Abandoned - Railway - part 1 - Iron Ridge - Story 50

[Abandoned]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49jkH3FzZiU


Intro

  This is the 50th story in the Smallville Series and the first part of a two-part mini-series featuring a new Railway mod by @kid1293. You will not have to wait until the end of both stories for the Railway mod to be released.  Sincere thanks to @RedKetchup for his Choo Choo tracks, bridges, and tunnel. 

  This story takes place northwest of Smallville where expedition #9 in year 35 SVT found an abandoned train tunnel to take shelter in before heading farther north to settle North Mining Town of story 13.  This group came from a family homestead to the west of that tunnel.  They are descendants of one of the builders of the tunnel.  It is year 60 SVT, the reason the town did not appear on the world map until now.

Map #    762142334   Valley,  Small,  Fair,  disasters Off,  Medium Start

Mods enabled in load order:

Starting and Map Changing Mods:  Call of Nature Soundtrack, Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status,  CC Light Rain,  Kid Tree Replacer Light, New Flora Edit

Tweak Mods:   Better Fields, Better Stockpiles, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Fishing Dock 25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative, Rocks Respawn, Stop Burning Coal

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Nomad Sign Compete, Storage Crates,  Jinxie Bitty Village Set,  Kid Old Town, Kid Tiny

Supporting Mods:    Kid Market Foods, Kid Railway (new, testing), One Stop All Mining



  Yes, weary traveler, there were very few survivors of that logging camp that was abandoned and later became Smallville.  My husband's grandfather was one of them.  He was one of the railroad men that was with the loggers who cut trees and attempted to float them downriver to build a railroad in the southeast. They jammed the river with logs causing much death and destruction and hard feeling among local residents and river boatmen alike.  We came here to fulfill Grandfather's dream of building a railway.  I will tell you how our town of Iron Ridge came to be.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  My name is Preslee and my husband is Cleonellin.   We all came from a family homestead settlement to the west, there were 15 of us, 5 children and 10 adults.  We all grew up hearing railroad stories from my husband's grandfather.  Grandpa and a few other railroad men began building a tunnel for future railroad expansion when word came of the log jam tragedy at the base camp.  The project was abandoned, the crew scattered.  When two of his grandsons and their friends became old enough they were determined to build that railroad, a third grandson remained home and would help from there.  Cleon asked me to marry him and come with him.  We headed east until we found that old abandoned railway tunnel that Grandpa told us about.

  We picked a good location to build a large storage barn for what supplies we brought with us from home and began filling the stockpile and building houses.  Planting our corn seeds was first priority, the potatoes would have to wait.  By late summer we all had homes, even Manuelah who wanted a house of her own and a bitty hunting cabin north of town.  The school did not get built in time for her to get an education.  A notice board for town information was built, along with a wood cutter, tiny workshop, and a fishing pier.  A forester in the valley west of Manuelah's house would complete the town basics.

  In autumn we gathered wild foods, herbs, and branches. The corn harvest was good and so was hunting in the area.  There were a lot of fawns with the herds we spotted nearby.  Our town had new babies also, 3 of them, our son Sharald among them.  Herlyn barely survived the birth of her third child prompting us to clear land for a cemetery across from the newly cleared potato field. We missed being home for the holidays but when winter came we had time to start making plans for the railway.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  The trip here had been long and rough and winding.  A railway straight through the mountains to the west would connect us to our hometown while greatly reducing travel time.  We wanted Grandfather to see the train he always dreamed of.  We would need to dig 2 tunnels.  The 2 tunnels alone would get us back and forth quicker while the train was being built.  The old abandoned tunnel to the east would have to wait.  We would need turnaround tracks at both ends of the railway, one in each town.  Each section of track needed 3 logs and 2 iron.  More logs and iron would be needed to build the train itself and coal would be need to run it.  We had a lot of work to do and only a few people to do it.

