This route is built on two tiles. (I started with 4x3 = 12 tiles, laying
track on the two center tiles only; I then deleted the unused tiles).
The route is located along the Italian coast near Genoa, in the spectacular
Cinque Terre region, where the terrain is very steep; however, everything
in this route is fictional - the islands don't even exist in reality, and
the names obviously don't fit.
The underwater tunnels were built much like mountain tunnels: by first
depressing the terrain to form a sea floor in sub-tiles that have water
toggled on, then carving a trench in the sea floor as I laid tunnel-covered
tracks, and then lifting the sea floor back up over the tunnels. So the sea
floor lies over those tunnels but still below the water level. Where the
tunnels dive underground, they are made to cross the water level in sub-tiles
that have water toggled off, so that the trains don't drown in a flooded tunnel.
Distribution
This route may be freely distributed and modified,
but I retain the copyright for the original idea.
Screen shots
Route map: This route can be viewed as two linked routes.
The Mainline Route runs dual-track near the coast of the mainland,
linking a Highland Station to a Beach Station, with a reversal loop at
one end and the unusual Curly Wye at the other end: it almost forms a
continuous circuit (except for the use of the wye) of about 20 km.
The single-track Island Route starts at the Highland Station and runs
through two underwater tunnels (Dolphin and Orca Tunnels) to nearby islands.
The long overwater Albatross Bridge allows returning to the mainland by a
different path (this bridge is light-weight for flexibility in earthquake
waves, as you will discover). A train can reverse on the islands either
through the Double Volcano Loop (on top of a unique volcano, reached by a
couple of Switchbacks), or by using the Fox Wye (a disguised wye).
This route totals over 20 km.
Southwest view from atop Double Volcano toward Triple Inlet:
Descending toward Salmon River on the way to entering Dolphin Tunnel:
Looking down on Pelican Island from Albatross Bridge:
Crossing the Narrows, looking West toward Oval Point:
Northeast view from atop Double Volcano toward Gull Bay (with original MSTS colors):
End of the World (it has changed slightly since this picture was taken):
