[OTTD] Kujichagulia's Krazy Screenshot World

[kujichagulia]

Perhaps I play OTTD a little differently than most. Of course, creating a nice transportation network is good and all, but I sometimes like to really get into the land/country where I do business. What are the people like? What is the history? The culture? I'll post some screenshots here, but allow me to also provide some background into the land and its regions and cities.

One note: I tend to be more interested in the networks than in the specifics of the trains themselves, so I'm not that knowledgeable about train engines and what not. Maybe you can help me out with that.

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The game I’m currently playing is of an Esperanto-speaking island nation called Kaktoinsulo, or Cactus Island in English. Why Cactus Island? Look at this:

desert shot 1933.png (14.64 KiB) Viewed 4613 times

The island is 90 percent desert, with strips of green along the coasts.

Why Esperanto-speaking? Here’s the back story. Named Cactus Island by Captain James Cook during his exploration of the Pacific Ocean (the island is located somewhere between Hawaii and Latin America), Great Britain basically ignored the arid land and concentrated their efforts elsewhere. Around 1900, a consortium of British mining companies discovered sizeable amounts of natural resources on the island. Recruiting workers from Britain, however, proved difficult, as not many were willing to take their chances on the island. The British government agreed to allow foreign workers to bypass normal immigration procedure in order to live and work on Cactus Island. And boy, did they come! Pacific Islanders, Latin Americans, East and South Asians, Africans, and even a few from North America, Europe and Australia made the long trip to Cactus Island.

By 1920, the island consisted of a true melting pot of various races, cultures, and languages. Communication was a huge problem, which led to distrust among the various ethnic groups. Governance proved to be difficult for the mining companies, who asked the British government to take over. Britain wanted no part of the mess, and they subsequently turned the island over to the League of Nations, who set up a trust territory.

One of the first actions taken by the League of Nations was to establish a common language, one that would cause no trouble among the islanders. Several experts of Esperanto, an artificial language created several decades previously, were recruited by the League to establish the language as Cactus Island’s official tongue. Free lessons were taught, street and store signs were amended, and town names were changed. The name of the island was Esperantized as well, to Kaktoinsulo.

The establishment of Esperanto in Kaktoinsulo coincided with the establishment of another institution: mass transport. Kaktoinsulo Transporto (KT) was founded soon after the League of Nations took over, with a short rail line that began between two towns on the southwest coast: Jozefa Citadelo and Fiera Akademio.

The game is currently in 1940, but I took some screenshots around 1933. I’ll post those first before going to 1940, but before I do that, here is a shot of the southwest corner of Kaktoinsulo, where KT began operations.

West Kaktoinsulo 1933.png (11.88 KiB) Viewed 491 times

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Feel free to post any comments, suggestions, questions, or complaints.

By the way, I cannot speak a word of Esperanto, although I have a slight interest in the language. If time allows, I will study a bit of Esperanto. This game may even spur me on!

[kujichagulia]

The first image below is of Fiera Akademio, where it all began for KT in 1920. Kaktoinsulo's third-largest city in 1933, Fiera Akademio was but a small town 13 years prior, notable only for a bauxite mine to the north of the city and the island's largest, most prestigious secondary school, the private Sudokcienta Akademio (Southwest Academy). The school was created in 1904, partly to create new leaders for the island, and partly to maintain British culture in island society. Originally called the Academy of the Proud, the current name was adopted in 1919. Meanwhile, when the trust territory was created, instead of an Esperanto version of the original village name of Edward, town officials lobbied to rename it Fiera Akademio in honor of the famous school.

KT's first train line was built at the same time between Fiera Akademio and the nearby town of Jozefa Citadelo, where the territorial government had its home. The line was soon extended east of Jozefa Citadelo to the city of Tremola Panoramo, which would explode to become the largest city in the territory by far in 1933. (A shot of the city is in the second image below.) The train line connected the three principal British settlements in Kaktoinsulo, as well as the economic and academic heart of the territory. Tremola Panoramo became the business capital of the territory, as well as the political capital, when the government relocated there in 1934.

The Southwest Line, as it became known, was double-tracked by 1933 with five trains servicing the area. It was also electrified, although due to funding KT was not able to acquire serviceable electric train engines, and instead ran steam Pacifics. One reason why funding was low was the opening of a new line connecting Fiera Akademio to a city to the west, Ibadano (third image below). Ibadano was founded by West African immigrants, who named the city after Ibadan in Nigeria. Nicknamed the "San Francisco of Kaktoinsulo," Ibadano grew with settlers attracted to the natural beauty and tranquility of the area as well as a climate more agreeable than most on the island. The West Line was soon double-tracked as well as the number of passengers traveling from the southwest to the west coast increased.

[kujichagulia]

Fast forward to the current date, 1939. The Great Depression brought to Kaktoinsulo more settlers looking for better wages, and the territory experienced a boom. For Kaktoinsulo Transporto, it was no different. The next series of screenshots will take you on a virtual tour of the three main train lines that form the backbone of the KT network to date.

