Hi there – just coming back after four months to say that a) Transsiberian has remained a weekly listen at minimum since your recommendation (I actually playtested this game recently with it!), b) I recently found Raising Steam at the library and enjoyed it very much! I have always adored Terry Pratchett’s ability to care deeply and genuinely about his topic-of-the-week, and there was the strongest sense of ‘this writer understands what makes trains so unbelievably compelling’ as I read it… so the comparison you have drawn is about the most complimentary feedback I could imagine.
Aw, hurray! That is so cool! After having played your game, I can definitely reaffirm the compliment! It was a really fun game, easy to play, and took me through some really interesting emotions about my beloved passengers.
I think it would be a nice way to develop NPCs for other games as well, although I haven't done that yet.
And yes, totally agree about Terry Pratchett's ability to really make you feel the compelling nature of trains. Even though it was one of his later works where you could see the Embuggerance coming to the fore, it is still a fantastic book and the main reason I liked it was the train slowly coming to life.