The Winding River Project

[mightygoose]

welcome back. the pumping station looks great.

[Cyclone1001]

Alright, did I miss anything? Been gone since the last update, and welcome back.

[frostwolf]

Welcome back, Fed. Glad to hear your computer is back up and running.

[mrbisonm]

My gaming computer was "out of order" as you knew. I had to wait until my fellow son finds the time and comes down from Montreal to re-install windows on it. It definitively had a virus slowing it to almost 5% capacity and had the processor (UCL) running at 100% all the time.
Now, about the *down the roads/streets* series, I will have to do 3 parts of the Access Road, because there's simply too much to talk about and see. This is part 2 of that series.....So let's go on with the story.


Update 66

Down the Roads/Streets...Chapter 3B - Access Road Part 2

                        Monday, November 13th, 1966
                           Today in November ... then:

- November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.

- The Beatles begin recording sessions for their landmark Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

- November 30 – Barbados achieves independence.

[/size]


Perceived only as a red lightening through the windshield of Policechief Kyle Roberts' patrolcar, the mustang was long gone before he even got started to follow it. It was the chief's daytime job today to survey the speed limits on Highway 35 in between West River and Valmore. When he finally got his car going, he radioed other patroller's that the mustang was heading south towards Access Junction. It wasn't long though that the chief saw the red car way in front of him turning off the highway and considerably having slowed down before entering the townlimits of Access Junction and caught up with the red phantom.
««" Can I see your registration papers and driving licence please." the chief asked the young fellow that was driving the brandnew 1967 red mustang after he stopped him. " Did you know that you were going at the speed of 135 miles per hr (215km/h) in a zone where only 70 mph (110kmh) is allowed?" The kid didn't seem wanting to respond and chief Roberts didn't bother waiting for an answer while he went back to the patrol car to get more information by radio on the driver. After about 5 minutes he got back asking. " Are you in any way related to John S. Gabber from Bluebay, Mr William Gabber?"..
"Yes, John Gabber is my father", Young Billy answered and looking at the chief, " Is there anything wrong, Sir?"
"Well, you know that you were extremely speeding on Highway 35 at the height of West River and that we have caught you on radar. I will have to inform your father about it. It will be tolerated for this time only, take it as a serious warning, the next time you will have to confront the accusations of speeding and dangerous driving." the Police chief of the Access Junction region explained and finalizing his short speech with...,"I hope this is well understood, now please drive carefully. By the way, nice car." Billy politely thanked the officer and drove slowly off into the town to meet his father at Barby's Biergarten for lunch, where he had some explaining to do.»»
Billy (William), as we remember , is the youngest of the Gabber family, he just turned 18 years old and is going to the Lakestead University with his best friend, Diarmuid MacGormain. He just bought himself that brand new 1967 Mustang in Beecher Falls, north of here and is driving it home to Bluebay for the first time. His first dream came true.

66.01A


We left Access Center's downtown with the last picture of the last update and enter here the Valmore part of the town. As we know Access Center and Valmore have joined into one town a little over 5 years ago but still today a lot of folks call this part Valmore which continues north over two citytiles to West River, where the armybase is at the moment. Valmore is known for the Valmore lake, a medium sized beautiful lake that empties into the Chime lake and then with the West River both lakes empty themselves into the Winding River at the Crossbow Junction, the terrains that the Gabber and Allheimers own.
At entering, we don't see much of a difference of what we just left in Access Center. Only houses and shops are slowly getting smaller when heading out of town.
A project that was asked for to consider by the administration office in the last months of 1966, is the creating of a passenger train station in Access. The passenger train will pass through the Winding River starting as early as by the end of next year (1967) since a connection between Frampton and Bluebay has been established. While the rails are already existing, putting on a passengertrain is only half the problem, if there is a problem at all.
In the Access's Mayor office it was proposed to establish a station and that it should be near downtown. Then the opposition wanted two stations, one in downtown and one in the growing part of Valmore. Of course, this is only talk at the moment. The yellow circle proposes the new station for the Valmore part of town. The downtown station should be somewhere near or on the Harry Wormwood lots.

