Three Rivers Region

[Darmok]

To David
Hey David, you bestowed me a great honor with this first quad....
Give me some time to reorganize my SC4 plugin (I must admit to be out of touch with the game since nov or dec 2009...)
so some work and downloads are in order I guess
If I have any problems I'll email you
Now where is the game CD?



Ryan, great work with the signs.
I'll have to remove the rust on my SC4 skills.... didn't play for several months... blame it on my guitar I guess..
Now I'll have to dig in.
Thanks again Ryan


EDIT:  Whew, John- I was getting worried...  Yep!  We're there. -DE

[dedgren]

Back to another busy week.

I'll put Joan's (Jmouse) quad topo and the backstory up tonight, but here's the third quad teaser for you to guess.



Later.


David

588809

[JoeST]

I believe Lone Peak is in Rayden's quad?

*sneaks out again*

Joe

[dedgren]

As I work on a couple of last-minute things today to get quads out the door, here's another piece of the backstory, this time about 3RR's military and police forces.  It was originally posted [linkie] on (US) Veteran's Day, November 11, 2007, in honor of our great friends Jeff (kalanc69), meinhosen and all the other 3RR Regulars^* out there who serve their country, wherever that might be, in the armed forces.

Military and Police Forces

Three Rivers Region's military and regional police forces are under the Department of Regional Protection ("3RRDRP").  The 3RRDRP is the most recently created executive agency of the region's government, combining the formerly independent branch 3RR Marine Assault Force with the 3RR Trooper Department.  The command structure has been unified and civilianized down through the equivalent of brigade level.  Here, the troopers, which provide regional land-based law enforcement and related security and investigative services, serve under the 1^st and 2^nd Trooper Battalions, each commanded by a Colonel.  The marines serve under the 1^st (Hotham Inlet), 2^nd (Grand Lake and River), 3^rd (Barrett Lake and Wind River), and 4^th (Cold Lake and River) Battalions, notionally of the 297^th Regiment, and these units are commanded by Captains.  These ranks, for international protocol purposes, are considered the equivalent of a U.S. Lieutenant Colonel or Canadian Commander.  The Director of the 3RRDRP is considered equivalent to a U.S. and Canadian Lieutenant ("two-star") General.

   

Historical Background.  As has been noted elsewhere, Three Rivers Region has a strong tradition of non-involvement in the affairs of other nations- a stance evidenced by the national motto, "Vos mens vestri res quod nos mos mens nostrum res," which loosely translates as, "You mind your business and we'll mind ours."  The region has never committed troops to a conflict outside its borders, although it does have a long history of close cooperation with the armed forces of both the United States and Canada.  The region has been a member since the 1950s of the North American Air Defense Command ("NORAD") and had U.S. Nike-Hercules air defense missiles stationed at the tip of Iron Hook Cape into the 1970s.



It is also one of only two North American sources of the key national defense mineral upsidasium [linkie], and rumors linger of Top Secret projects that are still ongoing.



In pre-independence days, the doughty citizens of Pineshore, who perceived that any attack on the fledgling region would most likely come from the road south out towards Duluth, built the earthen works of Fort Defiance to guard a critical ford over a creek just a short ways from the current city center of Richwood.



The earth berms were topped with wooden palisades, which are long gone.



The area is today preserved in a Richwood city park.  A few of the original cannons remain.



There is no record that the fort or its cannons were ever used in connection with any hostilities, and they were likely abandoned by the 1850s.

As Pineshore grew quickly around the time the Duluth, Winnipeg & Western tracks reached the city, an area just north of the mouth of Ship Creek was being developed as an arsenal.



The forces that quickly became known as the 3RR Marines were based here under their first commander, Captain J. Kalanc.  From the Grand River Arsenal and later local armories, Kalanc and his men could deploy incredibly quickly in their 28 foot/8.5 meter "assault canoes," and could arrive in the furthest reaches of the region usually by the next day.  Smaller canoes allowed force projection up even the smallest of 3RR's streams.



After freeze-up, the canoes were replaced with snowshoes and sledges.  The average marine was a man to be reckoned with.  An early motto of the 3RR Marines was "Canoes at the ready, Sir!"  For some unknown reason by the late 1800s this was replaced by the official motto "Aqua Velva!"



These words, of course, were the inspiration for the eponymously-named popular after shave product [linkie] of the 1900s.

The Grand River Arsenal, shown here in a postcard dating from about 1890,



produced a substantial number of cannons, some heavy but most light, for use in fixed regional defense works.  One of the most significant of these was the redoubt on North Head, which is located on High Island at the mouth of the Grand River.



This great sandstone bluff commands a sweeping view of the West Channel and the City of Pineshore, which was not lost on the region's military planners.  Batteries of howitzer cannon were emplaced on the top of the cliffs, ready to direct devastating fire down on any attacking force.



