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The Continental United States Version II

Hello everyone. It has been nearly two years since I last posted a layout on the Steam Workshop. I have started dozens of projects but most of them were left abandoned. I started this layout on January 22nd and it is by far my biggest map I’ve developed. I hope you all have as much fun with this as I had building it.

The Continental United States V2

This layout is a very loose sequel to a layout I posted in April of 2021 called “The Continental United States - East to West”. In that layout, I tried to capture some of the diverse landscapes that can be found across the United States. In this layout, I also took inspiration from dozens of regions across America. While that layout took place in the mid 20th century this layout takes place in the modern era. In the original Continental United States, I used completely fictional states and cities to build my layout. This is still the case with V2. There are four states to explore in this layout:

Planasiana- Plansiana is loosely based on Florida and Louisiana. CSX owns all of the trackage in the state. Richardson is Plansiana’s capital and includes a yard and several industries. There is also a massive tourist presense.
Richardson Station is located just down the street from numerous hotels and casinos. If you look closely, the Gulf of Mexico is less than a mile from downtown. The village of Guava is also included in this state. Guava includes a small pine lumber yard and some storage track for excess rolling stock. A diner called Fred’s is also located here. This location is actually based on a real restaurant located in Plant City, Florida.

New Vienna- New Vienna is based on several Appalachian States including Virginia and Tennessee. There is a small CSX rolling stock maintenance yard located near the New Vienna-Planasiana border. The mainline splits off of the layout for most of the state, leaving a railroad that mimics a smaller class 2- class 3 shortline. CSX and Norfolk Southern own trackage in this state. The town of Mosley includes a street running scene as well as a large papermill. Several other industries such as coal can also be found in the state.

Moskote- Moskote is based on many midwestern states such as Nebraska and eastern Texas. The town of Gribble is a representation of the typical midwestern town. Gribble also includes a large yard and a Norfolk Southern maintenance facility. Trackage in Moskote is mostly owned by BNSF and Union Pacific. To the west of Gribble you will find the town of Channins. Channins is home toa large ADM transloading facility. With it’s large train station it also serves as a gateway to the mountains of Lakomba for tourists.

Lakomba- Lakomba is based off the states of Colorado, Nevada, and Wyoming. The majority of the state represents Appaloosa Pass. This pass features a double track mainline and a large helix. The mountain pass ends in the city of Orange Sky. Orange Sky is a large industrial city but is also home to dozens of casinos and hotels. Orange Sky largely takes inspiration from Reno, Nevada. There is also a third train yard within the city. Trackage in Lakomba is largely owned by BNSF.

Several mainlines run through the four states of this layout. The uploaded version of this layout is set for trains to loop continuously throughout the layout. There are multiple ways you can set trains to traverse the layout. The staging area next to Richardson is the best place to configure the track for different running sessions.

The layout has lighting for night, skyboxes for both miniature and large mode, as well as AI compatibility. I have kept the amount of rolling stock sparse as I know many of you will want to run your own trains throughout the layout.

When I have some time I plan to write full documentation on operating the layout.

UPDATES:

8/9/23

v1.1:

- Some added details and fixes to the skybox

- Also I redid some of the AI command points

8/10/23

v1.2

- Added AI locks on mainline switches

- Miniaturized the radio table a bit more in the fire lookout

- Added some missing railroad crossings and roadside signs

V1.3

- Fixed some AI issues

-Added some new details to the fire lookout.