66.01


A little further down the road we see the Regional Museum of Nature, it was built some years ago right over the findings of a dinosaure skelleton as we remember. Today it serves to present all kinds of natural things found in the region, including some newer findings of the Skullpeople that the government released lately. An important part of the museum will soon open up to the public with many finds from these almost prehistoric people of the Winding River Valley. Many of these highly interesting proofs of the skullpeople come from the military base in West River.
Here also is where the Highway 15 meets the Access Road for the first time. It used to be in Access downtown itself, but many years ago they changed the direction of the highway to contour the town because of being too noisy and causing too many traffic problems. The museum is close to a small commercial sector that is slowly developping, probably taking profit from the visitors.

66.02


Not far from the museum is the highway's second entry/exit of highway 15. Here the town just ends and merges into the more agricultural part of Access, which later leads right into West River. Although this highway exit is out of town, it is one of the busiest one. A few lots near it were reserved lately by an oil company in Frampton to build an important gastation and most probably a restaurant and motel.

66.03


Out of town, but not too far away we come across the Donovan enterprises, which sell mostly construction materials. A beef farm nearby was lately bought out by Donovan, probably to enlargen his buissness. Around the area also some residents got rooted, those who love the countryside of living. The Access Road follows the highway all the way from here up to Phlox, where it once gets separated again.

66.04


Before leaving the Valmore county and Access Center town for good, here's a last picture of the Access Road and the Highway in this part of the region. This is the northern countryside of Access, and only farms and very little residential homes (except farmowners) can be found nearby.
Bell Road will soon become an important intersection with Highway 35 and it will lead to the new airport they are working on at this time. The town did not yet decide how much money to invest into this project and whether it will become just a regular exit or an intersection.

66.05


When entering West River South, which used to be Valmore North, the first thing we come across is the old farm of Robert Sweathers, which somehow seems to be abandonned nowadays. Robert has a rare and slowgrowing kind of cancer which he is being treated for since a year. We all remember him as the survivor form a airplane crash near the end of WWII and was found when the highway people came through the area, many years after his crash. He then started a farm selling vegetables along the Access Road. Shortly after some homes were built around his farm and today a very small village, not yet independant and belonging to Phlox's administration has come to life.
Here the Access Road ends somehow for a short while since it joins the Highway 15 to cross the West River. A maintenance office for the highway was built here also. This highway office takes care of the highway 35 from the beginning in the Winding River region and up to the Phlox intersection.

66.06


Further up, after the bridge, Access Road becomes independant again and alongside the highway, this time on the west side, it also follows the West River until the entrance of the regional armybase. Here the army is still working on the detour that they are planning for the river, so it will not go through or near the base anymore. Big job, many people are working here and quite a challenge to dig out the channnel without flooding it. The river flows a lot faster in the springtime, when the snow in the mountains thaws, therefor a big wall of boulders was constructed in front of the channel's mouth to make sure that the river will not chump away on the terrain near the highway. The dam will be build right after the opening of the shortcut-channel.

66.07


Of course we all knew that the Access Road passes by the army's base in West River by now. Strange how no one has build a home nearby, although the terrains are open for sale for residential zones since 2 years. I guess until it is proved that the army is not doing anything hazardous or dangerous, nor that the gasleaks are too great , no one would like to live nearby. The base is now heavily guarded, eversince the "Gabber gang" found a breach to enter it silently. A lot of construction is still being done on the base, which never seems to go to sleep anymore.

66.08


After a few miles (km's) past the West River, we enter the county and the town of Phlox. Here the Access Road takes some wild detours to get back to the highway and cross the bridge over the mighty Winding River with it.

66.09


We have a better view of it on the picture below how the Access Road winds through the highway's intersection. (yellow line) This is where Highway 15 from Bluebay, Sandom and Access Center meet  Highway35 that goes west to end up in the City of Lakefield. This part of the highway was built by another construction Company than the Gabber Inc and it was finished two years ago.
This is Phlox below, or at least a part of it since Phlox has started in two different places at the same time. The original "downtown" is on the bridges westside, while the town tries to create a new one right here near the intersection. Phlox is new, only 5 years old, but because of an intense Government program it has been somewhat invasional since the last year. Many homes have been built and wherever you look there are constructionsites of all kinds. In an earlier update we have seen the suburbs that our Civil Engineer Riichirou Takahaschi has planned two years ago. It is growing five times faster than what Access Center opened for residential zoning on the upper part of the Fingerlake.
Somehow that disturbs Mayor Bartlett a little bit, maybe he even feels like that he is competing with freshly chosen Mayor William B. Sharp of Phlox. Sharp has full support of the administration office in Lakefield, being a good friend of the president of the commission, but I don't think that he feels any competition between both Winding River Mayors.

