An urban geofiction project by Greg Wochlik (Johannesburg, South Africa).
I present you Leonard’s Town. A fictional town of approximately 20,000. This city is on the western side of a mountain pass. The St. Andrew range is modeled on the South American Andies. It is a compulsory over-night stop for travelers crossing the range. The pass has altitudes of 15,000ft. This pass is responsible for all vehicles sold in the country to be fitted with aircraft-grade altimeters!. The road distance of the mountain pass is 200km; the straight line is 60km to its sister city of Hell’s Gate. In places, the A3 dual-carriage way highway runs along the alignment of the old route (Г303). The road is often closed due to volcanic activity along the route. This is a strategic route between the river port of Stelmofols (5,500km from the Ætlentis Coast) to Grubenahoiþ on the Pæsific Coast. The distance between these two ports is 1,600km, with this city in the middle. Ocean going vessels travel roughly 3,600km inland to Fÿóna’s River, where they get transferred onto a smaller vessel which continues the 1,800km journey to Stelmofols. From Stelmofols its either by train, or truck (only place in the country where Australian-styled “Road Trains” are allowed) to Grubenahoiþ.
In the steam-age, this country became a major player in the cross-continental transport of goods between Caucasia (“Europe”) and the Orient. Back in the day, this was the most efficient way to transport goods between these two regions. The two ports are on the shortest possible route between the two waterways.
Besides servicing the road and the pass, the city is also involved in resource storage (food, grains, oil, livestock) and hospitality. It has a major railroad shunting yard where the East-West line crosses the North-South line. The city does not offer interchange between the two rail systems. Goods are physically moved from one train to the other. This
ensures plentiful work for the local populace. A small agricultural community has evolved on the outskirts of the town.
This is the last town that I drew by hand before moving onto the computer. It was drawn on a square exercise book paper, with the blocks being 7mm square. 5 divisions (35mm) is 600m. That is the closest I could come to a 1:20,000 map. The additional map to the south (West is ‘up’) was drawn independently, carefully transferring the position and angles between the maps. The text is in Trèmb: Predominantly Greek but with Latin and cyrillic
characters.
Map of Leonard’s Town (hand-drawn)
