Woodland track maintenance

A Cyat and some Shiriats on their way to replace some sleepers on their forestry railway.

Wanted to do something alike since quite a while, the railways being an integral part of the Shiriat civilization.

The Shiriats have two gauges standardized, this is the smaller of those which make the majority of their railway network from such forestry railways as depicted here to city and interurban tram systems. The quality of these lines vary depending on their purpose, however with appropriate rail vehicles it is possible to reach everywhere on these expansive networks.

Forestry railways are built for gravity operation, with a steady incline going up the hills, so motive power is only necessary for consists going up the line (in forestry operation, empty trucks). The simple harness on the Cyat is adequate, he doesn't need to stop the vehicle uphill, and the brakeman (whose view this scene depicts) is there with hand on the brake wheel in case he may need to help.

The carriage is a four axle design with a lowered middle, they are use in great numbers for their utility not only in this type of work, but also hauling up small utility vehicles for woodcutting and landscaping.

Shiriats (and Cyats) normally prefer to be without clothing and with their jewellery expressing their connections, however in some types of work such as this, safety comes first. The rough coveralls seen under them give them additional protection, the white footwear both on the Cyat and for the Shiriats most importantly protects their soles, and the white colour improves visibility. They don't often use steel-toe footwear due to its impracticality for their anatomy.

The Cyat has a considerable paunch which is beneficial for those doing these sort of activities. He doesn't only pull the train, he also does the heavy lifting using the hooks here seen on top of the sleepers acting as a small crane. These Cyats develop strength in their forelegs, breast and particularly the neck, which shifts their balance forwards even without a load. Growing a belly is an easy way to counterbalance this, in such Cyats almost all fat deposits there under the skin (these creatures don't develop excess visceral fat).

A portable generator is visible under the arm of one of the Shiriats, they use it to power a drill to make the holes for the screws once the gauge is established. The Shiriats in their homeworld have no fossil fuels, nor did they adapt technology to extract such resources in other worlds. They however as seen here have internal combustion engines used with synthetic fuels in areas where it isn't economic to get electricity.

While batteries are a more efficient way to get electricity to an area away from the grid, they couldn't develop sufficiently efficient ways to recycle those to justify the overall cost, nor could they achieve such power density to be able to see them as a replacement for synthetic fuels. These fuels moreover they produce with excess solar energy in regions where it is easily available which makes them comparatively even cheaper.

Still, energy away from the grid in their economy is a relatively costly resource, which is one of the reasons behind their heavy dependence on railways and wherever possible, planning those in ways which reduces overall energy need.

Just a couple of random things from their world, there is actually a bit more visible on this image.