66.10




That's it again, the next time we will have a regular update instead of the 3rd part of the Access Road visit. Something to get back into the story and our characters. Maybe just a reminder of what all our characters are doing at the moment, at this time of winter 1966/67.
See you soon.

Fred

[nedalezz]

Yay! Its back! In terms of storytelling, Winding River is nothing short of epic!

I am also looking forward to seeing your BATs come to life in your MD

Another awesome and detailed update, Fred, making for another great read!

[Tomas Neto]

Wow..., another fantastic work!!! Awesome update again!!!

[threestooges]

Great to see the updates back up and running again Fred. Nice developments of late. It always seems like there are several things going on at once, but they all seem to get their time in the spotlight, and they all seem to be planned. How far in advance do you plot the developments?
-Matt

[mightygoose]

superb update as always, it is like you never left.

[mrbisonm]

Thanks guys. Right now I am out of pictures and have to do some actual "playing the game". I should have an interesting update ready by midweek. It is already written and now I have to create the scenes and take pictures.....

How far in advance do you plot the developments?
-Matt

Hey Matt, actually I don't really plan anything. Usually I just play and create and all of sudden a story comes with some images in my head, then take a picture and write. Other times I just got an idea for a story and start writing (like this coming update) and then play and then create the scenes and take the pics. One or the other, both are interesting.
All I plan a little in advance is the general destiny of all the characters, let's say I know more or less where this and that character are going. But mostly I just jump right into the scenery, play and do whatever my minds want me to do.
Although I 'm a serious loghome designer since 37 years irl, and planning ahead is an important issue, when it comes to pleasure things, it is the contrary. Never things are planned properly, sometimes it's perfect, and sometimes it's just a mess...... Surprises I like. lol Maybe it's because I have to be too serious with my job that I will just let myself go with the simcity stories......

Like I said above, the next update still has to be created and pictured, while the story is already written since wednesday night. We will end the journey along the Access Road this time, visiting it from the intersection of highway 35 and 15 and the big bridge in Phlox down to where they actually are busy building the next bridge over the Ganoga Marshlands. Nice story that comes with it. We get to meet some of our characters again. The highlight will be on Rundi Sterling, the billionaire from Frampton, who owns most of the land on the other side of the river.
No later than next thursday !

Fred

[CabraBuitre]

And the base continues to grow....  Wonder what they're really doing?

Interestingly, a friend of mine just told a story similar to the young Mr. Gabber's...  he had a 67(?) Charger and had been speeding along sparsely populated roads...  and then he hopped on the interstate in Southern California and no fewer than FOUR California State troopers pulled him over.

It wasn't because he had been speeding... it was because he had a sweet car!

[mrbisonm]

And the base continues to grow....  Wonder what they're really doing?

Interestingly, a friend of mine just told a story similar to the young Mr. Gabber's...  he had a 67(?) Charger and had been speeding along sparsely populated roads...  and then he hopped on the interstate in Southern California and no fewer than FOUR California State troopers pulled him over.

It wasn't because he had been speeding... it was because he had a sweet car!

Oh I believe you.....Well, for my eighteenth birthday in 1971, my father bought me a 2 year old used '69 Red Mustang with a 429 SCJ motor (wasn't I lucky?) and a milage of around 8,000 . It made a beautiful sound when running, purring softly and telling us with its sound how strong its motor was. I just loved it....still do, because I still have it, now it has 62,000 miles on it, but running as new.
I parked it when I started my own company in 1976 and left it untouched until summer 1993. After all these years it was still running and purring like before and after having put a couple of $ to renew certain parts (mostly rubber and plastics) I sometimes take it for a ride in the summer. Ha..... I get stopped by the cops here in Quebec everytime also, and believe me, it's not for speeding neither.....lol...just for a "verification" as they say....lol... Verification my a**! They are all surprised to see a white bearded old fellow driving it....makes me smile everytime.

Somehow the story about young Billy Gabber in the last update I got from my own memories.

