1932 - Humble beginnings
July 1st, 1932
Sheriff Walter Grayes took a look around in his office. It was Friday evening and he had just completed this week's administration, all stored neatly marked in folders in his desk. Grayes’s administration was one to admire for its organisation. Like everything in his office, it was all neatly sorted, so you could find any record with ease. It was almost an obsession for him to organise everything; his ash tray, his furniture, bookshelves and even the stacks of files, every square inch seemed meticulously planned, as he had aligned everything with a ruler (some people rumoured that he actually did that). In front of Grayes was an empty chair. For years, out of pure necessity, he had to do this town’s law enforcement on his own. At least, officially. The community helped him out to keep an eye on anything suspicious. And fortunately for him, this small town didn’t have much criminal activity. But still, working alone was never a long-term solution. Today he'd receive new assistance. And although it wasn’t the first time that he had received a new deputy, it still made him a bit nervous.
Grayes' police station.
Grayes was about to light up another cigarette, when the door of his office opened. A young lad stepped into the room. The contrast between the two men couldn’t hardly bigger. Grayes was a somewhat short middle-aged man, his hair and mustache all grey and dressed in the traditional uniform. The other was a tall brown-haired man in his twenties, much more casually dressed and – unlike Grayes – full of energy. But as he saw the sheriff and his office, he tried to restrain himself, hoping not to make a bad impression.
“Sheriff Grayes, I presume?”, he said.
“The one and only,” Grayes answered. “So you must be the new deputy, mister …”
“Winterton, sir. Nathan Winterton.”
“Right, mr. Winterton. Take a seat.”
Winterton sat down on the chair Grayes already set up for him. Grayes got is pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
“Care for a smoke?”
“No thank you, I don’t smoke.”
“Suit yourself then.”
Grayes lit up his cigarette and puffed out a small grey smoke cloud before continuing with his story.
“So, I’ve heard you came here all the way from Ellismere. That must’ve been quite a long journey to here.”
“It sure was, sir. I travelled all day by train. This town is so remote! I was lucky that the train even stopped here. You don’t seem to have any train station here.”
“No. We never had the money to build one. And neither the railway company nor the government wants to fund it. We are lucky they do let trains stop here, people just have to get out on the grass and dirt.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t very nice…”
“If only we had the money to get us a decent station. Maybe more people would come to visit our town. Especially new businesses.”
“What kind of businesses?”
“Well, look around! We have mountains, we have forests and some people say that there’s quite some coal and all kinds of ores in the ground. We have all kinds of riches nature has to offer. But the industrial giants don’t seem to be interested in our town. Too remote for them. Not worth the investment. And no workforce on site. Almost everyone here works again. It seems that we got over the big crash of ‘29…”
“I see. Well, this is a whole lot different than the big city I came from.”
“Get used to it, kid. Here in this community, everyone pretty much knows everyone else.”
“Any oddballs I should keep an eye on?”
“Well, there’s William Rudd from Felix Street, or Blue Bill as we call him. Don’t be surprised to see him walking around the streets drunk in the evening. The man has a serious drinking problem. Oh, and there’s Greg Bresky… yeah, he’s a special type of man…”
“What’s so special then?”
“Well, the guy is actually from Poland, he moved in here twelve years ago. Everyone calls him Greg because his real Polish name is quite hard to remember… or pronounce. Wait, let me get his file.”
Effortlessly, Grayes picked out Greg’s file from one of the stacks and opened it up at the page.
“Right, his real name is Gre- … Grze... Grzego-… err… you better read it for yourself.”
He turned the page so Winterton could read it. Winterton could clearly understand why everyone had trouble with his name as he read what it actually was: Grzegorz Brzęczyszczykiewicz.
“He has seen some pretty disturbing stuff in the Great War,” Grayes continued. “He never wanted to face the horrors of war again, so he moved here to escape it all. He’s quite a stubborn man. His privacy and his farm estate are both a big deal to him and he doesn’t like people telling him what to do. I’ve had a problem with him several times.”
“I can imagine. But I’d still like to meet everyone here, even those special characters.”
“Sure. Even people like Greg will start to grow on you when you know them long enough. You know what, you can meet most people on Sunday in church. I hope you city boys go to church at Sundays.”
“Not every week, but I’m willing to adapt here. Helps me settling in here.”
“Right. Well, that’s all you have to know right now. Come. I’ll close up this place for today. Let’s grab a beer at Eric’s… of course, if you want to.”
“Sure, sir.”
“Call me Walt.”
Bresky Estate.
_______________________________
Welcome to the first update of Telegraph Road. In the previous post, I've explained how we are going to build this city. This update is mainly a demonstration of the gameplay. For this demo, I only progressed time half a year instead of a full year. So, here's what happened in Nordale in the second half of 1932.
We had a large ressidential demand. A logical step to increase the town's income to invest in new projects is to fulfill this ressidential demand. A few dirt streets are quickly constructed in a few weeks.
Although, it quickly turned out that there was demand for more, so an extra street has been constructed. The expansion is not done yet in this new district of Nordale, called Bellton. There's plenty of room for expansion, though mr. Bresky has expressed his concerns already...
Meanwhile, the city has invested in preparations for some big projects you suggested. It was clear that a station was necessary for this town. The area has been cleared for construction, but it won't be completed until the end of 1933.
Construction has also begun on the capacity expansion of the small gas power plant. The project should be completed in a few months and will provide the city for many years to come. The current power plant is running over its usual capacity and the expansion is mainly to prevent all the machinery to wear off too quickly.
In short, this year has not been so eventful, but the new railway station could bring in a boost of activity in the coming years.
Some data about the city, as of January 1st, 1933, just in case you want to help with some decisions:
- Population: 865
-
Budget:
- Current bank balance: +$24 100 (no loans)
- Current weekly cashflow: +$700 - +$1100
-
Money reserved for new facilities:
- Expansion power plant capacity: $5000
- Railway station: $20 000
-
Demand:
- Ressidential: high
- Commercial: medium
- Industry: low
-
Water:
- Precise Demand and supply unknown
- Supply is way over capacity even with minimal facilities.
-
Electricity:
- Current Supply: 16 MW
- Planned Supply: 24 MW
- Current demand: 12-15 MW (and growing).
-
Civil Facilities:
- 1 primary school
- 1 small police station
- 1 small fire station
- 1 clinic
- 1 community church
So as you can see, these big projects take a huge chunk out of the available budget. But on the other hand there is a lot of money flowing in, so the town shouldn't worry that much about its investments. Most facilities are sufficient for the town as it is now.
That's it for today. Due to the holidays, I don't know if I have an update for you ready next week, but Telegraph Road will return. I will take note of your suggestions. Take care and see you next time!
-- Maarten (MandelSoft)
-
12
7 Comments
Recommended Comments
Sign In or register to comment...
To comment in reply, you must be a community member
Sign In
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In NowCreate an Account
Sign up to join our friendly community. It's easy!
Register a New Account