The Ernest-Bellweather Railworks company

The Ernest-Bellweather Railworks company is the organization that owns and operates the largest railway network on the continent of Aloier. Through smart investments and forward thinking they developed the railways of Aloier beyond anyone else. They are also the only company permitted to travel through the Aloier mountains and therefore have a monopoly on fast transportation from the west to the east of the continent.

History

Ernest Ironworks

The Ernest Ironworks was founded by Samual Ernest in the year 1109. He was a young smith who specialized in mining equipment. Through some connections he made during his apprenticeship with the great smith Ferian . Samual was able to source high quality materials set his work above the rest. He believed that anyone who was willing to work hard deserved the right to make their way in the world. Samual trained many convicts and youths in the trade. Workers in his shops were treated like family. Samual eventually found a market in producing minecarts and track. Thanks to his already large reputation his carts became the standard on the west side of the range. After 40 years of running the company Samual allowed his son to take over the company. After the first steam trains appeared in the west Samual Jr. jumped into the train track production industry.

Bellweather Transportation

Bellweather Transportation was started by Alice Bellweather in 1084 as a small carriage service for the nobles of Mornsport too travel to and from their estates. This lucrative business allowed Alice to expand further into transporting goods and materials from the eastern half of the continent to the east. This was a risky move on her part due to the harsh conditions of the Aloier mountans but paid off in the end as the east had experienced a gold rush only ten years earlier. Thanks to the success of this risky move Alice set herself up as the premier transportation service through to the east. With the invention of the steam engine and the train the Bellweather company started to invest in railways across the west. As the railways started to expand the problem of staffing started to come up. Paying workers to live along the tracks to maintain them was starting to dip into the company's profit. To solve this problem the Bellweather company imported hundreds of kobolds from a continent across the sea. These small lizard folk required little food and were willing to live in the small huts the company built along the rails. Eventually kobolds almost became the face of the rail system. The prejudice towards them in their native lands was not present in Aloier. Kobolds were eventually hired as stewards and some smarter Kobolds made their way up the ranks of the company.

Merging of the companies and the intercontinental railroad

Alice's successors in the company, Steven Finn was just as ambitious as his predecessor. Though the company had been transporting goods from the east for half a century he believed that it could be improved. It was taking them weeks to transfer goods across the mountains. Traveling on the caravans was dangerous work with constant threats of raids by orc tribes and the inability for the roads to be maintained to a safe degree. Steven had the ambitious idea of building a rail line that connected the two halves of the continent; but he still needed to secure the funding. He went to many probomonent cities for funding on both sides of the mountains but no one was willing to fund a passion project without definite proof of profit. The Bellweather company already had a large pool of workers in the form of kobolds but lacked any defined connection with a rail manufacturer. There was also the threat of many orc tribes. Though most tribes were not hostile for the most part Steven knew they would not allow humans to build on their land. The project was dead in the water.

That is when Samual Ernest jr. came into the picture. Ernest iron works had fallen on hard times in the recent years. With the invention of the steam engine came less need for hand tools in the mines. This along with some disagreements with some metal suppliers causing production of tools to be unprofitable. The only branch of the company that was thriving was the train rail industry. With the rise of trains in both the east and west there was a high demand for any company that could produce them. With this Samual decided that his business could not succeed without some help.

Samual had heard rumors of the Bellweather company and their dream of connecting the continent. He realized that this could be his chance to keep his father's company alive. He scheduled a meeting with Steven to propose a merger. Samual running the production, construction, and maintenance of the rails across the continent and Steven running logistics and everyday running of the company. This is exactly what Steven had been looking for. Having rail production under his companies belt he could cheaply build enough track to cross the continent. With this he could easily convince cities to contribute to the cause.

The next problem for the project was the orc tribes that inhabited the path they intended to follow. Though most of the tribes did not hate humans it would still be hard to negotiate the use of their lands. Steven knew that keeping a good relationship with the orcs would be important to the success of this project. For this Samual was a huge help. His father had made many friends in his time as an apprentice; one of which was an orc named flowing river who had come to his master to learn the craft. Flowing River had made a name for himself when he returned to his tribe being the only metal smith of their city. Through this connection to a well respected tribe member Samual managed to secure a meeting with the chief of the Whitestone tribe . Steven managed to negotiate the use of the tribe's land and even managed to secure deals to trade with the tribe for art and goods. With this well respected tribe working with them they managed to negotiate with other tribes in the area.

Thus began the construction of the intercontinental railroad. It took three years to build it through the vast forests, mountains and deserts of Aloier. The crews that worked on the railroad ate and lived on train cars that were pushed along the track as it was built. The crews consisted of mostly kobolds but some humans and even orcs were hired on. It was hard work but the pay and working conditions were good. Samual had gained his father's compassion for his workers and refused to let these people suffer for the company. They worked one week on one week off for one iron bit per day and three meals

Aftermath of the intercontinental railroad

Through the hard work and forethought the Ernest-Bellweather railworks became the leading company in transportation of cargo and people. Though other smaller companies exist they all pay to use the rails constructed by Ernest and Bellweather. They also hold exclusive rights to use the tracks between the east and west giving them the fastest travel across the continent. Due to Steven’s respect for the orc tribes and his marriage to an orc man the company was also able to be the primary connection from the orc tribes to the human cities. This increase in exports from the orc tribes also increased relations between other humans and orcs. Orc art and crafts became fashionable to the upper crust of Mornsport and even though they were still not treated fairly they weren't ostracized as barbarians.

Founding Date

24 Maple 1164

Organization Type

Transporation
Manufacturing

Founders

Alice Bellweather (Bellweather Transportation)
Samual Ernest (Ernest Ironworks)
Samual Ernest Jr (Ernest-Bellweather Railworks)
Steven Finn (Ernest-Bellweather Railworks)