Welcome to Altonville

First of all, "Altonville" is the working title of the town I'm going to model in this project. Alton was my dad's middle name (and his dad's first name), and he was a big model railroader for a bit. We'll use it for a while and see if it sticks.

In the meantime, I'm going to use this blog (called Andrew's Attic because that's where the layout will go, at least initially, and I didn't want to be saddled with a town name that I'd want to change later) to keep track of ideas, inspirations, and plans.

Here's my latest thinking:

About the town

• The town will be modern era
• It will be a defunct mill town that's undergone a rigorous regeneration
• Architecture will be a combination of turn-of-the-century small-town retail, victorian/colonial medium-density housing, with live-work spaces in a converted mill
• The town is now exemplary sustainable community

Transport & access

• It is within commuting distance of a major city
• It will be served by a commuter rail to the City (initially a standard diesel passenger service, to be replaced with a light rail system if possible)
• A tram system will operate within the town
• New segregated bike paths will run through the town
• A rail-trail path will also provide mixed use transit to the City
• A restored canal adjacent to the mill with a mixed use towpath

Those are the basics as I'm thinking about it now. Here are some of the other specific things I want to include:

• Businesses will be largely retail, small-scale agricultural, and small service-based businesses
• Wind turbines on the hills at the edge of town (Mount Gemma and Mount Elsa)
• A pedestrian district in the center of town
• Limited car parking on the outskirts, with pedestrian, bike, & tram access to the center
• Outside the center, an office complex built into a hillside
• Many buildings will have solar panels on the roofs
• A small farm and a vineyard will lie in the outskirts
• A farmers' market will be in the center

That's about it for now!