Fred

[CabraBuitre]

Oh I believe you.....Well, for my eighteenth birthday in 1971, my father bought me a 2 year old used '69 Red Mustang with a 429 SCJ motor (wasn't I lucky?) and a milage of around 8,000 . It made a beautiful sound when running, purring softly and telling us with its sound how strong its motor was. I just loved it....still do, because I still have it, now it has 62,000 miles on it, but running as new.
I parked it when I started my own company in 1976 and left it untouched until summer 1993. After all these years it was still running and purring like before and after having put a couple of $ to renew certain parts (mostly rubber and plastics) I sometimes take it for a ride in the summer. Ha..... I get stopped by the cops here in Quebec everytime also, and believe me, it's not for speeding neither.....lol...just for a "verification" as they say....lol... Verification my a**! They are all surprised to see a white bearded old fellow driving it....makes me smile everytime.

Somehow the story about young Billy Gabber in the last update I got from my own memories.

Fred

Hehe, that's great!  (unless you have somewhere to go..)

Do you have a picture of it?

[mrbisonm]

Do you have a picture of it?

Of course....I uploaded a picture of it two years ago to a site on the net (can't remember which one though). I will have to find one in my picturebox and scan it. Be back with it soon.


Meanwhile I had 5 minutes to fool around with gmax, had a dumb idea somehow..... A Park with a monument created by the famous Sim, Pete Casso.
Anyone interested?




Fred

[MattyFo]

Great couple of updates Fred. It's always nice to catch up un your MD after being away from SC4 for so long.  BTW I really like the world in a box

- Matt

[mightygoose]

world in a box, a comment on corporate globalisation?

[threestooges]

world in a box, a comment on corporate globalisation?

Well, it does remind me of some corporate art pieces I've seen. Not sure what the dimensions there are, but this looks like it would be right at home out in front of some glass skyscraper HQ, perhaps as the centerpiece of some fountain/pond thing.
-Matt

[mrbisonm]

Back with the rest of the Access Road Visit. Thanks for the visits

Update 67

Down the Roads/Streets...Chapter 3C - Access Road Part 3


Friday, December 16th, 1966
                           Today on this date ... then:

- 1431 – Henry VI of England is crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.

- 1707 – Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.

- 1770 – Born : Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer.

- 1989 – Died : Lee Van Cleef, American acto.

The last time we stopped in Phlox just about the intersection of Highway 35 and 15, which is going west to Lakestead, today's Capitol City of Simland. As we know, highway 35 is far from finished and the works stopped momentarily at the Ganoga Marsh's entrance. There they are starting to build the immense and long bridge over the marshlands. The cobnstruction site will come back to life on January 9th, 1967, after a 3 week vacation for everyone. That also helps letting pass the rainy/sometimes snowy season that always occurs at this time of the year in the valley.
We however will continue with the Access Road visit.


««" Are you coming with us?" Mike asked Alex Puto, the general Project Manager of the bridgebuilding for highway 35.
"Whereto ?" he asked looking at Mike and John, who joined him to see the final touches of the Grand River bridge in Phlox.
"Hey Buddy, it's 3 o'clock and it's friday....Where do you think we go?" Mike pointed out.
"Nah...I gotta go see someone on Sterling's Island...she's got some mechanical problems with one of her boats." Alex said while tucking in his shirt that was ripped out by the strong winds on the bridge.
Mike laughed indiscretly:" Your girlfriend Katie, you mean?"
" She is NOT my girlfriend, you hear?," Alex made sure that his statement was clear and understood, " she's just someone I got to know lately and she needs my help for now."
"ok, ok....don't shout," Mike looked surprised over his shoulder at John who was looking at the crane bringing in these concrete highway sidewalls, "If you finish early, come see us at Barby's, if not, well have a nice christmas and we will see each other on New Year's Eve then, ok?."
All Alex did was notting his head positively, while he also continued to look at the big crane that was placing the large cement blocks on the side of the highway.

So Mike and John waved the hand at him and descended off the bridge to join the company's pickup at the other end, while holding tightly on the ramp not to get blown away with the strong wind. On the way back John and Mike discussed the matter with Alex a little and his new so called * new friend *, both knew that it was more serious than Puto says and everyone could see it been written in gold on Alex's forehead.»»

