Winchester

[dfnva 34]

Well, despite being very busy and the problems with Simtropolis, it's been quite a while since I've updated so I'll share, finally, some pics from the town of Scarborough and a preview of a new region I've begun working on. 

Slowly, but surely, I will restore Winchester and the Massopax Piedmont to its original luster. Half of the pages are back to their intended glory at this point.

But first, Replies:

DJF3591: Thanks! Glad you like the perspective of the CJ.

Bruce (Schulmanator): I remember back when I was in high school (in the late '90s), gas was less than $1. 

Edmonton_Stinks: Glad you like the suburban areas. There are a lot of signals through that stretch of US-84. One can only hope they're timed well.

Kyle (KY72x): Thanks. I like the shopping centers and retail I've downloaded off the Stex, but I like adding parking spaces and outparcels to make them unique. Years earlier, US-84 was only two-lanes, one can only imagine the long waits for trains then. Then again, sprawl wasn't as much of a problem, either.

TexanPride786: Thanks. If you look up Simgoober on the STEX, you should be able to find the shopping center I used and many more. It's not called "Hartford Crossing" on the STEX, I just made up that name.

KJ3400: I've never driven on either of those suburban Baltimore roads, but I can imagine, just like VA-7, US-50, and US-1 coming out of DC into VA.

And now...

Last time we turned off of US-84 onto SR-630/Scarborough Rd to checkout downtown Scarborough. Here's the view, now going north along SR-630.

Here is the major intersection of downtown Scarborough. SR-884/Old Fortlick Rd is the original alignment of US-84. Downtown isn't too big but has some quaint restaurants as well as craft and antique shops. We will turn right here onto SR-884.

The signal at the intersection depicted above.

Driving east out of downtown, we pass some residential areas and see where Old Fortlick Rd was re-routed around the railroad tracks to re-connect with US-84 as opposed to crossing them like was originally done.

To the northeast of downtown is some high tech industry as long as more windmills like we've seen a lot of as part of Massopax's green initiative.

Further east is where Old Fortlick Rd comes to an end. We'll turn left to go east on US-84.

Here's the signal at the terminus.

After crossing the railroad tracks, US-84 narrows to two lanes as we prepare to enter rural areas which we shall see next time.

A mileage sign of coming attractions.

Lastly, a preview of the new region I've been terraforming. The region will be featured in a new CJ called Tidewater, though it probably won't be ready for showing until mid-late summer at the earliest. But here you can see where the major cities of Easton (Massopax's largest city) and Outer Banks will be. Both cities sit at the mouth of the Massopax River as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Not to worry if you're a big fan of Winchester and the Massopax Piedmont. I plan to regularly update throughout the summer.

Next time, we'll continue east into rural areas on US-84.

Thanks for visiting,

Dan

[Schulmanator 5,787]

I like the new region. It looks promising. There's lots of great town names in the Outer Banks too.

[Equilibria 16]

So... you've had your fun with Roanoke and now it's time for Norfolk, am I right?

Nice update, of course.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Nice new region! It's going to be interesting to see you create a metropolis.

[djf3591 1]

Quinnipiac... that's a college I'm looking to go to in Connecticut, which is named after a near by river. Was that an influence?

[SCDawg 0]

Very Nice! I really like how you include the old routings of some routes, it just adds a certain realism to any game. I am really looking forward to the new region, although I'm glad Winchester isn't going anywhere for the time being.

Keep It Up!

Travis

[dfnva 34]

Bruce (Schulmanator): Thanks. It's always fun to try to think of names for towns, roads, and places, I probably will throw in a few RL ones.

Equilibria: Yeah, exactly. Yet, like my other CJ's, it won't be a recreation, but my interpretation of an analogous area. 

Edmonton_Stinks: Thanks. It will be interesting for me too because most of the regions I've built have been medium-sized cities, so this will be the largest city I've made thus far.

DJF3591: I heard the name Quinnipiac at one point, I forget when, and it sounded like a cool name for a town, possibly based on a Native American name. 

Travis (SCDawg): Thanks. It's fun to create a town and then re-route the major road around the town and find a way to reconnect the original alignment. 

Now completely in rural area, we continue east on US-84/Fortlick Rd. 

A typical rural signpost with the route number and street name for the intersection above with SR-807/Mulberry Ridge Rd.

Continuing on US-84 Eastward.

Here's a somewhat older signpost for an upcoming intersection with SR-671.

