Thanalan - train tracks... what are they for?

[DracotheDragon]

i love how everyone is saying doom train or phantom train, all the tracks are are simple minecart rails, the area of thanalan has a lot of mines coal mines copper mines and even gold mines so the tracks (which if you look go to the Athercite in central thanalan (i forgot its name)) there is the coal deposit, the tracks go though this area and to another mine :3

no doomtrain
no phantom train
just mines

[Enkidoh]

i love how everyone is saying doom train or phantom train, all the tracks are are simple minecart rails, the area of thanalan has a lot of mines coal mines copper mines and even gold mines so the tracks (which if you look go to the Athercite in central thanalan (i forgot its name)) there is the coal deposit, the tracks go though this area and to another mine :3

no doomtrain
no phantom train
just mines

Actually, that's not quite correct - the line that runs between Castrum Meridanium in Northern Thanalan and Castrum Centri in Mor Dhona is completely separate from Ul'dah's mining line - they're not even the same 'gauge' (term for the distance between the rails - I told you I like trains! ), it was built and is owned by the Garlean Empire, and is used by the Garleans for moving weapons and personnel between the two Castrum - it this that is frequently referred to in the story as 'the Phantom Train', presumably because of it's secretive military nature. This line has no connection to the Ul'dahn line that runs from under Ul'dah through Black Brush to the Nanawa Mines which is indeed used for hauling ore, which is the line most players are wanting to see opened up for gameplay purposes.

As for Doomtrain, given how it's stated Primals are formed, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to find that maybe one day some overworked trackganger at Black Brush Station in his cups blames his lack of sobriety on a 'doomtrain' that chased him through the night (garbling vague mentions overheard about the secret Garlean line from returned Twin Adder soldiers after Operation Archon), and the idea spreads by word of mouth, until finally, someone who happened to come into possession of a quantity of crystals is whispered in his ear by a black clad figure and makes the mistake of turning what was an urban legend whispered in taverns into a terrifying reality.