67.01


Yes, Alex seems to have found himself a girlfriend. He 's been seeing her for a few months now, ever since the six years younger Katie Panskyy from Frampton has moved to Sterling Island, where she has bought the old harbour that Gabber Inc used to use for landing the materials needed for building the big bridge on the Sterling island. Now she' starting a small boating service buissness and of course Alex being quite a fanatic with boats and stuff, it wasn't long that he came to meet Katie.
Highway 35 gets together with the Access Road and cross the Winding River here for their first time. Hopping over the island of Sterling and then reaching the eastern side of the mighty river where the highway and the Access Road separate again. The temporary Access road bridge was demolished last spring.

67.02


We are still in the Phlox County here. This is also where the private road of Rundi Sterling starts to head right into the Stoke Mountains which belong mostly to the famous billionaire. We have visited this earlier and also saw the location where Sterling wants to build his own castle that he bought in France, dismantled and shipped to Frampton for the moment, where it awaits the long journey by train and heavy-load trucks to Stoke in a year or so. The land standing beside Sterling's 2000 acres is mostly privately owned and many of these forests have been contracted with the Timberlog Inc from Phlox to be cut in the next two years. Sterling is a strict conservationist and always keeping his lands as natural as possible, no way for Terry Slye, the owner of Timberlog Inc to change Sterling's mind and to sell him some logging rights on his vast lands. Mr Slye has been busy on this side of the river to buy as many logging rights as possible, as I said, most of them surrounding or neighboring the many acres of the Billionaire. Although TS (Terry Slye) has loggers all over the valley now and even some in the exterior like Sandom and Bluebay and he doesn't really "need" Sterling's forests, but he is always looking for some profitable logging bargains and as Sterling has many acres with mature trees, Slye is very interested in obtaining them.

67.03


Just at the tiny intersection of the Access Road and the private entrance of the Sterling acres, one can see a small gathering of homes. Some loggers and others have bought small lots and have built their homes on them, so did others from Phlox and Access Junction. With them came a few buissnesses to service this small community which is fully under Phlox's administration. This location does't really have an official name, but everyone knows it by the name of Troy, named after the old man George Troy who is guarding the gate to Sterling's acres and has a small canteen at the intersection to feed the hungry highway and bridge workers as well as the passerby's and the loggers. Troy is in his early seventies, a darkskinned man as we know, who has been working for the Sterling family since his early childhood. Very friendly, calm and generous, George is loved and appreciated by most everyone who got the chance to know him.

67.04


Again it is time for the Access Road to join Highway 35 to cross the Willow Swamps in the next County that we enter. Stoke County covers quite a large area, starting with the Willow Ponds and swamps and crossing the Stoke mountains (which btw belong to Sterling also) right into the Ganoga Wetlands in the east and touching the Winding River twice, in the north and in the south. A good part of Stoke again belongs to our famous Billionaire, Rundi Sterling. No one really knows, not even he himself, exactly how many acres or hectars of land he actually owns in this part of the valley. Stering always talks about a few thousand acres when ever he mentions the Stoke Mountains, but important to some it is, how many thousands. They say that he planted an ironpost on all it's limits some years ago, but nobody ever saw one of these.
The bridge over the Willow swamp was quite a challenge to Alex Puto who was the Project Manager for this contract, as for the other bridges. It was difficult to build on these very unstable wet soils, which used to be a deep lake many thousand years ago. It was a first for Alex and for any other engineer to achieve good results in building a bridge over the big swampy "sponge". Alex seem to have done perfectly, because the bridge is solid. Let's pass some years and see how it will do.
Except for some minor loggings here and there, mostly to clear land for future farms, nothing much is going on in the rest of Stoke for the moment. Maybe it is because of the amount of flies and insects in the warm summermonths that hatch in these wetlands that Sims have more or less stayed away, but as it seems, some sims are resistant to these pesty little beasts or maybe immune.

67.05


This is the boring stretch of the Access Road and Highway 35 through Stoke, nothing but forests and ponds. Almost a year ago, here is where the highwy construction stopped for a month. The governmental administrators were discussing a new possibility of a different direction for highway35. But after long discussions and planning they finally came to an agreement to use the first plan to cross the Mighty River further downriver and go right over the Ganoga Wetlands, even if it is a little longer.
Precious time was wasted her for the Gabber Company there, waiting for two months for the official administrators to decide which direction to take. Now John Gabber has to push everyone to be able to meet his deadline in three years, when the highway is supposed to be connected to the existing highway 35 coming down from the north in the neighboring region.