Here is the intersection with SR-671. While we will visit Adventure World in an upcoming update, we will continue straight toward Quinnipiac.

A signpost at the intersection with route shields, drawn in a 3-d perspective.

Continuing on, we pass by more farms.

We cross the Quinnipiac Creek and enter the town of Quinnipiac.

A sign for the upcoming major intersection in downtown Quinnipiac:

Here is a view of downtown Quinnipiac. Central to the town is the town square with Quinnipiac Baptist Church. We will turn left to stay on US-84. MP-283 goes southeast toward a small town called Callahan. 

At the JCT of US-84 and MP-283 is this beacon. 

As we head eastward out of town, we pass by the Quinnipiac Colonial Bed and Breakfast which, despite its name, was not built until the 1800's. 

Finally, I leave you with two zoomed out pics of areas we visited today.

We still have a few more updates of driving remaining as we are fastly approaching the eastern end of the region. 

Hope you enjoyed the update.

Dan

Bruce (Schulmanator): Thanks. It's always fun to try to think of names for towns, roads, and places, I probably will throw in a few RL ones.

Equilibria: Yeah, exactly. Yet, like my other CJ's, it won't be a recreation, but my interpretation of an analogous area. 

Edmonton_Stinks: Thanks. It will be interesting for me too because most of the regions I've built have been medium-sized cities, so this will be the largest city I've made thus far.

DJF3591: I heard the name Quinnipiac at one point, I forget when, and it sounded like a cool name for a town, possibly based on a Native American name. 

Travis (SCDawg): Thanks. It's fun to create a town and then re-route the major road around the town and find a way to reconnect the original alignment. 

Now completely in rural area, we continue east on US-84/Fortlick Rd. 

A typical rural signpost with the route number and street name for the intersection above with SR-807/Mulberry Ridge Rd.

Continuing on US-84 Eastward.

Here's a somewhat older signpost for an upcoming intersection with SR-671.

Here is the intersection with SR-671. While we will visit Adventure World in an upcoming update, we will continue straight toward Quinnipiac.

A signpost at the intersection with route shields, drawn in a 3-d perspective.

Continuing on, we pass by more farms.

We cross the Quinnipiac Creek and enter the town of Quinnipiac.

A sign for the upcoming major intersection in downtown Quinnipiac:

Here is a view of downtown Quinnipiac. Central to the town is the town square with Quinnipiac Baptist Church. We will turn left to stay on US-84. MP-283 goes southeast toward a small town called Callahan. 

At the JCT of US-84 and MP-283 is this beacon. 

As we head eastward out of town, we pass by the Quinnipiac Colonial Bed and Breakfast which, despite its name, was not built until the 1800's. 

Finally, I leave you with two zoomed out pics of areas we visited today.

We still have a few more updates of driving remaining as we are fastly approaching the eastern end of the region. 

Hope you enjoyed the update.

Dan

[edmonton_stinks 5]

Nice! I like the signal at Fortlick Road and Market Street. I don't think we've seen many of those in the CJ, they remind me of driving through cottage country.

[dfnva 34]

As contrived or stupid as it may look I'm bumping my CJ because I only got one response to last weekend's update, so here's a second chance to check it out!

I don't think it was a bad update, but maybe it was with the lack of responses. Curious to hear suggestions for improvements as I'm working on rural areas.

-Dan

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Somehow I missed your update. I think it is great. I still think I need to subcontract my signage with you -- I am pre-nominating you for best roadgeekery Trixie. I am ready for a trip to the countryside.

[Benedict 3,119]

Sometimes I have no responses to my updates... does it mean they're bad updates? I don't know... Yours certainly aren't bad! Lots going on in Quinnipiac, that's for sure.

[Haljackey 17,328]

Wow.... How are you able to come up with the names for all these roads? I could maybe think of 5 and then be totally stumped after that.

Nice update! Sorry I missed it, I haven't been here in a bit.

Best,

-Haljackey

[djf3591 1]

According to the Quinnipiac University website (you may have heard it on the news. The school has a polling institute that does a lot of political surveys):

"Quinnipiac," pronounced (KWIN-uh-pe-ack), is an altered version of a Native American word. Theories differ on the word's exact meaning. Some sources, such as "The Quinnipiack Indians and Their Reservation," written in 1900, assert that the name Quinni-pe-auke means "long-water land or country" and that Quinnipiack means "people from the long-water land."

