[OTTD] The begining of a legacy - Timor

[CMircea]

First of all I haven't played TTD in a reeeally long time, so I though I'd begin again with a proper game with role-playing bias. So here we go.

Timor is a small island country in the Atlantic Ocean, 200 km off the south coast of Britain, with a beautiful landscape and plenty of tourist attractions, but few cities and amenities, let alone means of

transport. It is year 1900 and the country`s king has deemed a railway network a necessary investment for the future of the country. During the next five years some of the best engineers around the world have been hired for the massive undertaking - construct and bootstrap a massive railway network covering the whole island by 1930. The commission works for five long years on the design of the network before coming to an agreement and in 1910 the construction begins. A massive job, hundreds of workers lose their lives building the network, but their sacrifice would not be in vain, as the network is one if not the most complex and advanced in the world, featuring long concrete tunnels, steel suspension bridges and a massive causeway over the waters of the Windy Sea.

Fast forward to 1920 and the mainline is built - and boy what a mainline - which means the hardest part is over. Construction of sidelines connecting the cities and industries will commence shortly, after which the entire network will be signaled, tested and readied for the first ever public train departure in Timor, from the proposed grand terminal of Timor Ceta. The plans also consist of a national-held transport company to oversee and manage the network; the initial construction will be paid for by the state, while additional major work will be subsidized where needed.

[CMircea]

Now time for pics

1. Overview 1 & 2 - overview of the mainline, a closed loop around the island, with two tracks per direction.
2. Capital - the small capital city of Timor, Timor Ceta. In the west side of town are the company headquarters, while north-west of the town is a small iron ore mine.

[CMircea]

1. Dispute Cities - the towns of Ladingham and Radingtown would not agree to a tunneled through the nearby hills, nor under the cities, thus the mainline had to include several turns around the cities, potentially slowing traffic down. Their concerns are not without basis however, as the hillside is rumored to contain precious ruins buried under the soft rock.
2. Former River - the mainline passes over the bed of a former large river, carrying fresh rich water from the nearby mountain into the Ocean. 200 years ago the river started mysteriously vanishing, leaving behind a large valley in which a dense forest has grown, thanks to the rich minerals carried by the river from upstream.
3. Lake - the lake near New Bunbridge is the largest lake in the country, with unique species of fish and underwater plants living there. In order not to disrupt the local fauna and flora the network has been designed to turn around the north side of the lake.

[CMircea]

1. Ocean - Near the small town of Slufingpool the harsh Atlantic Ocean makes its appearance, pounding away at the steep shores. The engineers have constructed reinforced concrete walls to absorb the force of the water, preventing it from damaging the foundation of the tracks. A nice side effect of that work is the spectacular view from the tracks, especially during sunset, the water gaining a slight orange color.
2. Straight - as can be seen the mainline has been specifically engineered to preserve the landscape, while having long straight runs. This design decision is believed to be crucial in the next twenty years, as extremely fast trains are hinted by the large rail locomotive companies.
3. Causeway - last but certainly not least is the causeway in the north, towards Britain. This causeway runs across the Windy Sea, avoiding disruption to the farmland towards the south. Though it does not affect the sea, as underwater there are large holes intrerrupting the thick soil used to support the causeway, thus allowing the flow of salt water from the sea inland, where it is processed in the small town of Wrindingville to supply salt for the whole island.

[CMircea]

The next two years bring a connection between the two sides of the mainline loop, to facilitate traffic without looping around the island.

1. Connection - the connection bridges the two sides of the mainline loop, allowing traffic to pass from one side to another. This is done in order to avoid a run around the island for runs between the west and east.
2. Forest - a natural forest between two mountains is traversed, creating a beautiful route that anyone would want to travel on just for the sights. The southern mountain is rich in coal, the mine at the summit harvesting hundreds of tons each month, while the northern mountain is the major lumber supply of the country.

[thphwh]

Me likes.

[CMircea]

Another two years of hard work. The terminus station at the capital is finished, the largest station in the country. A sideline is erected, connecting three small towns. The hardest part though, a sideline climbing the Grun mountain to the summit, is now over as well. The towns of Grinborough Bay and Gruntown have a rail connection to the rest of the island.

1. Capital Terminus - the capital city terminus station is finished, the largest station in the island, with many tracks connecting it to the mainline. Although only 4-wide at this time, there are plans to expand it to an 8-wide station in the future.
2. Sideline 1 & 2 - a small sideline connecting a few towns is built. To reduce costs the line is single track, with double tracks between stations to allow trains to pass each other.

[CMircea]

1. Mountain Line - another sideline shoots towards a nearby mountain to service the two towns located there. The terrain in especially difficult, nonetheless not a lot of traffic is expected.
2. Mountain Climbing - as can be seen climbing a mountain is no easy feat. The track is single except for a few spots to allow passing and the grades are hard. It has taken a lot of hard work to shape the mountain to allow railroad tracks reaching the summit town of Gruntown.
3. Mountain Tunnel - the mainline avoid the mountain by tunneling through it - one of the longest tunnels in the world. The sideline merging is quite tricky in this situation but the talented engineers have been able to shape the tracks around the mountain to accomplish the task.

[CMircea]

The last year of continuous construction is over; during this year four mainline depot facilities have been built, as well as a sideline near the Atlantic Ocean shore connecting the towns of of Ladingham and Radingtown with the mainline.

1. Seashore Sideline - The towns of Ladingham and Radingtown have been persuaded to allow a sideline through the farmyard and hills, provided the disruption is minimal, especially to the Rading mountain, which is rumored to contain valuable ruins - digging will likely commence in the next few years.
2. Depot 1 - the main depot nearby the capital city, this is where all trains will initially be assembled before the beginning of Timor's rail service.

[CMircea]

1. Depot 2, 3 & 4 - large depot facilities, to service and replace trains. They have a direct connection to all mainline directions without interrupting the normal flow of traffic.