The Winding River Project

[canyonjumper]

Nice update Fred! It'll be cool to see where everybody lives!

Daniel, Do you mean this:

1^st class - $
2^nd class - $$
3^rd class - $$$

             -Jordan

[KoV Liberty]

No, Dan is right.

[mrbisonm]

3rd class is poor, 2nd class is middle income and 1st class is rich.

Ok, RCI $, RCI $$, and RCI $$$, thanks for explaining, but I cannot do much more for the moment. 80% of these lots you see in downtown are growables and you know as much as me, we cannot really control these. I have already bulldozed some many many times to get the right lots. I tried using the plopcheat, but then they get abandonned, so.....we just have to wait except them as they come.

There are some areas of Access that have more $$ and $ though, I just haven't showed them yet, but I will next time. These are out of the reach of the school and medical center, and probabl do not have water neither.
Economy is excellent in Access, therefore kinda normal to have $$$ RCI's, right?

Fred



EDIT: There will be another small update with Random pictures of the Winding River Region tomorrow or on Sunday.

Coming up next week, have a look at these headlines........




.......and more.

Fred

[KoV Liberty]

Nice work Fred! Good that the murderer was found.

[nedalezz]

Nice little update. Seems more factories are opening up in Access. They should leave poor old Johnny B. Badd alone!

[canyonjumper]

Great paper Fred! Waiting eagerly for tomorrow!

                -Jordan

[mrbisonm]

Update 37 (still in August 1964)


Ok, this is only a short update of Random Pictures that I took lately. Only to enjoy, nothing much of a story that comes along with them. I will be starting the *Where Do They Live?* Series later tonight, but there will be more than just two sets, probably 4 or maybe even 5, because they are more characters in my story than I thought....hm. And I will have two pics of each, one closeup (view 5) and one from a higher view (view 3).

I do not usually show many nightshots in my MD, the reason is simple, I don't really play with the nightscene on and I don't care much about it neither. But the Wellington building being the first bigger building in Access and being just beside the Barby's Biergarten, look so good in the night time that I just had to take a picture and show it.
Just above the two buildings is the Mainstreet of Access Center.

pic1


Some folks in Access have started a community garden lately and I thought this would be nice to show also. These folks really love fresh veggies, but there's a small problem that comes along with it, some kids seems to sneak in somehow during the darker hours and steal some of those private crops. The Police has already started to have a car patrol around at certain hours, but without success catching the little *Racoons*. Ah, these kids today.....

pic2


Here are some of the richer folks of Access, still living on sand or gravelroads. They have been complaining more or less about it, since taxes aren't very high because of the road, they don't really seem to push things.
Expenses in Access are rising as more and more folks, industries and commercial buissnesses arrive to town. Much more important services have to be paid first, the Mayor says, not really knowing where to turn to in the first place. There is the Educational system, followed by the Fire Protection, many other accomodaytions and of course the Townhall, that can't even hold more than 60 people.

pic3


Close to the downtown, new appartments are rising every month, the looks of the old town is changing forever. Some of the most modern appartment buildings are being constructed in the area and many citizens are happy about it, but it is frustrating for others not being able to supply the demand. These are the sixties and the "Medieval times" are over. Main street is on the left of the picture, where you see the blue truck.

pic4


As we have spoken about it earlier, the old Access "cabbage smelling" watersource is about to be landfilled to prepare for the new location for the coming Townhall and Mayor's Office. Althoug some contraints have been made because itm seems to be the last "green spot" in town, the council voted positively for the landfill. The construction will begin early next year (1965)

pic5


As Access grows, so does the traffic and the best way to see it is at later hours on weekdays. The highway is getting used mostly by trucks that bring the supplies for the Highway and bridge constructions further up north. Also Farming goods and some manufacturing goods from Valmore and West River new Industries are being shipped via trucks on highway 15.

pic6


I'll be back in a few hours (later today) with the first of the Series *Where Do They Live?*

Fred

Still looking for some characters........

[canyonjumper]

That's a great night shot, Fred! See ya tonight,


                         -Jordan

[just_a_guy]

Hey Fred! Sorry for not stopping by for a while, I blame RL. Access sure has gotten quite big and is starting to feel like a real urban center.

[KoV Liberty]

Sweet stuff there Fred! I can't wait fro the new update.

[frostwolf]

I like that community garden. Good that you've actually got a working one in your town; every town I've ever been in, the Community garden is an abandoned weed-choked lot three weeks after it opens.  Remember reading from a guy who used to set up a lot of these gardens that you can count on about one in five people to stick with it.

Fortunately, this is simcity, where we control our population and make them do healthy, community-oriented things whether they like it or not.

I also like the rail construction. That is a whole lot of workers and mess, just like real life.