To guard against attack on the batteries from the south across the island, abatis and gun positions were established.



Like Fort Defiance, these weapons were never called upon.  By 1910, the High Island batteries were all but forgotten.  The world was headed to war far away, and Three Rivers Region, while quietly supporting the efforts of the allies, enjoyed continued peace at home.  The Grand River Arsenal closed in 1919 and the buildings on it were largely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1934.  The land remained in public hands, lying vacant until the 1970s when construction began on the government center and office complex that now occupies most of it.

The 3RR Marines command moved to Camp Meinhosen, which was a former training area lying to the northwest of the site of the arsenal on the north shore of Lake Evendim.  A handsome headquarters building was constructed along with a large parade ground.





Many relics from the Grand River Arsenal found their way there as well.



The days of the "assault canoe" seemed long forgotten.  Most of Camp Meinhosen was converted over to Three Rivers Region University after World War II, and the marines by the 1980s seemed fated to become an anachronism- a relic of another time.  Enlistments dwindled, and morale suffered greatly.

The Three Rivers Region Troopers, by contrast, had grown by that time from a small force established in 1937 to patrol the region's rural highways into a full-service police agency that combined the criminal investigative function of agencies such as the U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the special police services of the United States Marshals, and a host of other law enforcement activities such as highway and border patrol.  The multitude of missions meant that each trooper was often significantly overworked and had to deal with many conflicting priorities.  The end result was much the same as the situation suffered by the marines: low morale and job dissatisfaction.

Current Status.  In 1987, the marines and the troopers were reorganized together along current lines.  A number of what had previously been 3RR Trooper missions were transferred to the marines and a single command structure down to battalion level was implemented.  The elimination of redundant functions and organizational structure provided substantial cost savings, which the newly created Department of Regional Protection was permitted to use for increased training, pay and benefits.  As of 2007, department operations were organized as follows.

[tabular type=1]
[row] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [/row]
[row] [head colspan=3]

Department of Regional Protection

[/head] [/row]
[row] [head]

3RR Marines

[/head] [head]

Joint

[/head] [head]

3RR Troopers

[/head] [/row]

[row] [data]

Lake and Waterway Patrol
Water Safety
Port Security
Border Patrol
Counterterrorism

[/data] [data]

Command and Control
Administrative Services
3RR Bureau of Investigation
Air Operations
Civil Defense
Drug Interdiction
Search and Rescue
Logistical Support
Training
Maintenance

[/data] [data]

Rural Law Enforcement
Highway Patrol
Motor Vehicle Safety
Marshal Service

[/data] [/row]
[/tabular]

As noted, the 3RR Troopers are organized into two battalions.  The 1^st Battalion is responsible for the area west and south of the Cold River and west of the Grand River and Hotham Inlet and is headquartered at Falls City.  The 2^nd Battalion is responsible for the area north and east of the Cold River and Hotham Inlet and east of Grand River, and including Pratt and High Islands.  It is headquartered at East Pineshore.



Individual Trooper units are called posts, and they are located as follows.

[tabular type=1]
[row] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [/row]
[row] [head colspan=2]

3RR Troopers

[/head] [/row]
[row] [head]

1st Battalion

[/head] [head]

2nd Battalion

[/head] [/row]

[row] [data]

Falls City (HQ)
Baudette
Boissevain
Ellsworth
Fox Rapids
Montgomery
Whitehall

[/data] [data]

East Pineshore (HQ)
Ellisport
Rushford
Truman
Warren
Willoughby
Wolf Lake
Wood Ridge

[/data] [/row]
[/tabular]

The 3RR Marines are organized into four battalions.  The 1/297^th Battalion's area of operations is responsible for Hotham Inlet and its tributary rivers and streams less the Grand and Wind Rivers, and the battalion headquarters is at East Pineshore.  The 2/297^th Battalion's area of operations is Grand Lake and Grand River and its tributaries less the Cold River, and its headquarters is at Aurora.  The 3/297^th Battalion's area of operations is Cold Lake and Cold River and its tributaries, and its headquarters is at Brooks Ferry.  The 4/297^th Battalion's area of operations is Wind Lake and Wind River and its tributaries, and its headquarters is at Highland.



Marine battalions are made up of one or more companies, and they are based at installations called armories as follows.

