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PostPosted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:05 pm 
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Master Tech & Major Scrounge
Master Tech & Major Scrounge

Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2002 8:00 pm
Posts: 3551
Location: Salt Lake City Utah
Ever since TPTB released a schetch of the Gienah-DuraPaq Elite Series 3 land train well before TRO:VA came out I've been intrigued with land trains and big vehicles. Mobile structures now let me get to what I think a land train should look like. So here's a first draft:

Kaiser-Willis has been manufacturing all sorts of utility vehicles for civilian and military markets for nearly a millennium. There products include nearly everything from light off-road vehicles to large strip mining and tunnel boring machines. But there staple has always been cargo haulers, be they medium class wheeled trucks or super large tracked land trains. In the latter category their Mk. I Caterpillar is a fairly common design, at least in terms of land trains.

Land trains are only economical in a very specific niche market providing transport services to and from small communities in very rugged and remote territory. Almost by definition communities that exist in such conditions are on low population worlds located in very forbidding climate zones. Because of the combination of low population density and extreme climate few resources are available to build a road network or maintain much of an air freight service, in fact most aircraft based services are limited to life safety missions, if any are available at all. Road infrastructure to such communities rarely consists of more than a worn path with the occasional fording point cut into a river bank or a path carved into a mountain side when no other route can be found.

Enter the Kaiser-Willis Mk. I land train. It has been a staple of this niche market for 750 years and comes equipped with a number of features to serve in such forbidding conditions.

Most land trains, are large vehicles made up of several segments, in the case of the Mk.I it has three segments, each about 25 meters long, connected with a complex articulated joint that allows the vehicle to traverse uneven and broken terrain.

Each segment is equipped two gantry cranes, each with a capacity of 22 tons for unloading and loading cargo via the large pair of cargo doors in each segment’s side.

Perhaps the most important feature of the Mk. I, after its enormous cargo capacity, is its environmental sealing. This provides a shirt-sleeve work environment for the crew and passengers. Given the extremes the Mk.I operates in it’s a welcome feature.
When the Mk.I was first designed standards of crew comfort were different than most expect today. Each crew member has a small private stateroom. It’s tiny with barely enough for a bunk. But Kaiser-Willis did provide more berthing capacity than the minimum for the crew for passengers. Many operators still use the extra berthing for paying passengers but quite a few have remodeled these accommodations to provide additional space for the crew.

Each segment of the Mk.I has its own power system, includes a fusion reactor. Since each track set is independently powered the Mk.I can maneuver each segment along the exact same path as the lead segment, reducing the need for wide curves when maneuvering space is restricted such as along mountain paths, which in turn reduces the cost of road infrastructure.

All-in-all the Kaiser-Willis Mk. I land train is considered a well designed vehicle by most everyone that has used one. They are rugged, reliable and a very economical alternative to other transport concepts within their niche. Outside of that niche however they are noncompetitive slower-than-snail type vehicles that tear up roads and snarl traffic.
Code:
Description:  Kaiser-Willis Mk.I Land Train
Introduction:                2312

Type:                 Ground Mobile Structure
                      Environmental Sealed

Tech Base:                 Inner Sphere
Movement points:            2 (21.6 KPH)
Number of Levels:   2 plus 2 for Ground
                       Running Gear
Power System Type:         Fusion

Base Structure:       Hangar, Heavy

Crew:                 5 + 1 Officer
Berthing Capacity:        15

Cost:                5,000,375 C-Bills


          Lvl      CF       Armor   
Hex#1      2       45       None
Hex#2      2       45       None
Hex#3      2       45       None

Weapons & Equipment      Loc      Mass (tons)

Hex#1
Additional Berthing, x9  Body       45
Searchlight, Mounted x2  Forward     1
Lift Hoist           x2  R/L         6

Hex#2
Searchlight, Mounted x2  R/L         1
Lift Hoist           x2  R/L         6

Hex#3
Searchlight, Mounted x2  R/L         1
Lift Hoist           x2  Aft         6

Cargo Capacity                  Mass (tons)
Hex#1                              198
Hex#2                              243
Hex#3                              243

Total                            684 tons

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