Achemon Railway
Achemon Railway, also named Freedom Railway or SLGI Railway (after Second Life Geography Institute), is a small railway built in remembrance of the East branches of the old West Atoll Railroad.
History
Up to 2010, the North part of Achemon sim housed some railway buildings. Demonstrating an enthusiasm for rail transportation, a small station was built here, named Tiger Depot, between the stations of Achemon and Obscure. Of the original constructions, only the World Express Railway Center has survived. Plans for a railway existed even before, like the plan to double part of the line between Achemon and Tiger Depot. Another project was a railway from Achemon to Modest, but this was never constructed.
In January 2014, after the death of West Atoll Railroad, including the East branches Hera, Rustic and Cosmic Railway, some rail enthusiasts, much saddened by this loss, decided to build something new. The main objective was the construction of Second Life Geography Institute, the headquarters of the Second Life Geography team. The first project was to build the institute in Achemon. The railway would come from Tiger Depot, connect with the World Express Railway Center and continue northwards, to the Road 1 in Modest sim. Unfortunately, this never became a reality because the Linden officials refused to to sell a parcel of Abandoned Land in Modest.
The project did not stop. The only possible solution was to buy and use all of the existing abandoned land in Achemon sim. The railway was completed in late January 2014. In order to connect the railway, the traffic relay needed to be moved further to the West. Yet another major problem remained, in that the Linden officials refused to connect this new railway with the main line in any viable way. The one remaining solution was to build a temporary line, that rezzes on touch and connects Achemon Railway with the main rail for a duration of one minute.
On April 3rd 2014, Michael Linden connected Achemon Railway to Tiger Depot. Also, Tiger Depot became a station, with two lines, 4 switches, two platforms for travellers and a water tower.
Position & Statistics
The railway is in Achemon sim, Achemon Railway🖈. Its length is as follows:
- Ground railway: 150 meters
- Tunnel: 100 meters
- Bridges: 150 meters
- World Explorer: 120 meters
- Cosmic Railway: 1600 meters
Distances are shown in km. Average error is 5% or 10 meters:
Main railway connection: 0.000 House Of Freedom: 0.030 Modest Station: 0.120 Achemon Road Station: 0.260 Triple Junction: 0.410 Cosmic Railway: 2.070
Branches:
World Explorer: 0.120 Triple Junction line 3: 0.050
Total length is equal with the distance between Tiger Depot and Tuliptree.
Structure
The construction is inspired from the impressive West Atoll Railroad (or WARR) and from SJRR. The rail is made of a few distinct sectors: the connection, high declivity, the tunnel, radioactive rail, World Express Railway Center, the triple junction and the cosmic railway. Trains continue to move even higher, beyond the cosmic station.
The Connection In past, acces was done with the help of a temporary connection, rezzed on touch or on chat command. After aminute, this connection went self-destruct. It was synchronised with the switch to Tiger Depot brench line, so when the connection was activated, the switch was set to Main. The temporary connection continued the guide from brench line to House Of Freedom. Also, Tiger Depot was not what it is today. It had two lines and a single switch inside Achemon sim. In present, a real railway connection exists between Tiger Depot and House Of Freedom. More even, a couple of synchronised switches allows trains that exit Achemon Railway to enter directly en route to Bhaga.
House Of Freedom, home of homeless avatars, is a green building with the railway bilt through. This is the place where internal trains are departured along Achemon Railway and SLGI Trains are rezzed (see below).
The High Declivity is the next place to West. This is specially made to show that regular trains can go through really unconventional railways, on such a declivity that in RL can be hard to climb even by foot. It has a small station, Modest, built in remember of the previous project.
The Tunnel is the next sector. It was built in remember of the tunnel that once existed on Hera branch of the old West Atoll Railroad. It has 100 meters long and is made by green stone. The tunnel takes you to the place where Road 1 from Modest enters Achemon sim. That place is used for another station. This is also a rezz zone and has road access. It is also possible to visit the institute from here by road. Above the tunnel is the largest world map, made of 85 pieces.
Radioactive Railway is the next sector of line, built to show that trains can use any unconventional type of rail.
Triple Switch is inspired from SJRR switch in Sutherland. It is the next part of this rail. From the radioactive railway, a train will enter on the middle branch. The branch to South was intended to connect to Achemon station, if the Linden officials will ever accept a connection. The branch to North is the connection to cosmic railway. From here, if you continue forward, you enter World Explorer Railway Center. It is also the station that serves the Second Life Geography Institute.
World Express Railway Center is rebuilt from an old unfinished station and is still the oldest construction from this railway. This line is full with parked trains and not opened. It was also intended to have a connection to the main line.
Cosmic Railway is a replica of the old cosmic railway that once existed in Neumogen sim on the WARR. Any train can climb this, even if it looks very dangerous. Rail is invisible and circles around a sky-scrapper that is Second Life Geography Institute. It forms a long spiral similar to that of a DNA molecule. It climbs up to 1200 meters, a similar Altitude with that of the vanished Cosmic Railway on the WARR. Up, there is also a station, with its own rezz zone. Since SLGI Trains are convertable vehicles, nothing stops them to continue their route even beyond this.
The Planetarium is placed above the cosmic railway, with replicas of the Solar System and every planet with its satellites. Trains fly between the planets. Then, at 4000 meters high, the journey ends at the Memorial Station.
Technical Specifications
This railway is functional for any train that can travel on main railways in Heterocera. However, some precautions need to be taken: First, speed is restricted to 25% of a classic train. There are 3 reasons for this: First, the connection to Tiger Depot requires a double sim crossing and also a time for all the guides to rezz on track. Second, there are places with declivity of 60%. Third reason is that at all switches (triple switch or the switch and the connection to Tiger Depot) time is needed to make the switch work. This does not apply on the cosmic railway, that can work with the highest speed a train can reach, without problems.
The railway is green, except for World Express Railway Center, that is blue and has a strong luminosity. In some parts, it is glowing and radioacitve. The largest part of this railway is made with concrete sleepers, like any modern railway. Cosmic railway is invisible, technically is made only of guides.
Automated Transportation
Automated transportation exists from House Of Freedom to the end of Cosmic Railway. Trains are rezzed in House Of Freedom every 15 minutes They stop at Modest, at Achemon Road and at the Triple Juction. They move along the high declivity, the tunnel, the radioactive railway and cosmic railway. On all the way between House Of Freedom and Triple Junction, speed is reduced to 55% of average speed of an opensource train. On the cosmic railway, speed is set to 255%, giving to a traveler a unique feeling. This way, a complete ride takes 21 minutes. Trains are departed from House Of Freedom at every hour past 00, 15, 30 and 45 minutes. If they don't have passengers, they move fast over Modest station and make an economy of about one minute.
Work is done to insert automatic scheduled trains on the main rails and flying trains where rail access is not possible. Their schedule can be seen at SLGI Trains. Departure point for the SLGI trains is House Of Freedom🖈.
Status
Achemon Railway (or Freedom Railway) is private-owned, but it is opened for all visitors. Every rail enthusiast is free to drive a train anytime. It has 3 rezz zones (as described above) If you wish to ride your trains here, please delete them before you leave. Land has a complicated status here and it might be difficult for the system to auto-return. The constructors and owners are opened to suggestions. If a neighbor wishes to, the railway can be extended to connect any nearby parcel.
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