It was realized that as soon as we decided to close up our Habitats, we would have a problem with free movement of people and materials. Accordingly, an integrated transportation system was developed to facilitate such movement. It can be seen that it was influenced by such systems as the Star Trek Enterprise’s turbo-lift system, although that seems to have roughly normal cubical elevator cars.
Our cars have to rotate within their shafts in order to deliver the passengers in an upright posture to the new locations, so the shafts are cylindrical, and the elevator cars are spherical.
Think about it. In space, each habitat is rotating around a central point, and each is one hundred and twenty degrees of orientation different from its neighbor. (Three times one hundred and twenty equals three hundred sixty, a complete circle.)
When you travel from Habitat A to Habitat B, the spherical elevator car, in addition to accelerating and decelerating as it snakes its way through the twists and turns of the arms and structures connecting the habitats, slowly rotates to reorient the passengers to what is “up and down” at the arrival point.
Utility carts and delivery wagons can also be sent this way, although piping and other delivery systems compete with that. Our Castle’s integrated delivery system to the tiny rooms within the courtyard walls is also tied in. One can cruise the equivalent of the internet, which is isolated to the Flying Castle Habitats, and have items packed up and sent into a package delivery system which will bring them right to your room.
Across the literally miles of tubing and interconnections that tie these systems together, that delivery may take several minutes to arrive, but it is all automated.
This is one of the efficiencies that promotes productivity here. Whatever it is you wish to produce or consume, your raw materials or tools are only moments away. If an idea occurs to you to start making something unique, you can be set up and in production within mere moments. It’s fascinating to see the rapidity with which a graphically illustrated tee shirt or other bit of amusement can spread around the Habitats.
Also note that time of day is irrelevant to availability of materials. Someone is always awake.
We were in Scotland, in Loch Ness.
We sent the Beer Truck to Ireland, where the Guiness is.