Missouri - Not that Big

[affreca]

So I'm reading this new steampunk novel, set roughly 1880. The main character is taking a train west. It is a super advanced train, with steam and diesel power. Yet it takes a week for the train to get from St. Louis to Kansas City (roughly 250 miles). As Lawnchair says, it doesn't even take a week to bike that distance, he knows from personal experience. Oh, and despite the steam engine, there is never mention of stopping for water (rule of thumb I learned as a kid was every 10 miles).

Oh, and the steam/diesel riverboat moves upriver at 35 knots. That's faster than the official speed of my old destroyer.

Author has never lived in the midwest. I can tell. Otherwise, good book.