67.06


Here we enter the extra large county of Ganoga, the biggest btw of the Winding River Valley. These Wetlands have been classified as federal protected lands ever since before the second worldwar. Mostly still undiscovered yet, the Ganoga Marshlands, as officially named, are still unreachable or totally wild. The highway and the Access Road have now reached it's northern limit, waiting to cross these immense parts of water that stretch for more than 3 miles (almost 5 km). From here on it will be easier to reach inside the wetlands.  Island hopping will be the only way to cross the Ganoga discharges with several bridges. The terrain is a little more rockier here than at the Willow Ponds, making it surely easier for the concrete bridgebases to be constructed. This is a very big project, the biggest one for Alex Puto and Gabber Inc yet. It will take a full year to be able to cross the Ganoga marshlands with bridges, even if more than a total of 800 labourers of all trades are on the job, six days a week. Mike Allheimer who is the terrain boss, as they call him, will have quite a time to control these 800 workers.
This project is also the most expensive one on the whole Highway 35 construction. Costs are in the multiple million of §§'s.
We will have many more detailed looks as the construction advances in the future.

67.07


67.08


Remember that an extra large and fully detailed map of the Winding River Region, (to see the areas in details), is always available at...

http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/2638/1965windingrivervalleyn.png



That was it for the Access Road subject. We will be back with the regular updates from now on and also talk about our characters. Hope you liked the 3-part visit of the Access Road. If so let's hear it, if not, you can always comment also, I am always open to any opinion.
Now. let's go and find out if the rumours about Tom Kohler are true......hm....

Fred
Have a nice week...

[danielcote]

I like all the models you're making! keep it up.

[bat]

Some wonderful updates there!
Looking forward to more...

[mrbisonm]

Thanks danielcote and bat for leaving a comment, much appreciated.

Update 68

The New Year of 1967


Monday, January 9th, 1967
                           Today on this date ... then:

1788 – Connecticut becomes the fifth state to be admitted to the United States.
1431 – Judges' investigations for the trial of Joan of Arc begin in Rouen, France, the seat of the English occupation government.
1894 – New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts.


Several hundred people were gathered at the new Sportshall of Access Center to hear what Mayor Bartlett had to announce as improvements for 1967.

68.01


««" This will be a good year," Mayor Steven Bartlett announced in the centerhall of the newly opened Gabber Park Sportshall (GPS), surrounded by journalists and the citizens of Access Center, " we have now reached a population of more than 70,000 citizens in Access and new services and improvements of existing services will be needed. But first of all I would like to thank the population of Access Center to have me re-elected last month. I can now continue my plans for the town for the next three years."
Steven Bartlett went through his sheets of paper to find his speech and continued talking mostly about what he and the council has planned for the upcoming year.
Besides a little taxraise for the freshwater supply, all taxes will stay the same for the next 3 years ,he announced, and then he made sure that everyone knew what the administration has achieved in the last year, such as building the hospital...»»

68.02


...the new sportshall on Gabber Park, which is called The Gabber Park Sportshall.

68.03


..and the enlargement of the waste site, which came to its max capacity last August.

68.04


Then he started talking about the new services in the community to come in the next 3 years. First he mentioned the watertreatment plant which is overdue since a long time and it will good for the next 25 years. It will be placed just below the Hydrodam and north of the waste disposal.

68.05


Also he talked about the airport, that will have it's opening date before the end of 1968, and then he continued with many other smaller improvements, such as creating a few small parks intown and more free parking in downtown itself to offer better access for customers of the commercial sectors.

68.06


Other services such building a second elementary school,a radio station, two new open zones for residential construction, a passenger trainstation and 3 more busstations are on his list for 1967, he said, and after a good applause from the public he continued:

««" There's more...we will be encouraging industries with ideal locations and low taxes to come move to Access Center and to supply us with good paying jobs and a stable future for the town. Coca-Cola, Thibold Shoes and Venneer Textiles from the Capitol have already accepted our invitations to install subsidiaries and are moving to Access within the next year bringing us approximately 900 new fulltime jobs.", again the public applaused loudly, but Mr Bartlett held up his hands to quiet the group and said,
"There's one more important thing I'd like to say: It has been accepted that they will come to Access Center, but they haven't yet decided exactly when. It is the Simland Energy Corporation (SEC) from Frampton that has found coal in our southern hills and they will start an open sky mine sometime in the next five years which could bring us up to 4500 jobs. Clearing the land and drying out the craterlake will start early this spring. Now, that's excellent news, right?"
Then Steven opened his arms like offering the town his final words and said: "Have a beautiful New Year now".. and he left the stage with his fellow councellors. The people applaused again loudly before they dispersed and went home. For the second time in Access' history, the event was filmed and shown Live on STV. (Simland Television)»»