Let's start in Tremola Panoramo, which is the terminus for the Southwest Line that runs west to Jozefa Citadelo and Fiera Akademio. Growth in Kaktoinsulo's largest city has plateaued, while other cities such as Ibadano have continued to grow. Despite this, Tremola Panoramo is still the largest city and likely will be for the next several years. A single but busy tram line connects parts of the city with the train station, Tremola Panoramo Forest. The train station itself is quite bland; for a city its size, Tremola Panoramo's station has no dedicated station building, as KT has concentrated its funding on vehicles and infrastructure.

The single track you see running off to the north of the city used to accommodate a limited extension service, with a few trains passing through, instead of terminating at, Tremola Panoramo Forest on the way to a village called Petra Panoramo. With only 150 citizens, service to Petra Panoramo turned out to be a huge failure, and the project was pulled before it cost KT a huge chunk of profit. The track was left in place, however, for any future rail lines that may run past Petra Panoramo to distant but more sizeable cities in central Kaktoinsulo.

[Purno]

Nice shots

[Level Crossing]

Nice start!

Why do you mix two station sets in one station?

[kujichagulia]

Nice shots

Thank you. Not as good as some other shots in this forum, but I hope to improve on that.

Nice start!

Why do you mix two station sets in one station?

It's to simulate adding new platforms to old stations, but I think I'll stop doing that. It makes for some funky-looking stations.

[kujichagulia]

An extra screenshot for you...

[kujichagulia]

The "middle" station on the three-stop Southwest Line is at Jozefa Citadelo, the former territorial capital. With its natural harbor to the east of the town center, British settlers had high hopes for this town when it was originally founded back in the 1850s. However, people have flocked elsewhere since the League of Nations took over.

Nevertheless, Jozefa Citadelo station has become an important transfer point for travelers. Passengers can take a spur line north across the desert to the small town of Lapis Lazurvilago. There are also bus services to two nearby suburbs - Muelejejo and Luntono.

[kujichagulia]

The Southwest Line continues west and terminates at Fiera Akademio, which has grown in population but hardly looks different from the screenshot I showed you earlier. Of course, passengers can transfer and catch a train to Ibadano (screenshot below) on the renamed Ibadano Connecting Line. Formerly the West Line, KT wanted to reserve that name for the new line that runs along the west coast (more on that later). In addition, once faster trains have been developed, KT has plans to combine the Connecting Line and the Southwest Line, making one long Southwest Line that runs direct from Ibadano to Tremola Panoramo.

As you can see, the train station has been doubled from two to four platforms to accommodate the new West Line. The station building was renovated and expanded, while a futuristic-looking roof covers the majority of platform area. Ibadano station is now as much of a landmark of Kaktoinsulo's second city as its townhouses, urban beaches, and bridges.

One oddity of the station is a lack of buffers, not installed because some boneheaded planner envisioned the tracks continuing through the heavily-built city and across the wide bay entrance to the north. Thanks to other, smarter brains, the West Line runs south from Ibadano and makes a U-curve before crossing bridges located at a much-narrower area of Ibadano Bay. Nowadays, children gather on the sidewalk next to the station and imagine themselves just escaping certain death by arriving trains.

Note that the KT headquarters lies just east of the train station.

[Purno]

Nice shots, but I'd like to see more trains, especially since you're playing with the 2ccSet

[kujichagulia]

Nice shots, but I'd like to see more trains, especially since you're playing with the 2ccSet

No problem. I'll start including more train shots. (EDIT: Thank you for your work on the 2cc Set!)

I'm still learning the good-looking 2cc Set, and right now every train in the game is a MAT'24. However, as I develop the network more, that will likely change.

[kujichagulia]

A shot of a MAT'24 passenger train about to stop at Sankt-Laura Pregejo, a stop on the West Line between Ibadano and Georga Akvofalo.

[kujichagulia]

We come now to Georga Akvofalo, the northern terminus for the West Line. The town name means "George Waterfall" - a rather optimistic name, considering there are no permanent rivers or waterfalls in Kaktoinsulo. This northwest corner of the island, as you can see in the picture, is quite green as it gets more rain than other parts. Perhaps a stream of rainwater flowing down one of the city's small hills inspired the name. Note the bridges crossing the opening of Georga Bay. This was the single most expensive public works project in Kaktoinsulo to date. Anger from member countries of the struggling League of Nations about the cost of the project forced the organization to spin off Kaktoinsulo Transporto into a private company.

[kujichagulia]

One more screenshot before I get back into playing the savegame. This is the current KT network:

west Kaktoinsulo 1939 lines.png (44.23 KiB) Viewed 491 times

green - Southwest Line
yellow - Jozefa Citadelo - Lapis Lazurvilago Spur Line
blue - Ibadano Connecting Line (will be merged with the Southwest Line)
red - West Line

The dashed white lines indicate plans for lines in the near future.

There are still no industrial transport services, but as we get into the central Kaktoinsulo area, you can see the cluster of red blobs, which indicate industries. Once I get some lines running there, I'll investigate any industrial opportunities.