Train Question

[ffutures]

For the adventure I'm writing I want to give the name of a (preferably non-existent) American railway company of the late 19th century, to be owned by a Tom Swift style engineer. Basically I want somewhere where there would be long straight stretches of track, running E-W, which could be used for running high speed trains bearing catapults used to launch primitive spacecraft.

I did a quick web search and can't find the one I came up with, which was the Great Arkansas Railway Company. Can someone who knows something about trains check this for me and make sure I'm okay? Or suggest a more suitable area if Arkansas seems silly for some reason?

Comments

[pauldrye.livejournal.com]

Arkansas isn't flat -- the Ozark and Ouachita mountains cover the western half of the state (and in the eastern you have numerous tributaries of the Mississipi River). Here's a map, if you'd like a look.

I'd suggest eastern South Dakota. Big, and flat as a board. Western Kansas is also very similar, and Eastern New Mexico lapping onto western Texas is not only flat but dry -- no rivers to cross. Though admittedly the tivers in South Dakota and Kansas run almost exclusively east-west and you can find long stretches of dry land between them.

[ludditerobot.livejournal.com]

The Missouri crosses South Dakota more-or-less from northnorthwest to southeast, and that's a big dip when you cross.