counterweight systems (w/ human-powered crank mechanisms, similar to ancient cranes), have all been mentioned in this thread.

Another possibility could be wind-assisted tunnels with bellows and natural ventilation shafts used to create airflow to push lightweight carts (e.g., like a pneumatic tube system).

 

[Crusadius]

How would you make subways work without enslaved elementals or other overt magic? Looking to create a ruined subway system, but I want it to make at least as much sense as steampunk does (i.e. don't let the engineers in the group think too much about it, or that's all you'll hear about for the rest of the session).

Dwarves? They could have invented some sort of *hand waving* pulley system back in the long forgotten Golden Age.

 

[Li Shenron]

So gravity powered rail systems, water-powered systems, pulley and counterweight systems (w/ human-powered crank mechanisms, similar to ancient cranes), have all been mentioned in this thread.

Another possibility could be wind-assisted tunnels with bellows and natural ventilation shafts used to create airflow to push lightweight carts (e.g., like a pneumatic tube system).

These are all excellent concepts!

Another possible non-magical but still fantasy-like power source is actually burden animals. Maybe a couple of enslaved giant creatures can pull the subway. That of course will carry the complications of possible moral judgment over those who chose to operate the system this way.

 

[John Dallman]

A D&D-style fantasy world, but not an industrialized world (except for ruins from a fallen former era).

Is the subway from the fallen era, or newer?

 

[Umbran]

Could you do a chain drive that uses water power rather than steam power ?

Broadly, yes.

If you have an engineer at the table, we can note a couple things:

1) The power you can get out of a steam engine is basically determined by how much fuel you can burn, and how much pressure your pipes can take.

2) The power you can get out of water is basically determined by how big your reservoir is, and how high the drop is between the surface of the water and your engine.

So, if you want cool water power, you ought to talk about the massive, deep lake that's right nearby.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Broadly, yes.

If you have an engineer at the table, we can note a couple things:

1) The power you can get out of a steam engine is basically determined by how much fuel you can burn, and how much pressure your pipes can take.

2) The power you can get out of water is basically determined by how big your reservoir is, and how high the drop is between the surface of the water and your engine.

So, if you want cool water power, you ought to talk about the massive, deep lake that's right nearby.

I wasn't sure of the physics, but I used Su Song's Astronomical Water Clock as inspiration for a way to power mechanical opponents in a dungeon. Seemed like this could work here. Is there a limit to the distance the power can cover. For example if you have a big lake like that, can it only be used to power things locally near the lake or could the chain drive be long enough to power a primitive subway all the way to a neighboring town?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

As other posters have mentioned, there are two main real world pre-steam options: rail carts drawn by ponies; canals with barges drawn by horses.