««"If he continues like this, he will be wearing two ties soon,"Mike Allheimer, who was present at the meeting, told his wife beside him." I don't like this fellow anymore, he thinks that he is the one who invented Access, not like he used to be." His wife smiled at Mike and said; "You're imagining things, he is still the young charming fellow as before."
"Charming....ha.....I'm surprised you didn't marry him...." Mike said in a low voice while his wife Liza shook her head in disappointment about her husband's remark and then threw back: "I met you before him", leaving agood moment to Mike to digest her last remark and then added, "Besides, ...he's 20 years too young." which left Mike kinda assured, and both drove off to go see where the coal mine will be.»»

68.07


Now, here are 5 pictures of the actual town of Access Center. The first will show the entire town and it's 4 tiles titled from A to D.

68.08


This is tile A, the maintown and where evrything has started, Here is downtown, the industrial Park, the highway 35, the hydrodam etc. Some details have been indicated for reference.

68.09


The next tile, B, is towards Grasslake, on the eastern side of the maintown, a fairly new suburbs of Access.

68.10


Then tile C, just north east of the maintown, leading to the next tile north where the new airport will be. Here lived the first Mayor of Access Center, Paul Hubert from the beginning until 1963. He died earlier last year. His transport company was sold to one of Miss Moarsen's sons.

68.11


And last the tile D, which used to be Valmore North, and now belongs to Access, It has the highway 35, the museum, Barby's Vacation home and a lot of agriculture, which soon will end up in residential zones...etc.

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Now some random pictures of the municipality of Grasslake and the town of Access, they will be explained on the picture itself. Just some things to see how they changed. We will see more about these in later updates.

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As the Mayor stated earlier, a small passenger trainstation will be build near the downtown area first and 2 years later another one in the Valmore sector. This used to be the place where Wormwood Used Cars was, but Harry, the owner, found a better and bigger location uptown, where he is slowly installing himself at this moment. Kohler's Buslines also soon will move to a bigger place not far from here, just north of the Gabber Sportshall.
Since almost a year now, the town is little talking about creating an avenue in Access one day, which will most likely replace the Access Road one day. The only problem is that it will need the room of the rails to be able to expand and that is not going to happen for a long time I guess.

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As we have talked about ,in an earlier update, Miss Moarsen, the widow and present owner of the Moarsen Farms, and which still owns most of the centerterrain lots of the town of Access. She is now in her late sixties and is willing to sell all of her lots within the citylimits for the best offering. It wasn't long that the betting went skyhigh. Many people from outside of town have offered tremendous amounts for the 75 acres of fields and woods attached to the Moarsen Farms. People from around the area also have made an offer, such as Nethaniel Wellington, who is mostly interested to invest some money, Guy Racsan, who is mostly interested in the industrial area of the land and surprisingly Gary Gabber, the brother of John Gabber is thinking of buying ythe land to hopefully make a few extra §'s.
Now it is up to Miss Moarsen to decide which offer to accept. She will be moving to Grasslake away from her farms, where she will spend her life a little less busy and the rest of the farms she will leave in the hands of her oldest son to handle. These terrains present the last of the farmland inside the townlimits of Access. Parts of the lots will be industrial and the other residential. The other farms are still outside the town's limit for the moment, many of a large size and mostly on the other side (east) of highway 35.  The town itself did not make an offer, knowing too well that the amount offered will be beyond it's own financial capacity, but the zoning will be their responsability.

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And at last two more pictures to compare of the region in 1965 and today, on January 4th, 1967. See the changes? A full sized Giant map of 1967, as the 1965 one, will be uploaded at the end of the year.

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You can always find the 1965 giant map here:  http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/2638/1965windingrivervalleyn.png


I wanted to show you some random pictures of the town and region in this update to get back into the story before starting talking about our characters again and continue the updates regularily. In the next update we finally get some news of some of our well known citizens and also some news about the constructions that the town talked about for 1967, which is supposed to be a *Good Year*, as Mayor Bartlett announced.

Another update is coming soon. Have fun reading....

Fred