One of the less impressive inventions of Infrastructure was what was known as the Crate Shack, more officially known as a Series-2 Prefabricated building. It was originally intended for setting up forts and mining bases as something that, as Frans Nojonovich came to understand it, were intended to be something in between a proper building and a tent. The building consisted of a set of wooden panels which could be fastened together into a small rough house by a few men in a couple of hours. A inner layer could be installed and filled with straw or sawdust for insulation. These, as well as a few straw-bale and wattle and daub buildings made up most of a new town along the Urblaast/Loriv canal region, around a few larger and more imposing structures.For the past few years the committee had been sending resources and men to this location, it was a lower priority project and often people were dismissed and sent off elsewhere or supplies were a month late, but progress continued on it regardless. After this area had been cleared out work began on a few rail lines were put down, as well as a station for them. Not usual but somewhat strange. Then work began on a few odd buildings. Several warehouses, a glass works, a concrete factory (which was still under construction in 31IA) and most impressively a foundry/Steel Mill. Frans worked at the foundry, both during it's construction and now during it's operation. He usually tried to get there slightly earlier than the rest of his shift, a fact that got him a couple more credits every day.He was a peasant from one of the nearby villages as were most of the men working here. There was also a fair share of men from Dalatyr overseeing things and doing the more complex jobs that required more specialized training. According to some of them, this was among the most advanced foundries in Infrastructure, complete with a finery furnace to convert steel. Most of the metal produced in the first few months was loaded up to be sent to The Yards or to other places, though a small percentage of the production was stored away. That was one of the big questions of the place. Why clear this area out? Why build such a foundry so far from The Yards with their shipbuilding or Dalatyr with it's machine shops and factories? If you were to build it far from either one of those places, why not build it near a major coal mine, garrison or hub town? There was talk and there was theories and Frans did think about them, but he had a job to do and a family back at the village that needed the credits.Previous- [link] Next- [link]