As the title suggests, between the last entry and this one, the population of the colony has skyrocketed. The reason being that the legislature of the colony decided to expand on the proclamation line set forth at the colonies inception to allow settlement further into the interior. With this, the once uninhabited, pristine Lake Mercrutio was swamped by a number of start-up towns all along it's edge.

Also, the outside world had finally looked upon the colony as no longer a potential Roanoke, but rather now a viable country. As such, many immigrants have arrived in search of ripe oppertunities held within such a pure, unstrangled landscape. The government has had quite the difficult time trying to keep up with this.

Fig 3.1 What the colony looked like at the last journal entry. Very small and frail. The capital was still setting up and most of the colony was visible from the rest of the colony.

Fig 3.2 How the colony looks now. Clearly visible here are all the little towns set up around the lake. This has been rather quite a pain for the government, as the only way to get from one city to another is via ferry, as there are no roads or rails set up. Also visible is the growth in the capital of Pandora (bottom left). The central isle has been entirely paved over, and suburbia has taken up residence on the other side of the river.

Clearly, something had to be done about those little towns, however. The legislature (the same ones who created this mess) called into session a special meeting to discuss what to do. They emerged a few hours later with the plans to connect all the little towns with rail. The pro was increased mobility, including right into the heart of the capital. The con was the expense. However, the government went ahead and green-lighted the project.

Fig 3.3 This is a map of the cities affected by the new rail line, beginning in Rosencrantz and heading east.

Fig 3.4 A before picture of eastern Rosencrantz. To the left is the pre-existing rail line. The goal here is to create a line spurring off that heading east. However, it has been requested that for the sake of convenience, that the line spur off to the north of the station. While it would be cheaper to just buy up farmland rather than carve through suburbia, it has been decided that it is more important to keep as many rail stations on one continuous line, rather than forking off. For instance, a westbound train heading for Pandora to the south could stop at downtown Rosencrantz along the way. But if the line spurred to the south of the station, then they would no longer be able to stop there, unless they went out of their way.

Fig 3.5 The after picture. And suprisingly, it was rather cheap comparatively, since the direction of the houses ensured that not even a dozen were demolished and all the businesses save one were kept intact.

Fig 3.6 Here, the line leaves the continuous part of the colony to head off into the unknown......

Fig 3.7 Further on, the line encircles the farming town of Jekyll. A stop was planned, but the town elders (the same ones who let Main St. be covered in a line of similar dinner-theaters) protested against it. Rather than anger a bunch of dinner-theater patrons with the considerate placement of a station in their city, the government decided simply to go aroung Jekyll. They can get one when they lay off the theaters and roundabouts....

Seriously, what's up with that?

Fig 3.8 Further on along the south of the lake, we come across the small commuter village of Loki. Unlike Jekyll, Loki was VERY eager for a train line to come by (as most had to commute before via a slow ferry). Also, notice how there is only one dinner-theater. Hmm.....

Fig 3.9 Between Jekyll and Loki, the line splits north to cross over to the west shore. Here the line came to an end in the largest of the lake towns, Mercrutio. For this reason, it was given a terminal rather than a station (an honor shared only with Downtown Pandora and Central Pandora).

Fig 3.10 on the other side of the lake, the line follows the curve of the lake north, where it encounters Ender. However, because of the steep terrain, the line couldn't extend further to the north from this station. Instead a spur was made just south of this picture.

For those who are following the map, you may have noticed I skipped Winston. This is because it is too far inland for the line to economically get to. A short line was proposed to connect up to it, but since it would be a one-station, small annex in a tiny village, it was decided it was too costly and inefficient.

Fig 3.11 Here, the line finally comes to a stop in the detached local of Sirius. Alas, the citizens of the furthest habited city from the capital could travel there in relatively little time.

Fig 3.12 Today, I leave you with a complete map of Pandora's rail system. A "Station" serves passengers, an "Industry" serves freight, both industrial and farming, a "Terminal" is a line end, and an "Annex" is a small station, more akin to a metro stop than a heavy-rail stop.

Keep awatch for next time, Central Pandora's metro overview!