We're getting there, just one more chapter and then....
Constantine is certainly competent, but when compared to his more talented siblings its hard not to look average at best. He will have his moments of greatness, but also his moments of idiocy and lunacy as well. He is human after all.
In hind sight, I probably should have used someone else as Leopold's "mistress", such as Lady Jane Digby. I might consider rewriting this chapter, switching out Fotini for Jane, and starting the affair back in the early 1830's around the same time she went to Greece in OTL. They have a fling together for several months, but once it becomes clear that Leopold won't marry her, she leaves him and to all it would appear that the matter has ended. However, years later, she returns with a young boy/man who looks a lot like Leopold. Then antics ensue and things go poorly for Leopold.
Its certainly interesting to look at, but it definitely has some issues. For reference, here are the current Railway maps of both Greece and Turkey.
There are definitely some similarities between these maps and the ATL map posted above, particularly the more coastal routes in Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (although that detour up to Adrianople seems a bit superfluous for the main line). However, in my opinion it definitely loses focus in Epirus, Asia Minor, and the Peloponnese.
For one, I don't think a major railway would run through Epirus as the region is far too mountainous to really make such a project viable. I mean, it
can be done, but its expenses would be massive and likely outweigh whatever benefits they envision given the low population of the region and the number of good quality ports in the region. Instead, I think they'd be better served by a direct line connecting Lamia to Larissa (with a secondary line connecting the port of Volos). Another issue I have is with the Peloponnnese as a line running along the Northern coast of the Peloponnese from Athens to Corinth to Patras makes more sense than the Athens to Kalamata to Olympia to Patras line depicted above. Granted, I think the line running down to Kalamata makes some sense, but I'd probably have it be a part of a loop around the entire Peloponnese as per OTL. Now the railway in Asia Minor just seems silly. Granted, I'm not an expert on the geography of the Aegean coast of Anatolia so I don't know if this would be a viable railway route, but it definitely looks hectic to say the least.
Also, I'll be posting the next chapter either later today or sometime tomorrow. Its a bit on the shorter side, but I'm trying something new here so I hope you all will bare with me.