[tabular type=1]
[row] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [head] [/head] [/row]
[row] [head colspan=4]

3RR Marines

[/head] [/row]
[row] [head]

1/297^th

[/head] [head]

2/297^th

[/head] [head]

3/297^th

[/head] [head]

4/297^th

[/head] [/row]

[row] [data]

East Pineshore (HQ)
Portis (A Co)
Independence (B Co)
Des Plaines (C Co)
Avon (D Co)

[/data] [data]

Aurora (HQ and A Co)
Grand Valley (B Co)
Loon Lake (C Co)
Weaver (D Co)

[/data] [data]

Brooks Ferry (HQ and A Co)
Meriden (B Co)
Marchand (C Co)
Ottawa (D Co)

[/data] [data]

Highland (HQ and A Co)
Boissevain (B Co)
Harwell (C Co)

[/data] [/row]
[/tabular]

The armories range from basic and utilitarian, as at Ottawa,



to substantial and historic.  This is the armory at Aurora.



Again, a far cry from the days of the assault canoe.



As a final note, in 2008 the Department of Regional Protection will move its offices and staff from Camp Meinhosen to a new regional training center under construction just outside of Haypoint.



"Son of Meinhosen," as the area and associated facility is currently informally referred to, is expected to be dedicated next summer.

I'll update that, of course.  The DRP facility outside Haypoint was completed and occupied on schedule, and we'll get a closer look at it when we visit that quad.

More later this evening.  I hope everyone has had a nice Easter Sunday.


David

^*  A 3RR Regular, of course, is anyone who has ever posted here, or over at 3RR-ST or on the 3RR Blog at least once.

590976

[mightygoose]

awesome stuff.

[magee_b]

*brushing off the dust on my SC4D account*
Great stuff David! Just spent the last hour going through back pages and getting caught back up. Looks like I picked a great time to stop by! 
Your beer labels that are back a page remind me a bit of a micro-brewery out here in New Brunswick - http://www.picaroons.ca/yippee.asp Picaroons makes a great beer and a great label, but those 3RR brands have me itching to try a Grand River Pale Ale sometime

[CabraBuitre]

Ah, the backstory... what memories!

[dedgren]

So, here's Joan's (Jmouse) quad.



Our great friend has a mainly undeveloped corner of 3RR with a nice regional park and a mysterious abandoned military site.  Here's the topo.



We've seen a few pics over the years.  There's The Haystack.

[tabular][row][data]

• Haystack, The (Hill - NE Quad Pine Cone Twp - lat. 48° 46' 25" N / lon. 94° 46' 57" W - elev. 1,207 ft/368 m amsl. Map key 1-H)  The Haystack is a isolated granite hill just over 150 feet/46 meters tall located on the south shoreline of Diddicks Bay.  The hill was heavily forested until what locals called the "Big Burn" in 2008, which left little but small brush on its entire area.  The top is now difficult to reach because of the exposed rock surface.  It is said to be the premier place to find garnets in the region.

[/data][/row][/tabular]

The Haystack in 1937.



A pic taken from the west the year before the Big Burn.



As it appears today.



Haystack Creek.

[tabular][row][data]

• Haystack Creek (Stream - NE Quad Pine Cone Twp - lat. 48° 46' 19" N / lon. 94° 46' 53" W (mouth) Map key 8-G)  Haystack Creek is a small, swift-running stream about four-tenths of a mile/three-quarters of a kilometer in length.  It rises from springs at the bottom of a small pond about one-half mile/.8 kilometers northwest of the City of Ellisport close to the tip of Iron Hook Cape.  It flows north into Diddicks Bay just southeast of the base of The Haystack (see entry).  There is a short stretch of rapids just upstream of the creek's mouth.

[/data][/row][/tabular]



Nike Site Point.

[tabular][row][data]

• Nike Site Point (Point - SE Quad Pine Cone Twp - lat. 48° 46' 37" N / lon. 94° 47' 50" W (tip) Map key 8-G.)  Nike Site Point (formerly Myer's Point) is the very end of Iron Hook Cape, and is a 1,500 foot/450 meter long ridge of eroded limestone and granite that extends along an axis a few degrees west of north into the waters of the Hotham Inlet.  To the north of the point lies the long curving coast of Diddick's Bay.  The northernmost of the Pine Cone Islands are off to the west across a channel that is about a quarter mile/.4 km wide.  The islands and the point are geologically similar structures, and mark a fault that terminates there at its north end and extends southeastwards about 40 miles/65 kilometers into Minnesota.  Despite this commonality, however, Nike Site Point is much higher in elevation than the islands, rising at its greatest extent to about 403 feet/123 meters above the waters on either side at 1,459 feet/445 meters above mean sea level.  It was here that, pursuant to 3RR's membership with Canada and the United States in NORAD, the North American Air Defense system developed at the height of the Cold War, the region allowed the U.S. Army to construct and man a Nike-Hercules missile battery from 1957 to 1972.  The missiles were stored in a bunker blasted out of solid rock on the Diddick's Bay side, and the old concrete barracks, battery control building, and HIPAR radar platform can be seen today, although these structures, which have now been abandoned for over three decades, are quickly crumbling away.  As noted, the original name of Nike Site Point was Myer's Point, but the novelty of having a missile base located there resulted in the locals and most others in 3RR simply referring to it by what became, in an act of the Assembly the year following the site's decommissioning, its official name.  The point and about 20 acres adjacent to it at the end of the cape are ostensibly closed to the public, but the chain link fence built for this purpose is not in much better shape than the rest of the facility.  It has, accordingly, become a popular place for non-traditional weddings and other events, with the 3RR Troopers from the post in Des Plaines at least looking the other way, and often making it onto the guest list.  It is thought, however, that the promoters of an Eagles reunification tour concert were pushing things a bit too far by seeking to hold a concert at the site in the summer of 2008.