Later sources claim the word Quinnipiac apparently derives from quinnuppin-uk, defined as "a turning point" or "to make a change in the direction of travel."

[dfnva 34]

Edmonton_Stinks: Thanks, one definitely would see a lot of simple flashing beacons in small rural towns or intersections in rural areas.

Bruce (Schulmanator): Thanks! Plenty more signs to come as you'll see in this update.

Benedict: Thanks. As for a lot going on in Quinnipiac, I'm not sure if it's got as much going on as the small towns in the Ellis Valley, then again you never know. 

Haljackey: Thanks! I actually sometimes mistakenly use names twice and have to change them. The hard part is keeping track crossing city tiles, yet it gives me a sense of organization.

DJF3591: I'll bet that I heard Quinnipiac on the news with the presidential primary polls as I watch a lot of news (MSNBC is my favorite channel as silly as that sounds lol). Thanks for the information on the origins of the word Quinnipiac. 

And now...(trumpets blaring...)

LOL, It's 12:55am, so I couldn't think of a better title. Maybe I should go for an untitled update instead.

So here we are, continuing our travels east along US-84 in eastern Piedmont County's rural areas. Now that school is over for the summer, I've been busy downloading and I've been beginning some work with ploppable water.

We see a sign for the next intersection ahead. 

Here is the SR-672 intersection. Recently the Massopax DOT has been working on straightening parts of SR 672 as well as smoothing some of the curves as is evidenced with some use of Fractional angle roads. 

To save on multiple posts for signs, you see here a stop sign, a SR-672 little white sign, and a US-84 shield all on the same wooden post. If one drives through western Virginia, one post loaded with signage for multiple directions is not uncommon.

Continuing east...

We're getting closer to the easten borders of Piedmont County...

...and an interchange with I-34.

And thus, US-84 merges onto I-34 to head out of Piedmont County into Wattsylvania County, which is presumably a fitting end for this drive we began back in March.

Some explanation of this interchange: Basil Mill Rd (SR 677) originally ended here at US-84 at a T-intersection, but it was cut through by I-34 back in the 1970s, making it necessary to make portions discontinuous and use F-routes (Frontage roads).

Signage at the fork in the road.

However, contrary to expectations, we're going to backtrack west on I-34 so we can go... to... ADVENTURE WORLD!!

Sadly, we're going to wait until the near future to continue our drive to Adventure World.

Instead, as a consolation, I leave you with two custom interchanges I've been working on in my upcoming Tidewater CJ.

Bonus points to anyone who can identify the specific intersections in Northern VA (DC Suburbs) that these are based on!

Thanks for visiting!

-Dan

[Schulmanator 5,787]

That's a cool intersection you have for us. I don't know Northern VA well enough to guess on the intersection. But, my mom did sign the permission slip for me to go on the field trip to Adventure World. So, when do we leave??

[jacqulina 162]

excellent transport system i love the countryside and farms my friend

[penguin007 27]

Some awesome interchanges there and I cant wait to see some more development

Will

[edmonton_stinks 5]

...I have absolutely no idea. I guess it's because I've never been to Northern Virginia.

Great rural areas, and I can't wait for Adventure World!

[southsider 0]

The bottom interchange is where Fairfax County Parkway crosses over Lee Highway(US29), at Fair Lakes. The top interchange looks like 66 at Chain Bridge Road(VA 123) near Oakton.

[Equilibria 16]

You always seem to update right before the site goes down, so I sometimes miss your posts. Sorry, Dan...

Nice update, and I like the RHW work in there. Perhaps if you softened those slopes before placing the road, the whole thing might be a little cleaner.

I criticize because I care.

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Dan, I finally remembered to take a picture of the traffic light I referenced a while ago. It seems to be unique (from my experience, anyway) to North Carolina. I call it the "angry mosquito light" because it has two beady red eyes staring at you.

Thought I would share it with you. If you ever have an intersection of Massopax with an NC road, you can always use one of these mosquitos!

[dfnva 34]

Bruce (Schulmanator)

Thanks, glad you like the interchanges. We're off en route to Adventure World though we will put off the suspense, once more, until the next update which will completely focus on the thrills and fun of Adventure World. That's a cool looking stoplight, there's one like that at the interchange of the Fairfax County Pkwy and US-29 in Fairfax, VA. Now that you mention it, it sorta does look like a mosquito. Is it placed at an intersection where people are running red lights a lot?

