There Is No Such Thing As A Rail Pirate

Years ago this line, delivered in a clichéd pirate manner, came to mind; “Here we be, becalmed upon this desolate siding”. I have no memory of what spawned it, or why cartoonish pirates would be sailing on a rail network, though it may have had something to do with rail bikes, maybe?

Anyway, the idea got kicked around a bit, and morphed into something in which such a ridiculous line could actually happen, though it also moved pretty far from that idea.

For the record, this was years before I read Railsea by China Miéville.