[/data][/row][/tabular]



...posting as I go at 10:25 a.m. AST on the 5th- check back if you're seeing this message.

591153

[Jmouse]

It's beautiful, David! What a pleasure it will be to finally work on it. Will there be a time limit on finishing up? I work rather slowly - it's the curse all perfectionists are afflicted with!

Later...
Joan

[Unkles27]

So much fun seeing everything starting to come together!

[dedgren]

Big earthquake a minute ago...

UPDATE:  Yep.  Almost a 5 mag, pretty much right under my house.




David

593206

[JoeST]

I hope you're all aright after that earthquake David. Its great to see everything finally taking off, wouldnt want it to be hampered by mere plate tectonics :S

Joe

[ldvger]

Whole lotta shakin' goin' on!  When I read your post David, it reminded me that I had a dream about an earthquake while I was sleeping this morning (Wednesday).  I don't know what time it was when I was dreaming this, but I'm pretty sure it was after 7 am and before 9 am, when I got up.

I seem to be semi tuned in to (relatively) nearby earthquake activity.  Remember the World Series earthquake in San Francisco back in, what was it, 1989?  I was living in Mt. Vernon, WA at the time, about 60 miles north of Seattle and at the time of the SF quake had been enjoying an afternoon snooze.  I woke up very abruptly with a strong sense that something was just not quite right with the world.  I got out of bed and looked out my windows to see if I could see anything obvious...a fire, a storm, a car wreck.  But sleepy little Mt. Vernon was just basking in it's usual way, nothing special going on, no neighbors making noise.  But the feeling persisted, so I turned on the radio and started spinning the dial looking for news.  All I got was talk and music, so I finally turned on the TV.  I had the channel on whatever one was broadcasting the World Series and that's how I learned there had just been a major quake in SF...the game announcers were still in the stands and on the air talking about it.  And I knew immediately that the quake was what woke me up, 1000 miles distant. 

Pretty wierd, huh?

Hope you folks came through without any damage, but really, by west coast US standards, a 5.0 isn't all that huge.  It's the 7+ ones that really grab our attention...

Lora/LD

[Ryan B.]

I would ask "What's shakin'", but it appears Wasilla is what's shakin'.

More rough news from my neck of the woods - I posted this on the hockey message board that I frequent:

This past Friday afternoon, a house on Platten Road between Lyndonville & Waterport was leveled by an explosion. Three people were inside the house at the time; two were hospitalized, treated, and released. I graduated with one of the two and am still friends with both.

The third, the previous two's father, was in the basement at the time of the explosion. He had smelled propane, and went downstairs to check it out. He was MercyFlighted to Strong Memorial in Rochester.

He passed away this afternoon.

Thoughts & prayers to the Broadwell family.

[threestooges]

Seems like the Ring of Fire has been busy these days David. Hope everything (and everyone) is ok up your way.

Sorry to hear about your loss up there Ryan, and their loss as well. May he rest in peace.
-Matt

[scott1964]

[dedgren]

04-06-10



1.  Unzip the files at the bottom of this post into your "load last" file in your My Documents SimCity 4 directory.

2.  Start SC4 and load a city.

3.  Pause your game in the game month of September (09).

4.  Plop a couple of the "Test Seasonal Trees" from your mayor mode flora submenu.

5.  Sit down and swallow any beverage that might be in your mouth (this step is very important- don't say I didn't warn you)

6.  Unpause the game.

7.  Watch and marvel...

Huge accolades to Vladimir (Vil) and Andreas, who took this one into the end zone with major assists from Brian (c.p. aka cycledogg), jeronij, Adam (ennedi) and Chris (chrisadams3997).  And we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Lora (ldvger), whose ever inquiring mind led to Andreas taking the look that led to the comment... well, you know how this stuff goes.

This is true bleeding edge... there might be additional tweaks.  If you notice anything funny after using them, like your monitor melting, let me know here.


David

593569

[mightygoose]

i see this but i cant test this for a full 8 hours.... i assume you have animated tree props with leaves falling?

[dedgren]

Let's look at some aspens.

January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December


Any questions?

That's without tweaking anything, folks.


David

593666

[kassarc16]

That is all.....