Jacqulina

Thanks! I'm slowly working on downloading more trees and ploppable water to make my rural areas look even better, but glad you liked how they looked.

Will (Penguin007)

Thanks, happy you liked the interchanges. It will take a while for me to finish the development around them as I'm basically filling out a rudimentary transportation system in the Tidewater region before I build it up. 

Edmonton_Stinks

Thanks and hope you enjoy Adventure World when we get there!

Southsider

Wow, you get an honorable mention for your knowledge of Northern VA interchanges. Sadly, both answers are incorrect. Ironically the first interchange looks sort of like the JCT of the Fairfax County Pkwy and US-29 (a volleyball interchange), though it's based on another interchange as it doesn't have the added complexity of West Ox Rd in there.

Equilibria

I always value your suggestions, so thanks. I'm working more on slopes especially where roads/highways cross one another, but now that you say it, I see a place where the US-84 RHW is a bit bumpy lol. Unfortunately, you'll see one today where I over measured for a slope, though, we'll blame it on it being an old bridge that the Massopax DOT needs to fix.

And now...

Sadly, we will not yet visit Adventure World, but since the mantra of this CJ is "Getting there is half the fun" as opposed to "Are We There Yet", we must complete our transportational quest to arrive there. Alas, we find ourselves going west on I-34.

A whole slew of signs greets us upon mergin onto I-34.

Yeehaw... Wild and wonderful speed limit like in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.

And in honor of Packersfan:

As is often the case when interstate highways were eventually built, existing roads are often bisected or even made discontinuous as seen here.

Here's an old button-copy sign for the upcoming exit with SR 671 / Mason Rd. Amazing that this relic is still up. Notice the number 48 pasted on the exit tab dating back to when Massopax changed from sequential exits to rather exits based on mileage as Virginia did back around 1990 or so and Pennsylvania recently did a couple years ago.

These culverts are cool. 

A fairly old big blue sign, but in better shape, shows us the services at this exit. Some of the older logos for Best Western and Days Inn, which have been changed in recent years, definitely age the sign though. And, woohoo! Adventure World is at this exit!!

Equilibria, I pray that you won't hurt your car's suspension on this bumpy bridge. These remind me of some on a lesser-traveled portion of I-74 in Illinois between Peoria and Moline that were in bad shape in the mid-1990s.

And here's Exit 48 in all it's glory. We'll exit here to go to Adventure World.

And a closer up pic as we turn right from the ramp onto SR 671.

The sign at the end of the ramp:

And any more takers on what real-life Northern Virginia interchanges these are based on? I'll reveal the answer + provide satellite photos next time. Hint: They're both inside the beltway.

And that's it for now. Next time, I promise, we'll go on a grand tour of Adventure World to close off this east-west drive through the Massopax Piedmont!

Thanks for visiting!

-Dan

[packersfan 666]

Love the signs!!! Thanks for the mileage marker...we have green markers in Wisconsin every mile, but they just have MILE and then the mile, no highway shield...in some areas they have put up signs every 5th or 10th of a mile with the shields and fractional mileage except they are blue...I have seen fractional mileage signs that are green but have no shield...

To my inspiration, keep up the good work!!! I can't wait to do some of my own driving tours in my journal...

[jacqulina 162]

i think your doing great here with rural my friend trees are looking great too.keep up the great work.

[penguin007 27]

Nice update the winding RHW looks excellent and is that FAR I can spy? Keep up the great work

Will

[Schulmanator 5,787]

Great new signs! Love the services sign- spot-on! And I am ready to have some fun at Adventure World!

As for the mosquito, it seems to show up all over - rural, suburbam, urban - across the state. I have noticed that some intersections with them get re-done and the mosquitos are replaced with the standard left turn lights. Perhaps there's a mosquito light eradication program in NC... But, it is weird I never see them anywhere else.

[Mother of Invention 23]

Nice CJ you've got going

[kj3400 178]

Wow it's really been a while since I've visited this CJ. So we're going to Adventure World? That's great, always nice to take a break after traveling so far. Can't wait for TIdewater.

[edmonton_stinks 5]

More great roads, and I still have no idea on those interchanges. Tidewater looks like it's going to be great!

[SCDawg 0]

Hey Dan, it's been a while since I stopped in here, but nothing has changed, every update I missed is excellent! Can't wait for Adventure World, and Tidewater.

Keep It Up!

Travis