  In early spring of year 2, a second farmer began planting the newly cleared potato field.  That left us with only 3 laborers and 1 builder.  Work on the tracks began but it was slow going.  The foundation was laid for a covered bridge across the river.  We hoped to get the tunnels dug this year.  The chances of that happening greatly improved when 3 families of miners arrived from the north. Their womanfolk wanted to live someplace warmer.  Two tiny houses and a shack were built, 1 next to the forester, 1 across the tracks, and 1 next to a good mining site.

  The miners were of Dwarven descent and no one knows mining like a dwarf.  They said the small mountain in town consisted mostly of coal.  Coal was softer and easier to mine than stone or iron.  A coal mine there would be conveniently close to where the coal was needed.  The mountains across the river were mainly stone and coal and should also be fairly easy to tunnel through.  On the other hand the mountain ridge to the east with the abandoned tunnel was mainly iron and would be very hard to dig through.  A mine next to the tunnel to remove stone, coal, and iron would later make completing that tunnel easier.  We named our town Iron Ridge after the mountain Grandfather's abandoned tunnel was in.  We were very glad our town had more workers to dig tunnels and lay tracks.  We were eager to get back home, if only for the holidays.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  In early spring of year 3 work on digging a mine shaft in town began.  The entranceway needed lumber.  Our firewood supply was good so it was no problem for our woodcutter to quickly cut a few boards.  Mine carts would bring the coal out of the mine which would then be stored in larger carts on the railways tracks themselves.

  Meanwhile the tracks and 1st tunnel across the river were completed and work on the 2nd one was well underway.  Work laying tracks in town also continued but the amount of iron on the stockpile was getting low.  There was still plenty of surface iron to be had, it just needed to be collected.  It was a good time to take a break from railwork to gather wild foods and herbs before winter.  Our corn and potato harvests were good and a 2nd hunter was built to control the size of the herd that grazed near the tracks.  When work on the railroad slowed because of the cold and snow the longing for our life and loved ones back home set in again.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4 


  As soon as the snow melted in early spring of year 4 work on the tracks began again.  A turn-around loop at the east end of the track would allow a returning train to circle around and head back in the direction from which it came. 

  In late spring a river boatman pulled up to the fishing pier.  He was quite interested in our planned railway.  We explained that not only would the train carry us back home for visits, especially for the holidays, but we planned to expand to other towns as well.  We would trade food and other needed items for coal which we needed to run the train to the next town.  The boatman said until we could produce the food and items ourselves, he would be willing to help fill the train cars in exchange for coal or other resources.  We should give it some thought.

  By summer the turnaround was almost finished.  We had to collect branches from the track where they had fallen and the hunters had to thin out the herd that gathered again on the tracks.  Cleon said once the train engine was built and running the herds would scatter.  We would be able to start building the engine in spring.  Until then another miner was assigned to the coal mine and we built a tiny trading post on the other side of the tracks.  Cleon's brother, Chann and friend, Kareeman, would complete the digging of the 2nd tunnel and check on the track building progress back home on the other side.  We were all envious that they would be home for the holidays.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  In early spring of year 5 Chann and Kareeman returned.  It was quite a hike through those railway tunnels.   Everyone back home was fine and work on the tracks was going well.  Their calculations were exact and the rail tracks would join up perfectly with ours.  We hung on every word they had to say about the railway and about the holiday back home.

By the time the 2 men returned work on the train engine was well underway.  The engine was built on the track by the coal mine and when it was finished it was taken on a test drive around the turn-around.  The whole town was there to see the test run.  It was slow and noisy but the deer did scatter and the tracks were cleared. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJAVJPX0YY   



  The engine was brought to a halt at the edge of town and work on 2 train cars began.  A material car could carry resources and a general car tools and textiles.  Both cars needed a lot of iron and we had farther to go to collect it.  The 2 cars were finished by late autumn.  A brief midwinter thaw gave us time to build a food car also. The Dwarven miners that joined our town were a great help in the design and construction of the iron train cars. 

