After the meal, it was time to prepare the train for departure.
Once the station staff had checked the fuel and water tank, departure preparations began. Though it was only a rudimentary platform, none of the required procedures could be skipped.
The dispatcher carried a specially made oil lamp beside the locomotive to guide the driver. Then the station bell rang to ask whether the train was ready, and the train answered with three blasts of its whistle to signal that it was.
Only after everything had been confirmed did the dispatcher wave a signal flag at the driver from in front of the locomotive. The driver immediately released the brakes, and the train, its engine already running, began to creep forward.
Steam vented through the train's valves onto both sides of the platform. In an instant, white mist curled and swirled, leaving the nobles aboard utterly amazed.
The train gradually picked up speed. How could such a massive iron contraption move without horses or people pulling it? This, too, went beyond what many of them understood.
The clearly defined division of duties in every procedure before departure also intrigued the nobles. They had never witnessed anything with such a distinctly industrial air.
Though they were traveling at night, the station had already sent track patrolmen ahead to lead the way and clear obstructions, allowing the train to proceed at a relatively brisk pace.
The railway had been built as a temporary line, but fortunately, the chosen route ran entirely across flat terrain. With the ballast and sleepers properly laid, the train traveled quite smoothly, and the ride was scarcely worse than that of a carriage with good suspension.
Even nobles standing in the carriage with drinks in hand were not jolted off balance by bumps, making the train seem