How did the Europeans get to Washington, D.C.?
They sailed there in a ship. Actually, they steamed there in two but one was lost in a gale. We first thought to use a Viking longship like Liev Eriksson sailed to Vinland but why would a fairly advanced folk still use such simple vessels? Since Fallout 3 is set two centuries after the bombs fell any surviving vessel would be a rusted out hulk ala Rivet City’s aircraft carrier. So we created a Valhalla timeline that shows how the people rebuilt their technology and industry. Eventually they settled on a technological base they could recreate and sustain, that of the Nineteenth Century. They started out by building wood burning side-wheel paddle boats, then built iron hulled screw driven ships and finally dreadnought type cruisers such as the Naglfar. That area of Sweden is rich in iron ores and while coal is gone there are lots of trees, a renewable resource. Add to it bio-diesel, vegetable oil, and you can power a steamship. That doesn’t mean the fleet is oil powered, there isn’t enou