[mrbisonm]

Hey thanks folks for dropping in and leaving a comment again, that is always appreciated.
just_a_guy, don't worry, I know what RL sometimes does to you and Riichirou is not forgotten yet, something important in his life is about to happen in one of the next updates.
Driftmaster07, Alex's life is about to change....maybe a girlfriend?
frostwolf, glad to see you back here, I have sent a PM for your character's details that I need. Glad you like the Community Gardens, but staying this clean all the time depends on those Access' Sims and not me.......Anything can happen. I have given my Sims all their freedom they want.


Where Do They Live?

This is the first of a series of Five that I will will show you in between regular updates. We will meet the individual characters, get to know them a little better, read their history and most of all, see where they dwell and live at this moment in the fall of 1964. I will show you 2 pictures of each personality and we will repeat this series again in about 20 years from now (around 1985) and see the changes of our story's characters and what they have achieved since today.

To start with I have chosen the deceased Andy Dubold, son of a farmer and original from the plains of Lakefield City. Born in 1909, he started logging at the age of 14 and has done so until he was hired for the first Highway project by the Gabber Corporation. He was then chosen as the Logger's foreman since 1953. As being the head of the Logger's department of Gabber Inc, he had the hard job to keep all the loggers inline with their job, directing and ordering them to do the best job for the Company. Lately he was found left for death in Valmore on a small sideroad. As the Regional Police took the responsability to solve the case, it only took them less than a month to find the Guilty. The case is still under investigation and has not yet gone through court. Andy was 55 at the time of his death. We will get to know the reason of his murder later.
Since 1962, the beginning more or less of Grasslake, and only 2 years later when John Gabber built the first dwelling in that area, Andy bought a small terrain close to a small and deeper bay. His love for the woods and the trees it is quite understandable to see him live in a woodenboard home right in the wilderness.
He was married to a woman named Freeda from Lakefield, but had no children. He was a tall skinny man of several trademarks and he built his home all by himself, which took him almost two years to do so. Unfortunetly he only lived 1 year at the Grasslake and today his home is for sale, since his wife returned to her family in Lakefield. Maybe someone we know will take possesion of this wonderful home one day.

pic7a


Neighbors in this part of Grasslake cannot see each other, while most of them own bigger lots and left most trees standing. A close look at Dubold's property reveils a nice home and a shed, a most quiet place to have spend his older days.

pic7b


Guy Racsan, the son of the Millionaire Mr Tony Racsan and owner of Racsan Jetengins together with KECO in Access Center near the airport, was born in 1940. Originally from Beecher Falls, the second biggest City in our Simland, he has a College degree in Motor Engineering. Guy is a quiet and somewhat shy personality who doesn't appear publically very often, just like his father Tony. He is still a bachelor, but starting to look for a homeworthy woman. Maybe he will find one in Access Center ,now that he dines at the Biergarten almost noon. Financed by his father at the time, he is really forcing things to get done on his own with his 24 years and that was the mainreason to co-operate with KECO (Kent Engineering Co) and open a subsidiary for airplane jet-engins. He only opened his Company's doors by the beginning of this year and already is hiring almost 400 people at the time. Just about to open the doors for another manufacture of Motors, he will be building automobile motors, especially for racing cars, that seem to have become a well appreciated sport in this country's bigger Cities.

pic8a


Guy lives in Grasslake also, on the most southern end of the lake, while his father is at the northern end. Surrounded by farms and forested beaches, Mr Racsan Jr lives here since 2 years, he had his home designed by the young Michael Arven, that we haven't heard of for awhile. (doing his architectural courses in the Frampton College) Guy was the second one who asked for a plan from the 16 year old Arven, after having seen what he designed for J.Gabber on Grasslake also.
He owns a beautiful 4 bedroom house with reddish terra cotta tiles as for the roof, something we don't see too often in this region.
Again, he also lives far enough from his neighbors not to be able to see them.
I suppose this is where he wants to raise his family one day, that is if his future wife will agree.

pic8b


The next individual is our well known survivor Robert Sweathers, the second world war airforce hero that was stranded here in the Wildriver region for many years without knowing where he actually was. Robert was born in Capitol City, south of here, in 1906 and used to be a fighter's pilot for the Simland Airforce. Shot down by a the enemy's forces near the coast of Simland in the war , he tried to go back inland and find a place to land without hitting the mountains or waters of the costland. He never made it, but was lucky enough to find the many marshes of the Winding River Region and bring his plane to a radical stop in these wetlands without hitting any trees. Then he started wandering around the region without even knowing where he was and since most of the region are wetlands, mountains and forests, his two years of searching ended when he decided to settle down somwhere and feed and live off the land surrounding him. Until he was fortunetly found by the first surveyors of the Highway 15 Project in 1961, somewhere what today is Valmore North.
Sweathers was kept for almost one year with the Military for health and interrogation and then released where he wanted to go back to, in Valmore North (also known as West River). There he stays today, has managed himself a selfsustaining farm that he grows vegetables and little fruit trees on, which he sells near the road to the public.
It is his way of free and worryless life.