  The miners also advised us on the construction of a large mine next to the abandoned tunnel.  From the mine's main shaft a side shaft would be built to the unfinished train tunnel. The shaft would extend through the iron ridge to the other side.  Iron, rock, and coal would be brought out through the mine and later completing the tunnel would be much easier.  One of the miners from the coal mine got to work immediately but it would be slow going and a very long time before a train would be able to travel through that mountain ridge.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


  In early spring of year 6 work began in earnest on railway stations.  The main station building would serve as a large storage unit, with a worker assigned it would be a market.  The station master would keep inventory records for the railway town, and the coal bin worker would bring coal from distant stockpiles, mines, and mine carts. The coal would be on hand close to the train cars where it would be traded for need food and goods.  We were eager to see if our calculations were correct and the train would take on enough coal to make it from town to town and back again.

  We began building a second station a short distance away from the coal bin and the noisy train engine.  This station would serve passengers who were coming and going.  There was a good size building with rooms to stay in, and a storage unit for needed food and other items.  The ticket office would store their extra luggage and coats and textiles.

  Work on all the stations proceeded rapidly, they were much easier to build than train cars.  By late summer we had 1 passenger car built in front of the second station.  It would be an easy matter to back the train up enough to connect the car.   A family could easily live in such a car but we planned to use it to carry my family and my brother-in-law's family home for the holidays.  We wanted so much for it to be this year but there was still testing to be done before making such a trip, especially with the children on board.  We were one step closer when the river boatman arrived with merchandise to stock the train cars.

  The material car was stocked with wood, firewood, iron, and stone. The general car contained coats, textiles, tools, herbs, and ale.  The food car had an assortment of fruits, vegetables, grains, and meat.  We did not want to go back home before the citizens of Iron Ridge had warm coats, stronger tools, and a more varied diet.  By the end of the year we were exchanging coal for wool and for apples.  A bitty tailor was built to make warm coats and a market fall food stand was baking apples.

[Abandoned]

Mod note:  The river boatman bringing food to stock train car is for story purpose only, the train did not come from somewhere else with food or good.  The train cars are stocked with resources, textiles, and food when built.  You need coal to trade for the items the train cars contain.  There is no limit, they do not run out of food or goods. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


   In the main part of town, in the spring of year 7, the corn and potatoes were planted as usual.   We collected wild foods and branches, the market fall food stand by the train stations needed firewood to bake the apples.  The market soup stand we built by the abandoned tunnel mine would need firewood too.  The miners would really appreciate a hot cup of mushroom soup while digging that tunnel.  Those miners would soon have steel tools to work with.

  The passenger car was still waiting for us by the passenger station.  We knew it would not be long now before it was connected to the rest of the train and we would be on our way home for a holiday  visit.  Coal was being loaded onto the train in exchange for wool, steel tools, and apples.

  A food merchant came to the trading post and gave us potatoes in exchange for our extra lumber.  He was impressed with our railway as another means of getting food and supplies to people that needed them. Parthur, the general goods merchant, returned again and wanted to know if there was anything else we needed before the train made it's maiden run.  Our train and our storage units were well stocked.

  We are well please with our Railway and with our small town of Iron Ridge.  In early autumn, our population is only 37, 20 adults, 3 students, and 14 young children, but we accomplished a lot in less then 7 years here in Iron Ridge and now we are headed home for a nice long holiday visit.  It's a beautiful crisp clear autumn day and we must be on our way.  We should be home by Thanksgiving Day.  I am glad, weary traveler, that you are coming along with us.  Visitors are always welcome back home.   Grandmother and Grandfather will be waiting, over the river and through the woods.


All Aboard


To Be Continued

[moonbelf]

@Abandoned  Love this blog and your railway town!

[Abandoned]

Thank you @moonbelf , that is nice to hear.   

I kept this story short so mod could be released.  There are some train cars in the mod that are not shown in this first story.  Part 2 coming soon.

More information on the mod and link to the download can be found here:

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=3518.0