pic9a


As we can see in the picture below, he has a little hut for selling his crops to the public on the side of the Access Road, not far from Highway 15. The Government offered him several acres to own, where he grows his crops. He kept the same hut that he built himself during the times where he was lost, but had the interior renovated and insulated to face the harsh winters of the West River region. One of Robert's daughters lives nearby closer to the bridge and one of his sons now lives in Access Center, which he greatly appreciates.
He is the son of a world war Colonel and well known Boxer and a mother who was a professional Opera singer.

pic9b


Going back to Grasslake, but to the northern part of it, we wll meet Mr Tony Racsan, the fifth richest man in Simland. Owning many Companies of engineering, production and manufacturing, Mr Racsan is the father of Guy Racsan, his only son and who we met earlier in this series. Tony is almost fully retired today and living far from the public on his immense private territory in the hills and at the northern end of the Grasslake. Both he and his son come and go visit each other by boat, being only a few kilometers away. Mr Racsan is now in his mid-sixties, born in Frampton in 1900.

pic10a


His fabulous huge home is located right on the point at the creeks intermission with the lake. Doing some gardening and canoeing with his wife Emma as a hobby and a weekly occupation, he fully enjoys the wilderness. A few years ago he had a big project in view, but we haven't heard from this since two years. Mr Racsan had some land cleared and many private roads cut through the dense forest.
Tony also had the Access Airport built in the earlier years of the town's existance, mostly for his own airplane but also to help out the town's access to the exterior. The airport was sold for a low price to the town in 1961. He is now financing the enlargements of the landingstrips.
Tony has about 20 people that work on his property year 'round, most of them living in the Grasslake village. He is a tall fellow with a distinct accent, being generous and very pliable.

pic10b


And here is the last of our characters for today. Johnny B. Badd, born in Reverant in 1945, a midsized town in the northwest of Simland. He lost both of his parents at the early age of 3 for some reason and was raised in a orphanage until he turned 15, when he ran away and ever since living off the streets. Having been arrested several times in Reverant in the last years for dealing illegal drugs and merchandises, he disappeared last year and re-appeared here in Access Center. The Access Police Chief has been kept a serious eye on him, trying to find out where this person came from and see his life's history. About a week ago he falsely arrested Johnny boy, but that is still a story to come in the next regular update. We don't know much about Johnny Beadley Badd yet, the 19 year old appears all of sudden and is gone the next minute like a shadow in a dark street. We know, so does the Police Chief, that he doesn't seem to be working anywhere, but still is able to pay his small 2 room appartment in Access Valmore in the lesser appreciated  residential area of Access. How he does it is still a mystery.

pic11a


Young Badd has been seen with several girls hanging out late at night at the big appartment block near his place, some say that he is prostituting these  young ladies, but again, like all smalltown talks and rumours, it isn't confirmed by anyone. He is traveling everyday's evening to downtown Access by hitchhiking and returns home late at night. No one has ever seen him in the daytime hours, as if he is a vampirelike creature.....

pic11b



Now, that was our first of the *Who lives where* series. I will post others, always mentioning 5 or 6 of our story's characters in between the regular updates here and there. Have a nice week and leave a comment, bad or good, right below. Hope you like this series to get to know our folks in the Winding River Region.

Fred

Want to become a part of my MD/CJ? I'm still looking for more characters, pm me.

[nedalezz]

Great update! I really enjoyed meeting all the characters, and it certainly brings the MD to life on a whole new level.

[KoV Liberty]

Nice job! Im looking forward to the next one for sure!

[mightygoose]

can't wait to find out how my man is getting on, sorry i have been lurking for so long fred, your work is still as fantastic as always. i will endeavour to post here more frequently in the future.

[Tomas Neto]

Very nice update again!!! 

[Battlecat]

Great update!  Love how the shorelines look.  You've got some very cool looking custom homes here!

[mrbisonm]

nedalezz, hope you like Johnny's Beginning sofar. Badd little boy and somehow knows how to stay out of trouble like a weasel.
Driftmaster07, Alex is about to have major changes in his llife...to read in the next update.
mightygoose, You haven't missed much of your character, Michael Arven, since he is still in College in Frampten, but soon.... Sorry, I can't say more.
Tomas Neto, thanks for dropping a note, glad you're still around.
Battlecat, thanks, oh geeez, I got over 800 customlots and BATs, haven't really counted them yet. I suppose I must upload a few one day.

I fogot to add the "Who Lives Where" Map, which I will update everytime I show new MD-members. Have a nice week now.

Fred



Edit: I just saw the Plugins Region name on top of the picture (I forgot to erase). I called the region when I created it *Silver River Valley*, because I wanted to start a story about a Silvermining community first, but then changed my mind and called the region *The Winding River Region* and the MD is called * The Winding River Projet*. It is about the developpment of a whole region, silver-mining included. Confused?, don't be, go back and read the above again.....
bye

[Cyclone1001]

I like it, its different. I like different.

[canyonjumper]

Cool stories there, Fred! And great map! Looking forward to the next one !

              -Jordan